Viola has had a rollercoaster of a shelter stay! This 10-week-old kitten came in as a shy stray, with her two siblings. On intake, her littermates were dehydrated, and had vomiting and diarrhea. Fecal exams showed roundworm infections, so they stayed in an isolation ward receiving fluids, bland diets, probiotics, and dewormers. A week later, their diarrhea had resolved and the kittens were scheduled to get spayed and neutered.
In shelters, we like to alter cats once they are at least 2 months old or weigh 2 pounds. These kittens were large enough, but on Viola’s pre-operative exam, we heard harsh lung sounds on a stethoscope. These “crackles” indicated that she had pneumonia, probably from breathing in when she was vomiting. Unfortunately, Viola couldn’t be spayed that week because anesthesia would be too risky. Her healthy siblings proceeded to surgery and the adoption floor, while Viola was moved to the respiratory isolation ward and started antibiotics.
A week later, her lungs were clear and she went to surgery! Viola had a small pooch by her belly button that turned out to be an umbilical hernia, so she was spayed and received surgery to fix the hernia. Her surgery went well and she did great under anesthesia, but on recovery, we discovered more diarrhea. She returned to the diarrhea isolation ward until her stool returned to normal. Once she recovered from all of her ailments, Viola was placed on the adoption floor and went on to become adopted by a loving family.
Written by: Samantha Li, DVM Student
