Failure to Thrive Study
Orphan Kitten Club has partnered with UC Davis to design, fund, and conduct a groundbreaking study about failure to thrive in the neonatal kitten population.
This aim of this study is to determine the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in kittens less than 5 weeks of age, utilizing medical records and necropsy results from 100 kittens, and in 30 kittens utilizing medical records, physical examination, and diagnostic testing. Kittens receiving standard of care husbandry will be recruited over a 2-year period (2023 to 2025) from rescue groups and animal shelters.
Morbidity and mortality in kittens is caused by a variety of pathologies, but the predominance of certain pathologies is likely, some of which are likely treatable. Determining the prevalence of causes of morbidity and mortality in a population of neonatal and orphaned kittens will help shelters, rescues, and veterinarians be better prepared to identify kittens with treatable conditions which may save kittens’ lives.