What Is Fading Kitten Syndrome?

Fading kitten syndrome is exactly what it sounds like. However, it isn’t a single problem so much as a collection of them that can produce the same result. As a result, when someone notices the relevant symptoms in a kitten in their care, they need to treat the problem with the seriousness that it deserves, not least because foster kittens have high mortality rates even when they are provided with the proper care and consideration.

What Are the Signs of Fading Kitten Syndrome?

One of the most common signs of fading kitten syndrome is lethargic behavior. For example, the kitten has no interest in either nursing or other sources of food, which is something that can have horrendous knock-on effects. As a result, it is not uncommon for kittens suffering from fading kitten syndrome to have either weight loss or slow weight gain, which are signs that they are not getting enough nutrition, as well as less elastic skin, which is a sign that they are not getting enough water in their systems. In some cases, these problems can be so severe that the kitten’s face will actually start looking so gaunt that it seems triangular in shape, which is definite cause for concern.

What Are Some Potential Causes of Fading Kitten Syndrome?

There are a lot of potential causes for fading kitten syndrome. For instance, if the mother isn’t present, that has a horrendous impact on the chances of a kitten managing to make it because they tend to do best when they are receiving proper nourishment as well as proper care from their mothers. Unfortunately, this can be a problem even when the mother is present because they might not necessarily be able to provide either the proper nourishment or the proper care. This is particularly common when the mother is either too fat, too thin, too sick, or too stressed out.

However, inadequate care from the mother is far from being the sole potential cause of fading kitten syndrome. Sometimes, a kitten fades because their immune system is being overrun by some kind of threat, whether that happens to be bacterial, viral, or even parasitic. Other times, a kitten fades because it is suffering from hypothermia, which can happen with surprising ease when they become separated from their litter-mates while living in colder climates. There are even times when a kitten will suffer some kind of trauma by either being crushed by something or by falling off of somewhere, which can kick off the same kind of symptoms. On top of this, there are also plenty of cases in which a kitten fades because of some kind of defect that it was born with, which are particularly unfortunate because there doesn’t tend to be a simple and straightforward solution for them.

What Can Be Done?

When someone notices one of the symptoms of fading kitten syndrome in a kitten, they should take them to see their veterinarian as soon as possible. There are some people who might want to wait a little while to see whether the kitten’s condition will improve on its own, but this is a bad idea because a kitten’s health can deteriorate at a frightening pace. As a result, choosing to wait to bring the kitten to a veterinarian can very well mean the difference between life and death for them.

Once the kitten has been entrusted to a veterinarian, they can be provided with the care that can provide them with a fighting chance. Often, this can mean a source of warmth in addition to nutrition, fluids, and medications for various problems. The exact treatment can see some variation because there is such a wide range of potential causes for fading kitten syndrome, but there are some common mainstays because fundamentally, kittens are not capable of taking care of themselves when they are still so young.

On a final note, interested individuals should know that even if they manage to bring their kittens to the veterinarian as soon as possible, there is no guarantee that their kittens will survive because they are so fragile at that point in their lives. However, a veterinarian can provide the kittens with the best chances of making it through their ordeal, thus making seeing them by far the best option.

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