KellyKeck
New Member
I found an injured kitten by the side of the road this morning, and he's currently at All Kinds Vet in Callaway. He's got a broken jaw, and they think he was hit by a car. He's also in shock from being outside all night. They estimate his age at 8-9 weeks and are surprised he made it through the night outside.
If they do wire his jaw shut, and do additional diagnostics (x-ray, FIV & leukemia tests), the best case scenario is a 4-8 week recovery with soft food every 4-6 hours round the clock, and pain meds twice a day. (That's assuming there's no internal trauma or other illnesses. Because he was probably hit by a car, there's definitely a possibility of internal trauma.)
The vet's opinion is that if we can't get someone lined up who'd be willing to take that on and care for him within the next couple hours (in order to give them time to do the diagnostics and the jaw wiring), it would be kinder to put him to sleep. They are giving him pain meds, so that's at least something. (If we do have to put him to sleep, it still beats the heck out of dying slowly in the cold by the side of the road.)
Because he's in pain, they have no way of telling how he normally is with people, either. He hissed at me and at them, which might be pain, or he might be feral and just not want anything to do with people normally. There's no way to tell at this point.
So I'm posting this to try and see if anyone local is willing to take on some pretty intensive care for a very badly injured kitten, because with three cats and two dogs in the house already, I know I can't. I want to at least get the info out there to see if it's a possibility. Or if he's a missing pet rather than a stray, I'd love to get him reunited with his owner (longshot though that is).
If they do wire his jaw shut, and do additional diagnostics (x-ray, FIV & leukemia tests), the best case scenario is a 4-8 week recovery with soft food every 4-6 hours round the clock, and pain meds twice a day. (That's assuming there's no internal trauma or other illnesses. Because he was probably hit by a car, there's definitely a possibility of internal trauma.)
The vet's opinion is that if we can't get someone lined up who'd be willing to take that on and care for him within the next couple hours (in order to give them time to do the diagnostics and the jaw wiring), it would be kinder to put him to sleep. They are giving him pain meds, so that's at least something. (If we do have to put him to sleep, it still beats the heck out of dying slowly in the cold by the side of the road.)
Because he's in pain, they have no way of telling how he normally is with people, either. He hissed at me and at them, which might be pain, or he might be feral and just not want anything to do with people normally. There's no way to tell at this point.
So I'm posting this to try and see if anyone local is willing to take on some pretty intensive care for a very badly injured kitten, because with three cats and two dogs in the house already, I know I can't. I want to at least get the info out there to see if it's a possibility. Or if he's a missing pet rather than a stray, I'd love to get him reunited with his owner (longshot though that is).
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