I find myself being very conflicted right now.
In December, we got two kittens from the local PAWS shelter. When we first went to look at them, the lady who had been fostering them said that she'd have to give the black one (who we named Midnight) a bath because she had diarrhea when she was in the carrier. Exactly a week later, we picked up Midnight and her sister (Yoko). The foster lady had again bathed Midnight because she had an accident in the carrier. We got the kittens home without any problems, but from the start felt like something was off. Midnight kept having diarrhea, so I called the foster lady and she said that the antibiotics she had given Midnight for a cold may have caused it. She suggested I try to give her some plain yogurt. I tried it, but Midnight absolutely would have nothing to do with the stuff, so I called the vet and made an appointment.
At her appointment, the vet dewormed Midnight and gave me some probiotics to help with the runny stools. A week later, nothing had changed. She still had diarrhea really bad, and she was still leaking, so I called the vet again, and he asked me to bring in a stool sample. I did, and a couple days later they called to inform me that Midnight had Giardia, which is a parasite commonly found in kittens. He gave me some medicine that she was to be on for 8 days. 8 days later, after the last dose, Midnight seemed better. Her stool was more formed, and she didn't seem to be leaking.
On January 18, 3 days after her medication ended, I noticed that she was once again having very runny stools and was again leaking. I called the vet, and he prescribed the same medication, only I was to give it to her for 16 days. 8 days into the medication, her stool still was not forming, so I called again and he gave me another type of medicine to give her to get rid of the diarrhea. For the last 8 days of her 16 day prescription, with the diarrhea medication, her stools were finally starting to firm up.
Yesterday, she took her last dose of the the giardia medication. Today I noticed a smell when I picked her up and checked. It looked like she was leaking...again. Now, I looked in the bathroom, and it looked as if either her or her sister had just been in the litter box, so I'm crossing my fingers that she had just pooped and hadn't cleaned herself properly. I'm keeping my eye on her poops, and if she has diarrhea again, and if she starts leaking, I'm going to have to take her back to PAWS, along with her sister, because I can't stand the thought of splitting the two of them up; they have been together since birth.
I'm feeling conflicted over that though. On one hand, the paperwork I signed said I agreed to take responsibility for any medical bills or anything that the cat might have. When I signed that, I meant it. But on the other hand, I really feel as if she has been sick since we got her, and I don't feel like I was told the whole truth by the foster lady. I love both cats dearly, but if this is going to be a chronic problem with Midnight, I can't keep her. It breaks my heart, and it's going to break Kenzie and Drew's hearts, but I don't feel like I really have a choice.
Thoughts? Opinions?
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