Hello. My approx 10-11 week old kitten (that was found as a stray) is very unwell. I live in Australia.
He became unwell the day after he received his very first F3 vaccine at a busy vet clinic, sleepy, not eating or drinking, diarrhoea and vomiting. The date of vax was Friday 1st of May. Before the vax, he was fasting because they were going to microchip and desex him too, but didn't in the end because of an undescended teste. He did receive the F3 vax and they gave him some food (which I'm guessing was contaminated). I will never return to that highly publicised vet clinic again.
The next day I took him to a 24 hour vet. They didn't get IV access, so he received 3 loads of peritoneal fluids 87mls (Hatmann's Solution), and was on 10mg Tribrissen daily and 25mg Metronidazole twice daily. The vet suspected he had coccidia. He also had worms which he was treated for and he is no longer passing any in his stools. He had 2 days of very watery and bloody diarrhea when I brought him home on Monday the 4th of May, his weight at this stage was 720gms (when he was previously 900gms before getting sick). His stools were bloody when he was passing the worms/recently passed the worms, they are no longer bloody. He is not eating or drinking (I am orogastric feeding him), he's quite malrourished and skinny. He does sleep a lot but is still relatively alert. It has now been 13 days since he first became unwell. About 4 days ago his abdomen started to get very large, I initially thought it could be wind or constipation due to slow bowels, but it's now evident that it's a build up of fluid (ascites). He does not have any cold symptoms, no coughs, sneezes, nasal discharge. Some difficulty breathing after feeds but I think that's due to his huge belly. He is not vomiting anymore and is having formed stools, but they are a bit mucousy and not normal poos, they look more like half digested food. They don't smell foul or smell like normal stools.
I took him to a different vet (my local) on Monday the 10th. He received about 5 hours of IV fluids (about 30mls in total) and they sent off blood work. His red blood cells are low (likely due to his bloody stools), infant RBC are high (which apparently is a response to his low RBC), high WCC, high infant WCC, normal potassium, normal kidney function, slightly off liver function (which the vet said is common in little kittens), and a very low Albumin (which unfortunately I can't remember the number). I mentioned the possibility of FIP to the vet, but he thinks it's unlikely. The vet thinks it's likely a severe intestinal infection or virus that has caused his body to go into a bit of shut down. The kitten't current weight is 870gms, which is a very large weight gain, that I'm sure almost all of it is in his abdomen. His highest temp was 39.5 celcius on Saturday the 2nd of May, but now he's 38.6 (today).
He is only slightly dehydrated and still relatively alert and active. He has bright eyes and puts up a good fight with some meows when tube feeding him or taking a rectal temperature. He is kept isolated from my other cats in a calm, warm room.
I am orogastric feeding him a slurry of Hills A/D wet cat food mixed with a bit of water so it passes through the orogastric tube relatively easily. I was feeding him 20mls every 3-4 hours, meaning he would have about 120mls/day. I might drop this volume back a bit now though because the Vet said his maintenance fluids is only about 60mls/day.
The vet's plan was to introduce 2 more antibiotics - Clavulox (Clavulanic Avic and Amoxycillin) and Baytril (enrofloxacin) both to be given twice daily. We are going back to the vet in 2 days to recheck bloods and see how the kitten is generally going, if there is no improvement and he's not eating by himself, the vet said he'd consider putting him to sleep. I just want to make sure we're covering all bases before we make this decision. The cat does not appear in pain or too much discomfort - he's getting used to his big belly and cannula in his front leg. He is a darling kitten with an incredible nature.
I asked the vet if they do plasma or albumin infusions and they said not really for cats. The access to plasma is difficult, we'd need to take him to an Animal emergency centre for plasma, and they don't do Albumin infusions. Has anyone here had experience with Albumin? I have access to 4% and 20% human albumin that I could administer with or without IV Furosemide. I've read quite a few articles and although there are limited studies of giving human albumin to cats and dogs, there were limited reactions and the outcomes seemed quite good. I'm considering giving him the 20% Albumin myself as I feel like I'm running out of options and this is my last resort. I have access to sterile equipment.
Please, please help.
P.s. Tagging @catwoman707 @StefanZ @StephenQ as they have helped me wonderfully in the past.
He became unwell the day after he received his very first F3 vaccine at a busy vet clinic, sleepy, not eating or drinking, diarrhoea and vomiting. The date of vax was Friday 1st of May. Before the vax, he was fasting because they were going to microchip and desex him too, but didn't in the end because of an undescended teste. He did receive the F3 vax and they gave him some food (which I'm guessing was contaminated). I will never return to that highly publicised vet clinic again.
The next day I took him to a 24 hour vet. They didn't get IV access, so he received 3 loads of peritoneal fluids 87mls (Hatmann's Solution), and was on 10mg Tribrissen daily and 25mg Metronidazole twice daily. The vet suspected he had coccidia. He also had worms which he was treated for and he is no longer passing any in his stools. He had 2 days of very watery and bloody diarrhea when I brought him home on Monday the 4th of May, his weight at this stage was 720gms (when he was previously 900gms before getting sick). His stools were bloody when he was passing the worms/recently passed the worms, they are no longer bloody. He is not eating or drinking (I am orogastric feeding him), he's quite malrourished and skinny. He does sleep a lot but is still relatively alert. It has now been 13 days since he first became unwell. About 4 days ago his abdomen started to get very large, I initially thought it could be wind or constipation due to slow bowels, but it's now evident that it's a build up of fluid (ascites). He does not have any cold symptoms, no coughs, sneezes, nasal discharge. Some difficulty breathing after feeds but I think that's due to his huge belly. He is not vomiting anymore and is having formed stools, but they are a bit mucousy and not normal poos, they look more like half digested food. They don't smell foul or smell like normal stools.
I took him to a different vet (my local) on Monday the 10th. He received about 5 hours of IV fluids (about 30mls in total) and they sent off blood work. His red blood cells are low (likely due to his bloody stools), infant RBC are high (which apparently is a response to his low RBC), high WCC, high infant WCC, normal potassium, normal kidney function, slightly off liver function (which the vet said is common in little kittens), and a very low Albumin (which unfortunately I can't remember the number). I mentioned the possibility of FIP to the vet, but he thinks it's unlikely. The vet thinks it's likely a severe intestinal infection or virus that has caused his body to go into a bit of shut down. The kitten't current weight is 870gms, which is a very large weight gain, that I'm sure almost all of it is in his abdomen. His highest temp was 39.5 celcius on Saturday the 2nd of May, but now he's 38.6 (today).
He is only slightly dehydrated and still relatively alert and active. He has bright eyes and puts up a good fight with some meows when tube feeding him or taking a rectal temperature. He is kept isolated from my other cats in a calm, warm room.
I am orogastric feeding him a slurry of Hills A/D wet cat food mixed with a bit of water so it passes through the orogastric tube relatively easily. I was feeding him 20mls every 3-4 hours, meaning he would have about 120mls/day. I might drop this volume back a bit now though because the Vet said his maintenance fluids is only about 60mls/day.
The vet's plan was to introduce 2 more antibiotics - Clavulox (Clavulanic Avic and Amoxycillin) and Baytril (enrofloxacin) both to be given twice daily. We are going back to the vet in 2 days to recheck bloods and see how the kitten is generally going, if there is no improvement and he's not eating by himself, the vet said he'd consider putting him to sleep. I just want to make sure we're covering all bases before we make this decision. The cat does not appear in pain or too much discomfort - he's getting used to his big belly and cannula in his front leg. He is a darling kitten with an incredible nature.
I asked the vet if they do plasma or albumin infusions and they said not really for cats. The access to plasma is difficult, we'd need to take him to an Animal emergency centre for plasma, and they don't do Albumin infusions. Has anyone here had experience with Albumin? I have access to 4% and 20% human albumin that I could administer with or without IV Furosemide. I've read quite a few articles and although there are limited studies of giving human albumin to cats and dogs, there were limited reactions and the outcomes seemed quite good. I'm considering giving him the 20% Albumin myself as I feel like I'm running out of options and this is my last resort. I have access to sterile equipment.
Please, please help.
P.s. Tagging @catwoman707 @StefanZ @StephenQ as they have helped me wonderfully in the past.