Whuffles for kitten in need Hey folks. Whuffles needed here. Last night, my husband found a kitten while taking our dog for her nighttime walk.→[More:]

I had one look at the kitten and we decided we couldn't just leave her there. So, we took the dog back home, grabbed a towel, picked the kitten up and drove to the emergency vet.

The kitten was dirty and skinny. She's a light orange tabby with white patches. She had stitches in her belly, clearly from a recent spaying, but no collar. She was shaking and doing this weird thing with her front leg. We thought for sure she was hurt in some way: hit by a car, or attacked by a dog or alley cat. She didn't seem to be able to move. That said, there was no blood or anything on her.

We got her to the emergency vet clinic. They took her temperature and it was so low it was below what would register on the thermometer. They concluded she was not injured - she was just hypothermic and also probably had very low blood sugar from lack of food.

As we were leaving, we were allowed in back to see her. She was no longer shaking and her temp was up to 98.4. However, when you lifted her up her head just hung limp like a rag doll. The vet was concerned about this - it could be that she's just too weak or low on potassium. Or it could mean she got into something toxic while trying to find food. She was also still very dehydrated.

She stayed overnight there getting supportive care. When I went to pick her up this morning (this vet is only open nights and weekends - patients are transferred to regular vets by 8am) she was much stronger. However, the vet was extremely concerned about her. For one thing, her temperature skyrocketed at night - going up to 105. They got it down to about 102. But more worryingly, as she got stronger she became extremely aggressive. She's fighting anyone that tries to hold her and they don't know why. It's apparently beyond the normal fight response you'd see in a sick cat - more like a total panic/freakout. The vet is concerned that this, combined with what appears to be poor vision/blindness and other symptoms, is a sign of neurological damage. From what? Could be from the fever, from loss of oxygen, from eating something toxic while out on the street, from brain swelling, even rabies. They just don't know yet.

She's at our regular vet now and I'm at work. I can't stop thinking about her. Whuffles please. I'm worried she's got permanent brain damage and we'll have to put her down, after all this money and effort to save her.