The Savannah Signal Final Issue 2011 Neala’s Story by Trish Perkins, AllEarz Savannahs
It is almost an obligation for a breeder to find each and every one of their kittens beauti- ful… From the runt to the biggest bossiest baby, breeders are supposed to find beauty within each precious soul. Yet I will tell you a secret… The tiny mottled grey tortoiseshell that would inspire the internet and people all around the world was honestly an ugly baby.
Perhaps it was because she was born alongside kittens with more vivid colors or perhaps it was her con- genital birth defect that caused her to appear more wrinkled, but when I was asked to send photos of this kitten born in April to a potential new home, alongside photos of a different kitten, I confided in a friend that I simply knew the potential home would choose the other kitten. I simply did not find this lit- tle female to be the ‗cream of the crop‘ as they say.
Yet the potential home saw a kitten that was beautiful and unique. They must have seen this kitten, even in her newborn photos, as the precious soul that she was because they emailed me immediately back and said, ―THIS IS OUR KITTEN!‖
The baby grew and was apparently thriving. While in looks, I did not find her appealing, she had a spunky spirit and was one of the larger kittens out of the litter of seven that my Sphynx had birthed that April. She seemed to grow well and she was always at a nipple, nursing, and when she wasn‘t- she was looking for trouble much like her siblings. Her spirit was beautiful and that counted more then her color- ing.
Her name was Neala.
At five to six weeks of age, when I began to wean Neala and her siblings, I noticed Neala vomiting after eating. I thought it was the dewormer I was using because after one or two occasions of vomiting, I did not notice Neala regurgitating anymore and her weight appeared stable.
Another week passed and although Neala was not losing, she was not steadily gaining weight like the other kittens. I then noticed her regurgitating her food, once again; she would eat, walk away and then regurgitate and then she would eat the mushy food she had just vomited. Sometimes, it would stay down and sometimes, she would go through this routine again and again simply to keep food in her stomach.
I tried different consistencies of food, hoping it was a food allergy or perhaps as it was suggested that she was simply eating the food too fast and it was causing her to vomit. Nothing stayed down completely - even kitten glop, which is basically a liquid mixture, was regurgitated.
I immediately grew worried, but hoped there was nothing seriously wrong with her. I contacted her fu- ture home and informed them of the situation and then visited my veterinarian. My vet asked if we could perform a barium series of xrays on Neala in order to see the flow of food going into her stomach via xray and I agreed.
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