I think my kitten is VERY ILL..Pleez Help me!

Question
My kitten is about 5-6 months old, My son and I rescued her from a parking lot about 4 months ago.  She was very skinny and was covered in fleas and ticks, so we bought her home fed her and cleaned her up and now we adore her. the past 2 days she has barely moved(normally you cant walk by her with out her jumping up and trying to play with your feet), She also will not eat or drink anything(we have tried Her meow mix cat food, tuna,soft can cat food,warm and cool water and milk)she wont have any of it, and her gums are pale white, and she has been hissing at the ground and meowing very deep almost like shes in pain?!?!?  What can I do for her my vet is out of town till Wednesday and the animal hospital is too expensive.  Help please!!!

Answer
This is certainly not a good thing. I would say she was anemic but then I saw that you found her 4 months ago.
White gums and the sound she is making are unfortunately indicative of a cat with leukemia. They always make a terrible sound.
The only way you will know is to get her tested.
There must be some other vet in town that can do that for you. She may not last until Wednesday from what you are saying.

Her gums are white because she has no red blood cells in her- or barely any. When they get like that they cannot breathe because red blood cells are what carry our oxygen to our brain, lungs and all of our body. So she feels like she is suffocating and so she cries out.

There are other diseases that can cause the same symptoms but leukemia is very wide spread and it can be spread by bites, being born with it from the mom, drinking in the same bowl or puddle as a cat with it, even fleas have been implicated in the spread.

I am sorry that I can't give you any better news than that. She needs to be seen asap but I don't know that a vet can even help her now.Getting her tested will only give you the peace of mind you might want knowing you gave her a good, if short, life and this is not of your doing.

Tonight all you can do is try and keep her warm and safe. You might want to put her in a box with some warm towels and keep an eye on her that way. You could try and syringe some water into her mouth but she will probably fight you if she feels she cannot breathe.
Sometimes its best to just leave her be.

I hope you can find a reasonably priced vet to see her and please let me know what you find out.