10 Week Old Kitten With Calicivirus

[GreenBird89]

Hello! This is my first post here, hoping to get some advice and assurance.

I have two beautiful kittens from the same litter - a girl and a boy, and the girl has been very unwell.

The story is - both had their first vaccinations the day after Boxing Day and were fine. Then a day later, they were fighting on top of the cat tree and had a tumble which resulted in my girl falling on her side and limping - only slightly. A day later she was fine with her leg, but started sleeping a lot and not wanting to play with her brother. Then she stopped eating.

So we took her to the vets, and had an xray for her fall and also to see if she had swallowed anything that might be causing her to not eat. They took her temperature and it was high, and then developed lameness in her front paw (not the paw she fell on), and looked very ill. The vet kept her in and put her on iv fluids, and then called us to tell us she suspects calicivirus. The vet also said that it was probably bought on by the vaccination, so a reaction to the vaccination and she was perhaps carrying it before hand from mum, but all the other kittens seem to be fine and the mum is up to date with vaccinations.

The vet kept her in overnight with iv fluids and pain meds and she started eating and perked up. I bought her home today and she is running around like her mad self, eating, drinking and using the litter tray. We also have pain meds (loxicom) to give her once a day.

So am I right in thinking if she is running around like mad and eating/drinking, that she is on the mend? From what I can see she doesn't have any lameness in her legs, but the vet did say that he noticed its her back left leg that is playing up today.

As I am writing this, she is darting around the kitchen humming and playing with the toys. I've separated her from her brother and will probably do so for a day or two, though it is hard because her brother is very mischievous and they are meowing at each other by the cardboard wall I have made lol.

Will she be okay? Do you think that it was a reaction to the vaccination? A fluke?

Thanks! Xxx

 

[denice]

I think it was probably a reaction to the vaccine and I think she will be fine. The limping after this vaccine does happen. Kittens usually recover quickly and they are fine.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Very likely a reaction to the vaccine, and Limping Syndrome is quite common with calicivirus. With the way she is behaving now, I'd say you're pretty much home free.

 

[Ladyrosee]

So I fostered 3 littermates 9 months ago. They all went in for their LOADS of vaccines (I foster for a shelter they're mandatory unfortunately) a day or two later the 2 boys got a 105 fever. Incredibly sick. The female was fine. They got over the fever, but the one boy (lemmy) had the most giant lymph node swelling in his neck. That too went away. Fast forward, lemmy has passed last week (some awful autoimmune disease not treated properly probably needing steroids). And the other boy (Morton who I decided to adopt) has suffered from a severe autoimmune disease the last 6 months roughly after his last round of shots. He has been on steroids ever since. I am almost certain they both got ill from vaccines. Morton is on a no vaccine list since he got diagnosed. Just a precaution that vaccines can kill

 

[GreenBird89]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry to hear about Lemmy, it's a horrible thing to happen. Especially from something that is supposed to protect them. The vaccination debate is hard from both sides. I want them to be outdoor cats, and I feel like there is a lot of diseases that they can unfortunately come into contact with but on the other hand, with her reaction, I'm very apprehensive.

I'm going to call their regular vet before they both go in so that she can call the vaccination company and ask them what the best course of action is (actually recommended by another vetenarian we saw at the practice).

Little kitten is eating and drinking a lot. This morning she was playing with her brother, but I've noticed this evening and late afternoon that everytime he pounces on her or tries to claw/bite to play, she meows at him, yowls a little, no hissing. She's always been quite vocal with him, every since we got them at 8 weeks. She doesn't seem to be interested in playing with him, but he keeps going back because he's much much fiestier than her. He will generally stop when she meows.

Last night I took her to my bedroom to watch over her for the night and she was very happy playing with my hands and feet while I wiggled them under the duvet. This morning she ran around like a mad cat with her brother, but this evening she's not very interested.

Could it be he's too rough for her and she's had enough? They aren't drawing blood, but he is quite rough and *always* wants to play. Not sure what the best course of action here is

 

[war&wisdom]

Could it be he's too rough for her and she's had enough? They aren't drawing blood, but he is quite rough and *always* wants to play. Not sure what the best course of action here

My two (litter mates) have always had that dynamic. She's generally chill, and he usually initiates play and is then quite rough. She's vocal during play and has learned to remove herself when she's had enough.

 

[war&wisdom]

Here's an example, in case it helps. This was when they were 9 weeks old. (The video is in my gallery on this site, not an outside source.)

View media item 422190

 

[GreenBird89]

Soooo cute!!! It's pretty much what she does awwhh. She has had a growth spurt and is now instigating some of the rough play lol, so I feel a lot more confident about how they are together. She's becoming quite bossy with him lol.