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A Kamloops, B.C., couple has 3D printed a feeding stand to help a foster kitten that has a unique medical condition.
Piglet the kitten, who is five months old, is being fostered by Angela and Jason Lyall. When they first got her at two days old, she couldn’t eat properly, they said.
“Even as a bottle baby she couldn’t suckle properly. She stayed tiny and didn’t gain like the others,” Angela told CBC News.
Piglet was part of a litter, along with her mother, and had been fostered from local rescue Sammy’s Forgotten Felines.
As the days went on, she developed pneumonia. Angela said that euthanizing the tiny black kitten was a serious consideration.
But after some veterinary tests, it was determined she likely had megaesophagus — a condition which means the tube that moves food down to her stomach normally doesn’t work as well, according to the couple.
“If she eats like a normal kitten, the food can come back up. The biggest risk is that she could inhale it into her lungs,” Angela said.
That’s when they 3D printed a unique vertical feeding stand, something Jason said he designed based on a template released for free on the internet.
“We thought she was just a lethargic little kitten, and it turns out that she was really sick and really malnourished,” Jason said.
“So, once she started feeding regularly and actually getting nutrition into her, her fur grew in properly. She’s starting to bulk up.”
A social media video of Piglet’s feeder went viral, with over a million views, after Angela posted a video to Sammy’s Forgotten Felines’s account.
She said she hopes Piglet’s experience serves as an educational one for other cat owners, saying the megaesophagus condition is rarer in cats compared to dogs, who can use a device called a Bailey chair to help them eat.
The vertical feeding stand can be modified and changed, so the couple says they can adapt to Piglet growing up.
Angela says that the kitten has to be fed five times a day and then held upright after her meals for 15 minutes — something she described as a “full family effort.”
“There were times where we didn’t know if she was going to make it, but she’s worth it,” she said.
“Watching her finally thrive has been incredible, and we’re just grateful that she’s still here.”
