Never underestimate the power of love. I got my lab mix dog, Brandy, nearly 4 years ago, when she was about 3, rescued from a ghetto street. She was very headshy, occasionally nippy, and not a cuddler or "kisser" at all. 4 years of love and a little "raise with praise" training later, she never nips, has gotten over nearly all of the headshyness, loves her back rubs and gives me an occasional lick. I'm amazed at how she has changed! I never expected her to be a gregarious dog, and she still isn't, but she's become polite with people who approach her and gentle/tolerant with children. It seems to me that all I did was love her. Yes, cats and dogs are different, but I've seen amazing transformations with cats, too, just with love and decent care. You can't ask them to be someone they aren't, but consistent love will bring out the most that they have to offer. I've seen that with cats I've owned and cats belonging to others. So she won't cuddle - give her time and she'll give you everything that she's capable of. How many humans would fill that bill? Aloha to you and Kitty

Hi. Wow, I feel for you dear. I agree with Laurie about ending the pregnancy. That may be the only option for saving her. I wonder if her body has enough strength to even deliver these babies much less to make milk for them. I do have some other suggestions though. 1. Heat - give her a heating pad or heating throw. Heat is very very important to cats. It is absolutely the first thing I do when I get a sick, injured or young animal,( dog, cat or wildlife,) is get them on heat, get that body temp back up. Normal house temps are cool to cats. Winter and summer I have a heated throw and warming pads that I leave on all the time. It allows the cats (and dogs) to go to it when they need heat. I have also found that my cats ( I have 16 indoor cats-no I do not breed, they are strays. All spayed/neutered.), when they are not feeling good, they will go to it. Remember a cat's normal body temps is higher than our own. A normal nursing kitten's rectal body temp is about 96*. Lower than that, and they stop feeding. You can apply this to your cat as well. If she is very thin and weak, she may not be able to regulate her own body temp. Give her the heating pad and also a place she can get off of it if she begins to get too warm. Also, new heating pads have an automatic shut off after 2 hours. This does not work for warming animals. You can find heating pads without this feature on Ebay or even Goodwill. If they are not available, check local pet stores for warming pads or even with your Vet or local wildlife rehabilitationist. You may be able to rent or borrow one. 2. Fluids- Most cats don't drink like dogs do. It is easy for them to get dehydrated. Being dehydrated makes you feel really bad so giving fluids under the skin can be a big help. Your Vet can teach you how to do this, it is really easy. It will also give you another chance to help bring her temp up, by warming the fluids. 3. Nutra-cal - is a brown paste sold at the Vet clinic. It is usually given to animals that are weak and lethargic (sp?). It is very dense in nutrients and high in sugar for instant energy. 4. Kitten replacer milk - The A/D that Laurie spoke about is an awesome food for animals in distress. Side note: It also works well on predatory wildlife. I used it on a Redtailed Hawk with a head injury last fall, to get him to start eating again. Anyway, if she will not eat on her own, you can water down the A/D so she can lap it up. It smells really good. If she will not go for this, you can also offer her kitten replacer milk. It will not give her loose stools like cow's milk will. It is also nutrient dense. 5. Steroids - I am NOT a Vet, but I know steroids can sometimes boost the appetite. I don't know if this can be used during pregnancy, but it is worth asking the Vet about. 6. Other foods - I have had some luck with offering meat baby foods, cooked chicken and cooked chicken liver to cats that would not eat. Warming the food helps. Again, we get into the notion that she is shutting down, ie dying. The appetite goes and they have trouble regulating their body temps. Cold food just takes more energy, they may not have, to heat up. So warm the food. Have doubt about the temp? Put the food to your lips. If it burns your lips, it is too hot. Last thoughts: I hope some of this helps. I can't see your kitty, but my gut goes back to bringing her body temp up. You can use a childrens rectal thermometer to check her temp. The Vet can also teach you how to take her temp. Remember to use a lubricant like KY jelly. Also, if you can afford to do it, a blood work panel is good window to see what is going on, on the inside of your kitty. Have you done a feline lukemia/FIV test? Both diseases could play a part in her condition. Both are spread by sexual contact (if I remember correctly). From what I know of the diseases, the FIV is workable. Actually, I have two "AIDS" cats. They live with my other cats and do just fine. We have had no transmission of the disease as we do not allow breeding or fighting. But unless they have gotten something new since I worked at my Vet clinic, I don't think there is much they can do with the Lukemia. I may be in error here, it is worth exploring. One more last thought. Financial help. I an in Indiana and locally in the city we have a group called IndyFeral. They work with feral cats and the people that are trying to help them. The provide food, shelter, traps, spay/neutering and Vet care for the wild cats. You might check locally if there is anything like this around you that might be able to help you if this is causing a financial strain. I really do understand being "animal poor". Thanks! Susan Below is some additional info copied from the Merck Veterinary Manual. 1. Body Temperature Feline "normal" body temperature range is 100.5 - 102.5 Fahrenheit (38 - 39.2 Celsius). A body temperature below 100 or above 103F warrants a call to your veterinarian. Cats may become stressed in the veterinary office (or car ride to the office), creating a higher-than-normal body temperature temporarily. Gauging body temperature by the moistness of the nose or how warm the ears feel is not reliable. 2. Respiratory Rate 16 - 40 breaths per minute Respiratory rate is the number of breaths per minute. Normal respiratory rates are assessed when the cat is resting. A cat that is in pain, having heart or respiratory problems, suffering from heatstroke, or stressed will usually have increased respiratory rates. It is important to gauge the overall situation and condition of the animal to assess the respiratory rate. 3. Heart Rate 120-140 beats per minute When stressed, heart rates will increase. This will normalize as the cat calms down in healthy animals. Cats that suffer from heart conditions (cardiomyopathy) or diseases such as hyperthyroidism will have increased heart rates -- over 200 beats per minute in some cases. 4. Duration of Pregnancy On average, feline pregnancy lasts 63 days, but can vary from 57 to 69 days.

I just read the thread... I can't tell you how sorry I am for you, and your cat, much too young to die this way! You must be emotionally and physically drained, and you will always wonder why he passed away so fast... Not knowing the "why(s)", and erasing the last 2 weeks of suffering are always the hardest to deal with. Wish I had an answer for you. You have done all you could for him, and hopefully, the better days will overpower the sad ones. Thinking of you, Anne-Marie

Many thanks for your comments. I should have made clear that liver and kidney function were checked satisfactorily - no lipidosis. Our very senior Vet (he is Cruft's Chief Veterinary Officer - yes, dogs, I know) saw Sam again today. He was not in favour of either an Xray or ultrasound - he reckons that there is no evidence that anything they might reveal is amiss. However, he did force-feed Sam some Hills A/D by syringe, then Sam licked more off his fingers. Having got Sam home, he ate a treat stick by himself and we've syringe-fed him twice more - he wouldn't eat off our fingers (maybe after 14 years he's trying to tell us something). He is still unwilling to feed himself from a dish (you wouldn't believe all the stuff we've bought to try to tempt him - liver, chicken, haddock, beef, tuna, etc, besides a variety of cat-food) but has drunk a fair amount of water. We're happier that he has got some food and drink inside him now but will be much happier when he's back to feeding himself. We will be even happier if we ever discover what stopped him eating/drinking in the first place. For the benefit of anyone else who reads this with a similar problem, we had read elsewhere about putting honey on a cat's gums - some people had apparently had success with this as a starter to get their cat eating normally again. We tried it last night and syringed about 4ml of watered-down honey directly into Sam's mouth. He licked around and swallowed all of it but, sadly, I can't report that he restarted eating.