Bottle Fed Kitten
Fading Kitten Syndrome is a sad condition that kills between 20 and 40 percent of all kittens under 12 weeks old. Fading Kitten Syndrome is a name given to a wide range of illnesses that kill a kitten before it has chance to mature. This list includes birth defects (such as limbs or organs deformed), lack of care from a mother, disease (caused by bacteria or viruses), parasites (such as ticks), a traumatic birth process or a whole host of other problems.
To detect fading kitten syndrome, and hopefully save the kitten, the litter of a cat should be check by a vet at birth. This will help detect any birth defects which can hopefully be put right by the vet. After this process, the kitten should be weighed daily to ensure that it is gaining weight and becoming stronger. If it starts to lose weight, it may be suffering from Fading Kitten Syndrome. The cat bearing the litter should be on a high quality and nutritious diet which will ensure that the kitten litter than she delivers is born strong which will decreases the chances of having a kitten with Fading Kitten Syndrome.
If you think a kitten has the syndrome, time can be crucial so you must seek urgent medical attention, in the form of a vet, immediately. Time can be crucial with some causes of the syndrome, such as parasites and infections, and getting it to a vet in time will give it the best chance of survival. Sadly, not all kittens can be saved and sometimes there is nothing you can do to stop them passing away. If, however, you noticed that a whole litter is being affected by Fading Kitten Syndrome, and one sadly dies, you can have the kitten examined at the vet’s to check for possible causes, which may just save the rest of the litter.
