5 feral kittens came to the shelter the week of Victoria Day showing signs of illness. After initial exams and testing, our shelter veterinarian determined that the kittens had coccidia – a parasitic infection that causes lethargy, dehydration, vomiting, and diarrhea.
If you haven’t heard about coccidia before now, thank your lucky stars! This nasty infection can be deadly to young animals and it is surprisingly common on PEI. Each year, the PEI Humane Society sees dozens of kittens with coccidia coming into the shelter. Though this awful illness does claim some lives every year, we see most of our coccidia kittens make a full recovery thanks to our incredible team of animal care staff and our generous donors.
The process for treating coccidia is not fun for the kittens and because the infection can spread easily to other animals and humans, these 5-week-old babies need to be isolated and treated right away. The treatment for coccidia takes 14 days, and involves regular bathing of their hind ends and a course of medication to kill the infection.
The treatment for coccidia is very involved. Staff wear gowns and gloves when handling the kittens and sanitization protocols are followed at all times. These kittens will be looked after at the shelter for two weeks. Once they are deemed healthy, they will then be sent into foster care and begin their journey toward adoption.
These kittens were quite feral when they arrived at the shelter – hissing, scratching and yowling at our team during examination. Right now, they don’t like people and they certainly don’t like being touched – making treatment even more difficult for the team. But our staff and foster volunteers are well-trained in socializing techniques that should help these 5-week-old babies realize that humans are friendly and here to help. Once they’re feeling better, these kittens will go into foster care where they will receive love and attention from a foster volunteer and the socialization process will take hold.
We can’t wait to see these 5 little kittens be adopted alongside the hundreds of other kittens we will see at our shelter this year. To learn more about Kitten Season at PEIHS, CLICK HERE!