Interventions and observations associated with survival of orphaned shelter kittens undergoing treatment for diarrhea.
J Feline Med Surg
; 22(4): 292-298, 2020 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30920335
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
The objective of this study was to identify significant associations between treatment interventions and survival of orphaned shelter kittens with diarrhea.METHODS:
Orphaned kittens admitted to a large open-intake municipal animal shelter and entering a volunteer foster care provider network between April 2016 and July 2017 were studied. Individual orphaned kittens for which the care provider sought examination by shelter veterinarians because of clinical signs of diarrhea were included. Treatments administered were recorded and their association with kitten survival to adoption or transfer to a rescue partner was statistically examined.RESULTS:
A total of 1718 orphaned kittens were fostered, among which 220 kittens (12.8%) from 118 different litters were presented for evaluation of diarrhea. A total of 172 (78.2%) kittens underwent treatment for their diarrhea, among which 153 (89.0%) survived to adoption or transfer to a rescue partner and 19 (11.0%) died or were humanely euthanized. Kittens with diarrhea that were ⩾4 weeks of age were 24.8 times more likely to survive (95% confidence interval [CI] 6.8-89.8; P <0.0001). While controlling for age, kittens that received a vitamin and mineral supplement were 12.8 times more likely to survive (95% CI 3.1-52.5; P = 0.0004) than kittens with diarrhea that did not receive the supplement. Treatment with subcutaneous fluids, penicillin G, tube feeding, a probiotic containing Enterococcus faecium SF68, ponazuril or metronidazole did not statistically significantly increase the survival of kittens with diarrhea. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Age ⩾4 weeks and treatment of diarrhea with a vitamin and mineral supplement favorably improves survival of orphaned kittens to adoption. Application of these findings are likely to improve the health and welfare of this population and contribute to a refinement in use of shelter resources.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Doenças do Gato
/
Diarreia
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Feline Med Surg
Assunto da revista:
MEDICINA VETERINARIA
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos