Gem's Page

Gem came to me in June when he was three weeks old, he was just one kitten from fourteen and three adults that came in that day. Straight away I noticed he had problems, his nose was badly congested so he couldn't breathe or suckle properly. Because of this the mother cats rejected him and the stronger kittens bullied him...... I fell for the tiny ball of tabby fluff straight away, though I doubted he would survive.

Over the next few days I tried hard to feed Gem formula but he was not at all interested, it was like he had had enough and wanted to be left in peace to die. When Gem reached four weeks of age I decided to offer him some kitten food in the hope that he would accept it and decide to live. I mashed a small amount of food and put it in my hand, then I held my hand near to Gem's tiny face. He dived straight in and ate almost all the food in my hand. It was such a relief to see the little man finally enjoying something. After this I gave Gem small amounts of food every couple of hours, he was very underweight after not being cared for the first three weeks of his life.

Gem was eight weeks old, the other kittens were growing well, most of the older ones had gone to new homes...... but Gem hadn't grown at all. This wasn't the only cause for concern though, Gem's eyes did not focus, when he heard me enter the kitten room he would run and sit at my feet, crying to be picked up. He couldn't see that he was so close to me. I sent Gem to the vet to have his eyes checked. The vet agreed that his eyes weren't right, but nothing could be done until Gem was older. At this point I was willing to try anything to give the tiny kitten a chance at a happy life so I arranged for a Spiritualist Healer to visit. The Healer held the tiny Gem over a crystal, I wasn't convinced that it would work but there was nothing to lose. The Healing only took a few minutes and when it was done I carried Gem to the door to say goodbye to the Healer. Outside the sun was shining and as I stood on the doorstep I thought I saw Gem's pupils move as he glanced towards the sun, I carried Gem back inside and he slept until my husband came home from work. As soon as my husband walked into the room Gem's head lifted up and his eyes focused on him! It was amazing. I took Gem into the garden and moved him around, every time I held him in a different position his eyes adjusted to the light. Then I took him back inside and stood holding him as my husband waved a piece of white tissue from side to side, Gem's eyes followed every movement. Although this would be a good place to end this story it is far from the end.

For the next couple of weeks things went well, Gem adjusted very quickly to his new found eyesight and started playing like a kitten should. It was so wonderful to see, but it didn't last. All of a sudden Gem became badly constipated. I waited to see if the problem would resolve itself but it didn't so the next day Gem returned to the vet. The vet squeezed Gem's bowel and bladder to empty the contents, he mentioned that it might be a neurological problem but I hoped it was just a result of Gem stealing some adult food from my big cats.

Two days later Gem started having trouble again and was admitted to the surgery to have his bowel cleared out. The vet sent him home with some capsules which were supposed to help, but they did nothing so I did some research of my own. I logged onto the Internet and looked at several veterinary web sites. I found lots of information about constipation/megacolon in cats, including that US vets treat the problem with lactulose so I started giving Gem 2.5ml of lactulose daily. To my relief the lactulose worked perfectly and Gem did not have to see the vet again.

I was still very concerned about him though. By this time he was four months old and still the same size as a seven week old kitten. I took Gem to a new vet for a second opinion and straight away he was diagnosed as having a defective pituitary gland. At the time I did not realise the implications, I was just so relieved that Gem finally had a definite diagnosis. When I got home I hit my cat books, only one has information about the pituitary gland but it was very helpful. The pituitary gland is the master gland, it controls every other gland and hormone in the body. Gem has no growth hormones, no sex hormones, he can't smell properly, or sense heat. He has no control over his heart rate or body temperature and his immune system is weak. His bowel problem is caused by the lack of growth hormones, but in a few months, when he has stopped growing, he can have surgery to correct it. After the surgery he will no longer need the lactulose, the slight swelling of his liver (caused by toxins being pushed back from the bowel) will go away and he will be a lot more comfortable.

I should point out that Gem is the happiest, most affectionate little cat I've ever known. He will always be small but he will always be happy too.

Update: Since this was written Gem has had the surgery he needed, it was a huge success. He's still small, but bigger than I thought he would be........ and very, very happy.