That was too close...

Last night, I thought that Leo was going to die. He was acting similarly to a kitten that I cared for a few summers ago. The vet said that that kitten was suffering from distemper, and that there wasn't really a cure (which, thru some research last night, I found out was bull), and so that kitten was put to sleep. We only had that kitten for a week, and it was really hard to lose him. So, you can probably imagine that my whole family was extremely broken up last night at the thought of possibly losing our little kitty.

I went into Nick's room to say "goodnight" and pet Leo before I headed to bed, and I discovered that Leo couldn't hold his head up and that he wasn't really moving around at all. That was very similar to the behaviors that the other kitten was showing, and he ended up being put to sleep. So, I was very afraid that that was what would happen with Leo. I didn't want to tell Nick what I thought was going on, but I didn't really have a choice. And then I took the kitten in to show Mom, and she thought the same thing I did.

I wanted to stay up all night with him, in case something happened during the night, but I knew that I'd be in no condition for school and work today if I didn't get some sleep. So, I prayed for him for about 15 minutes, and then I went into the living room and helped Mom get him hydrated. We tried to keep him warm and keep him hydrated in the hopes that he would make it thru the night and we could get him to the vet in the morning.

When I went downstairs this morning, Nick was passed out on the couch and the kitten's box was sitting next to Nick on the floor. I opened it, expecting to see either an empty box or a dead kitten, and Leo lifted his head and looked up at me. I was so shocked...I didn't even know what to do. I wanted to pick him up and hug him, but I was afraid that I might hurt him (since we still didn't know what was wrong). So, I settled for petting his head and scratching him under his neck.

Mom is taking him to the vet around 1 today, and hopefully all he needs is an antibiotic or some sort of medicine. The vet's assistant said that he could be having a reaction to the food we're feeding him, so the "cure" may be something as simple as changing his diet. I don't know, but we should know something when he goes to see the vet today. I was just so happy that he made it thru the night. If he can survive the night, hopefully that's a sign that he's going to be fine, with the right meds and the right diet (if that's the problem). :)