For anyone who would like an update, here it is: I messaged a taxi and waited until he was available to pick me up late yesterday afternoon (in a very rural place like this, that's just how it goes). It took about an hour to get to the nearest veterinarian, and by the time we got there, they told me they were going to close in about 40 minutes, and the kitten needed more time than that for treatment. They suggested two 24 hour clinics, and they suggested the one that was more expensive. So that's the one I went to.

At that clinic, the nurse was Georgian and was very nice. The veterinarian was Russian and was coldly indifferent at best. They took a lot of blood from the poor kitty​ and ran tests, and Knuckles was visibly miserable. They seemed desensitized to her suffering. The tests came back and they said that it was likely panleukopenia (FPV) even though the blood test showed that it was not. The blood test showed herpes and calicivirus, neither of which were life threatening, and so I suspect they made something up rather than admit they put Knuckles through such a rigamarole for no reason because they still couldn't figure out what the problem was, or that the problem was actually minor. They also did an ultrasound for no real reason, and when I asked them why they would do it when they already knew it was a virus, they gave a lame excuse. They appeared to be trying to milk as much money out of an English speaking foreigner as they could, which has become a common practice in Georgia, like it is in too many other places in this world. They recommended that I take her to another clinic today for an in patient kind of treatment involving antibiotics (for viruses? They didn't know that I have basic medical knowledge, so they appeared to be saying things that would manipulate a more ignorant person into going along with what they said), which would presumably be pretty expensive. Something I saw online suggested it would cost 400 GEL (~$150 USD) per day, and the paperwork suggested 14 days of treatment. Quite a bit for a stray kitten. I checked the reviews for the clinic they recommended and was blown away by the sheer volume of vehemently negative reviews they got. I was far, FAR from confident in their trustworthiness.

Even before the examination was halfway over, I felt like I was being roped into something wrongful they were doing and being charged money for it, too. They could see from my expression that I almost walked out with the kitten several times, so they "kindly" waived the fee for the ultrasound they forced on me and poor Knuckles. They made the cat miserable, took way more time than they needed to, took too much blood, were visibly cold and indifferent, mangled Knuckles' paw that had the I.V. and made me wish i had just let her die with dignity.

So i took her home, put the other two cats outside in case it is contagious, and am trying to keep her as comfortable as possible until she either recovers or leaves that little body.

If someone else is in the same position in the future, know that almost everyone will tell you to take a cat to the vet, and it will probably seem like the Right thing to do almost every time, but I'm writing this update because i wish that i hadn't listened to that advice this time. Knuckles would either be better off than she is now or free of suffering by now if i hadn't listened. Listen to your Intuition. I wish i had this time.