Sick kittens...

indie-n-button

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Okay so some of you probably know that a while ago one of my 8 week old kittens died due to unknown causes. Another one died this morning.

My mum herself went to see how they were doing and she realised that one had the exact same symptoms as the other one that had died. They are already going to the vet's every day for an injection (I'm not sure of the name, and the vet didn't say. It's written on a prescription which I'll try to get ASAP, I think the medication begins with a 'D' though?). The vet simply said that 'sardi lag gai' which basically translates to they've got nothing more than a little cold. He said to put them in the sun for a few hours and they'd be good to go. He didn't do any physical exams or anything, as far as I'm aware.

We've been treating the second ill kitten for a week now and he suddenly deteriorated and died. I told my Mum to put honey on his gums last night when he was starting to decline. That helped him perk up a little bit. He also wasn't feeding from his Mum because he was sick (we were feeding him ourselves) and a whitish discharge was coming from his eyes. He wasn't sneezing or coughing though, he was, however, wheezing when he was breathing.

Personally, I think the vet has no idea what he was doing. But that's just my opinion and maybe I'm just being salty about the deaths of my babies.

I basically think that they had a URI. Because a while back they started getting 'gunk' around their eyes and discolouration around their mouths. I tried to get my cousin to take them to the vet then. He didn't listen.

This is a picture of their discolouration, and gunk.


The other two kittens are healthy and active, though I'm scared that they could start to deteriorate any second now :/ Basically I want to know if it's possible for them to have had a URI even-though they weren't sneezing? The other two aren't wheezing, and I'm not sure if they're showing any symptoms. And also what antibiotics do vet's normally use for kittens with URI's? Would it be alright to give them Lysine? I /think/ it's available over here, though it would be human grade, is that okay? The vet's aren't very helpful here, no matter who I've gone to. I'm just not happy with their service at all.

Thankyou in advance..
 

louann jude

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The poor babies. Yes it is possible for a URI in them. Most vets have no idea how to treat little kittens so some say it is pointless. But with them being so sick maybe you could call around and find out if there is a vet around that is knowledgeable with small ones. Can you get a wash cloth and clean them up a little and I would take them to the bathroom and run the shower on the hottest setting and allow them to breath the steam at least 15 minutes.

I can't make any other suggestions other than what I told you. Maybe a more knowledgeable person will come along soon. I hope they will pull through like champs. They are so beautiful too. 
 

Norachan

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I'm so sorry about the kittens.

Were all four kittens kept together? Have you been bottle feeding all four of them? I wonder if there is any chance that they have pneumonia. Could you Google Pneumonia (Aspiration) in cats and see if the symptoms sound similar?
 
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indie-n-button

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I'm so sorry about the kittens.

Were all four kittens kept together? Have you been bottle feeding all four of them? I wonder if there is any chance that they have pneumonia. Could you Google Pneumonia (Aspiration) in cats and see if the symptoms sound similar?
My Mum just phoned. She spoke to the vet and according to him the baby that had just died had fluid on his lungs :( He'd had a little nose whistle since he was born, but we'd all just put it off to being the way the shape of his mouth was (one of my other cats, Butty, also has a nose whistle, so I didn't think it could be anything serious). We have no idea how he could have got fluid on his lungs though, according to the vet's he could have aspirated it if he somehow inhaled his food? Is it possible for him to do that while he was breast feeding? Or maybe he inhaled some amniotic fluid? Or could it have just been a birth defect?

Thankfully, he wasn't in as much pain as his brother was...

It's terribly sad though, out of a litter of 6, only 2 little babies are left :( One died a few days old, and 2 others died just a week apart. The other was stolen when he was 4 weeks old :(

Also, the vet said that sometimes the first batch that a Queen has isn't normally the healthiest? Is this true or? I just wish there was something more that could have been done for the babies :(

I'm still unsure why the first one passed away. It was so strange. He was the pick of the litter as well! Very fat and chubby and the largest out of all of them! He just suddenly started to deteriorate and could hardly keep his eyes open :( His lungs were fine though, and there was no discharge from his eyes either! (He's the ginger one sitting up in the picture I sent). During his last few moments he began to foam at the mouth and convulsed, as well... poor thing...

Edit: Oh! And to answer your question, yes all the kittens were kept together! The mum is a great mum and seems to just not feed the two kittens that were sick, she was grooming them though, very vigorously! She just seemed to be feeding the healthy kittens. We just hand-fed the ones that were sick. And I'll google the symptoms in a moment!
 
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donutte

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Oh my, was just reading this, I'm so sorry for the loss of your kittens :( I hope the other two stay healthy!
 

louann jude

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I am so sorry. Did the doctor mention anything about FIP? That is what it sounds like.
 

Willowy

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They need antibiotics. I hope that's what the vet is giving them. Even amoxicillin should do the trick, but my vet gives azithromycin for kitten URIs. With antibiotics and supportive care, they should be better soon. . .it's really up the vet to give the right medicine. Try to find out what they're being given.
 

talkingpeanut

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Fluid on the lungs is commonly seen with pneumonia, so I think that is a valid concern. All of the kittens should be on antibiotics.

No, it's not normal for a first litter to be unhealthy. This is due to neglect and bad medical care, as you've suspected.

Is your mom still there? Any way she could bring them for you to look after and spay/neuter the parents?
 
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indie-n-button

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Oh my, was just reading this, I'm so sorry for the loss of your kittens
I hope the other two stay healthy!
It really is sad that they had to die :( The other two are healthy so far! Hopefully they'll stay that way!
 
I am so sorry. Did the doctor mention anything about FIP? That is what it sounds like.
I'm not sure he did? But I honestly thought it could've been FIP, though they weren't vomiting? And the only cat's that they're in contact w/ are their mother and father and each other!
 
Fluid on the lungs is commonly seen with pneumonia, so I think that is a valid concern. All of the kittens should be on antibiotics.

No, it's not normal for a first litter to be unhealthy. This is due to neglect and bad medical care, as you've suspected.

Is your mom still there? Any way she could bring them for you to look after and spay/neuter the parents?
I'm unsure if antibiotic's are what the vet is giving them. I'll have to look at the prescription to find out more, hopefully Mum will phone soon.
God knows why the vet would have said that then! :mad:
And yes she's still there. And I wish that she could bring them over but it would really put a strain on us. We don't have enough food to feed 6 cats for god knows how long :( And on top of that, the kittens' father keeps trying to attack Button and Indie. I wouldn't want to keep them locked up upstairs because I'd feel so guilty about that. When the tom was here he was upstairs all the time and would cry constantly :(
 

talkingpeanut

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I understand if it's too much to bring them home. If you were to get the tom neutered it would help all interactions immensely, just saying. You would also be able to adopt out the cats to loving homes as soon as they were healthy.
 

teddybearhero

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Is it possible for the breeder to contact other breeders for some advice? There are breeder groups on Yahoo, I belong to one.
 
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