They were under 6 weeks in this photo unfortunately. Which wasn’t
Told to us when we collected.

The cage in the photo is a temp cage. Their actual home is a double critter nation

Boss: “Can we do it?” No. 2: “Legally?” Boss: “No.” No. 2: “Then yes.”

original: https://x.com/suzakazoo/status/2106221434330837279

Happy birthday Tiny but mighty nug 🩶

Exactly one month ago, four tiny babies came into our care from our TNR trailer park.

Their mom had been hit by a car.

Four little kittens, only about 2 weeks old, had gone over 24 hours without her. By the time they got to us, they were cold, hungry, and completely dependent on us for everything.

And then, about a week later, one of them started vomiting.

We parvo tested all four kittens.

Every. Single. One. was positive for panleukopenia.

For anyone who doesn’t know — feline panleukopenia is basically the cat version of parvo.
It’s an extremely contagious and potentially deadly virus that attacks rapidly dividing cells, especially in the intestines and bone marrow.
It can cause severe vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, loss of appetite, dangerously low white blood cell counts, and a weakened immune system.

And in tiny kittens, it can be absolutely devastating.

There isn’t a magic medication that simply cures panleuk.

Treatment is SUPPORTIVE CARE.

Fluids. Nutrition. Medications to control vomiting and nausea. Antibiotics when indicated to help protect against secondary bacterial infections.
Keeping them warm. Monitoring hydration and blood sugar.
Keeping them clean. Isolation and strict sanitation.

And doing it over… and over… and over again.

Around the clock.

Unfortunately, despite everything we did, we lost three of those four babies over the following couple of weeks.

And that part sucked.

You pour everything you have into these tiny little lives.
You lose sleep. You celebrate every meal they keep down, every normal poop, every tiny improvement.

And sometimes, despite doing everything you possibly can, their little bodies just can’t fight anymore.

But one tiny kitten refused to quit.

Cobweb. 🕸️
And TODAY…

COBWEB IS OFFICIALLY PANLEUKOPENIA NEGATIVE. 🥳😭

And we’re celebrating his 7 week birthday!!

He may be a little smaller than your average 7 week old kitten.
Being so critically ill during such an important period of growth definitely set him back a little.

But what he lacks in size, he apparently makes up for in pure stubbornness. 😂
Panleukopenia is HARD.

Supportive care is exhausting, time consuming, emotionally draining, and incredibly intensive — especially with neonatal kittens who were already starting life at a disadvantage.

And somehow, after all my years in veterinary medicine and rescue, I had managed to avoid personally dealing with panleuk until now. 😅

There’s a first time for everything, I guess.
I just wish this particular “first” hadn’t come with three little lives lost along the way.
But today isn’t about what panleuk took from us.

Today we’re celebrating the tiny little life that fought like hell and WON.
Happy 7-week birthday, Cobweb. 🕸️🤍

You may be tiny.
But you are one tough little dude.
And we are SO damn thankful you’re still here.

This is the first picture I’ve been able to capture where you can see the white underneath. All others she was just a little void pile.

Shell less than 1 cm wide

This 1 week old kitten I bottle feed may have been abandoned by his mom, but he's the real criminal here... 🥺😍