Support Arnold the sick kitten!

The short version:  I adopted two adorable kittens that turned out to be sick.  I had to hospitalize one of them for several days to save his life, and I used up all of my savings to do so. If you would like to hear the whole story (and see a bunch of cute cat pictures) read on...

This is Sweet Kevin.


Sweet Kevin had gotten sick back in January and I spent three months trying to get him better, but sometimes kitties don't get better, and I had to put Sweet Kevin to sleep on April 26th, 2019, just a few days before my birthday.


I was very sad. It was the first time in 20 years that I didn't have a cat. 

Skates LeMew was with me from 1999 to 2018.

And Qittin was with me from 2000 until 2016.


Skatey and Qittin were best friends, so after Qittin died, I adopted Sweet Kevin so that Skates would have a buddy.

Sadly Skates passed away in February of 2018, and it was just Kevin and me until this year, when I lost him after being sick for several months.

I was devastated.  I was lonely.  I realized how important it is for me to have a cat companion in my life.  And after a few weeks I started considering adopting another cat.  I was considering getting two young cats, so that they would have each other when I had to go to work or leave the house to do human things.

I went to various adoption websites and visited shelters and hung out at the Kawaii Kitty Cafe  to see if I met anyone special.

On Thursday, May 9th, 2019 I was at the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS ) just meeting some kitties, and seeing who was available.  I was about to leave when one of the people who works there came in with nine kittens from three different litters.

I was not interested in kittens, especially not ones that were only seven weeks old, but I had to look!


The little tabby boy came over immediately and started playing with me through the cage.  He was so sweet, and he had a brother who was all black.

So, after about ten minutes of trying to talk myself out of it, I adopted two small kittens.  I named them Lou and Arnold (after Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger).  
When we got home, Arnold was a little more adventurous than his brother, but Lou soon came out of his shell and we had a great time getting to know each other. 

On Friday we played together all day and Arnold seemed to be more tired than Lou, but I chalked it up to just having a big day. 

On Saturday morning, Arnold threw up his breakfast.  Sometime cats do that, so I wasn't terribly concerned until later than night when I returned home from work and Arnold wouldn't eat his dinner.  Then he threw up again, this time it was just white, foamy bile.  I took him to the Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Center, since it was the closest vet that was open on a Saturday night.  They admitted him since he had a fever and gave him subcutaneous fluids. 

The fever came and went all weekend, on Sunday, one of the vets at VSEC suggested that I might want to consider euthanizing Arnold because he was so young and it would be very costly to treat him.

There was no way.  If he was suffering, I could do what need to be done, but to put my kitten to sleep because it would cost too much to treat him? And how could I possibly explain that to Lou?  I had to find another option.


That Monday I planned to take him to the VCA Cat Hospital of Philadelphia since they have an agreement with PAWS that if your recently adopted pet gets sick, they will treat it free of charge. 

When I contacted VCA I was told that their free treatment program has a cap of $250 and they couldn't keep Arnold overnight.  So I reached out to the Ryan Veterinary Hospital  at the University of Penn. They admitted him and the diagnosis was that he had severe gastroenteritis. 

For five days it was just me and Lou.  I was so worried, but Lou kept my spirits up. 

I kept telling him that his little brother would be home soon.


Arnold's fever persisted on and off for a few days, but they managed to get it under control and get Arnold eating again.  The staff at UPenn was really top notch, and they were very good about keeping me informed as to what was going on.


After he made lots of friends, I brought Arnold home on Thursday May the 16th, and he was very weak, but he was eating and very affectionate.  I kept him separate from Lou for a few days while he recovered and gained some strength back. 

On Saturday the 18th, I noticed that his ears were itchy and droopy.  Rather than take chances, we went back to UPenn that evening.  They thought that it was an allergic reaction to something, possibly his antibiotics, possibly something else.  He was treated and sent home with me.


He spent the past few days recovering and getting stronger.  His ears are still droopy, but they're not itching him any more.  We're not sure if they will stay that way or not.  

Monday the 20th he was very sweet and we snuggled all day.  Tuesday he was very feisty and playful, so on Wednesday May 22nd I reintroduced the two brothers, and they are very happily playing and acting very much like typical, naughty kittens.


It seems like they both kittens had gastroenteritis, but we think that Arnold is probably the runt of the litter and just had a harder time dealing with it than his brother did.  We also think that the problem with the ears may have been a food allergy, since the boys had been eating Hill's Science Diet at PAWS and at my house, then when he went to UPenn they fed him Purina pro Plan.  Both kittens have been switched to Wellness grain free wet food, and are transitioning to Instinct grain-free kibble.

My vet Dr. Dana Koch from House Paws Mobile Vet  is a wonderful person who works for a wonderful organization, and she has been in touch with me via email through this whole ordeal.  She said that it's lucky that Arnold came home with me, because most people would have given up, especially after VSEC said that Arnold wasn't going to make it.

So the good news is, that my two kittens are finally reunited and I hope to have them with me and to spoil them both for a long time.  The bad news is, I had been saving up to try and buy a house, and now my savings are completely depleted.  VSEC cost $1300 for the two days that he was there, the bill for UPenn came in at about $2700, all together, and this is after I spent about $3000 between January and March trying to save Sweet Kevin.

I've never done something like this before.  I usually ask for Facebook friends to donate money around my birthday that goes to Forgotten Felines & Fidos , a rescue founded by my aunt and uncle that is located in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, and is where I adopted Skates and Kevin. 

I'm a crazy cat person, and if I had to do it all over again, I would, but if you have a few dollars to spare and you'd like to pitch in, I sure would appreciate it.  If you can't afford to donate a few bucks, then please share this on social media, maybe somebody that you know can help out.  Anything helps, and should I actually go over my funding goal, rest assured that it will be spent spoiling these sweet little nerds.