I haven't survived my kitty's life!

[mimi61]

I'm very sad that my cute kitty was dead. The litter of the mom cat had two kittens---- a female and a male. They are almost 4 month old now. A week ago , first the female kitty began to vomit and refused to eat. After two days, the femal looked very weak. I just worried about her. The male began to refuse to eat and vomit then. I just gave them a little medicine to feed, and they vomit. I'm afraid it was not any effective. The other day the female began to eat, seemed to recover. But th male was sick more severe. I gave him some antibiotics, but not enough. I'm very regret that I had not brough him to see the vet. Six days after, I saw him very weak, gave him water and fish soup, he ate a little. Then I brought him to the vet. He gave the kitty a large amount of injection(dropping). He told me the kitty had been dehydrated very much. Just after the injection, the kitty rapidly got very weak. He urinated a large amount and many times. Till night he weaken to death at last.
I can't save his life. I missed the opportunity. There were several days I could get him to the vet, but I missed. I'm very regret! Is there anyone who can tell me some method to cope with the case? In the early time when the kitty vomit, can I give them some medicine to eat? And when it is weak, how can I supply him water to treat dehydration in home? Thanks a lot!

 

[lotsocats]

I am very sad for the death of your kittens. I know you must be suffering.

When a kitten is dehydrated it can sometimes be difficult to get them to drink. But, you might try forcing fluid into their mouths (a little at a time) through droppers. If they are very dehydrated, the vet will need to give them fluids through their skin with needles.

I wonder if your kittens had FIP, which is fatal in most cases. This is a very infectious disease, so if one cat had it, the rest would become infected quickly.

Good luck in the future.

 

[debra myers]

mini61 - I too am very sorry taht your kitty children did not make it. Small kittens are very fragile and can fade very quickly. Sometimes there is nothing that can be done. The idea of using an eye dropper to give fluids is excellant. My little kittens also ate baby food (gerber, beechnut) which helped them get stronger. It does sound like thay had an infection. You tried and you loved them while they were here and sometimes, that is all you can do.
God Bess you and I hope that you recover from your sadness soon. remembe that they are now at the Bridge enjoying a romp with all the other kitten angels that are there.

 

[catspride]

Sounds like a viral infection. Whenever a cat vomits more than a little (such as with the usual hairballs, undigested grass, something he recently eaten, etc.) it is usually not a frequent or often repeated thing. If it keepts the cat from eating and drinking by the second day, you really have to push alarm bells. I know your need to try to do doctoring myself. Vets are expensive, don't always have office hours I can make, or are very distant, so that transportation is a long way away or costs a lot.

But a cat that vomits into the next day, or vomits continuously on one day, requires a vet's analysis. Some antibiotics are no good for one illness but miraculous for another. You need to get the problem identified quickly so the right antibiotic and anti-spasmodic medicine can be given before the cat dehydrates beyond help. Hydration can be something you begin right away with fish or chicken soup in small amounts (administered by an eye dropper or the syringes used for giving shots (without the needle, naturally!). If the kitten's tummy is too upset, you can try water. If that doesn't work, don't let it go more than a day, but get to a vet and have the cat hydrated with the regular hospital drip system.

Even that doesn't always work, but it often does, if the virus doesn't kill the cat with infection. But a dehydrated cat has no defences against disease, and fully-hydrated, might be able to fight it off together with antibiotics.

We all learn by experience to spot the most dangerous signs, and dehydration is a medical emergency if you can't deal with it within 24 hours or so.

Cats are, on the one hand, extremely fragile, and on the other, very strong survivor types. As you have cats, you will learn to body language, the sound of the breathing, the vomiting or fatigue of your cat, and you will begin to recognize what is normal for your cats and what is not. Some cats will have strong immunity systems and survive almost everything -- even some of the more lethal diseases. Other cats seem to get very ill very quickly. They are in this regard very much like people.

Don't be telling yourself that you did all the wrong things. You really didn't. And with more experience, it sounds like you can become a more-than-capable and knowledgeable caretaker of your cats. There is no death of the soul, only dying of the body. The Hindus say that it is sure that all things born will die and all things that die are reborn. This is the eternal wheel to which we are all bound -- even the vast star systems themselves.

Welcome to this forum. May we all learn from each other that we may all improve.

Peace and love,

 

[mimi61]

Thank you very much! I learnt a lot with your help. I have fed cats for 9 years, and I got my cats to a vet for a fewer times when they were ill. Sometimes they recovered by themself. This time the female kitty just recovered by herself.I wonder why the thin has recovered but the strong( the male is stronger) was dead. Till now,I don't konw the specific virus that attacked my cats.How can I prevent the case?

 

[catspride]

I don't know the statistics on male-female mortality for cats, but someone on this forum must know them. In humans, it is the male baby who has the lower survival rate, in spite of their more apparent robustness.

The only way you can prevent the lethal viral and bacterial infections is to get yearly vaccinations against all the possible diseases. Your vet has to give these. If you live in an area were there is a lot of rabies, then you shold add rabies vaccination.

Antibiotics and special diets, not to metion vet-fees, are very expensive, and the vaccination shots are generally a much cheaper alternative to the cat (or dog) picking up the local illnesses. You should also invest in a good home veterinary handbook. And check out the articles here on TheCatSite (see the menu strip at the top of this page). There are some excellent short articles on a wide range of problems, and many of these problems are preventable. Once a cat has gotten a really lethal disease, there isn't a lot you can do about it, even if you go to your vet.

There are a number of things you can check for yourself before you go to a vet -- the presence of earmites, fleas, or ticks, the presence of worms in the feces, fever, eye infections (pretty easy to spot), and so on. Many cats have recurrences of illnesses that seem to be typical to themselves. For worms, of course, you can usually buy worm pills in a pharmacy. Earmites require cleaning out the ear carefully (trying not to damage the inner parts) and using a standard medicated eardrop. There are shampoos, powders, and wet sprays for fleas and ticks. Eye infections should be diagnosed by the vet, but you can do the treatment at home. Then there are sick tummys from all the usual kinds of things, and hairballs, and allergies or poisons.

If you get a combination of fever with symptoms of one of the things above, then you have to be concerned, and certainly you have to be very careful not to let a cat, with its small body mass, to dehydrate. Loss of appitite is another warning signal -- accompanied by fever or vomiting and diarrhea, you might have a medical emergency on your hands. You need a vet to diagnose things that are puzzling or seem to be life threatening. It is very like rearing children. Many of the very same danger signs mean a visit to the doctor.

Prevention? vaccinations, a proper diet (nutritian) for the age and general health of the cat, and spaying or neutering just about covers what you can do. You should keep on hand a can of kitten baby milk formula for emergency rescues of very young cats, as well as several tins of special food for illness or for kitten food. Very young cats cannot digest cow's milk, and sometmes it can make them sick enough to cause them to be dehydrated.. If you read the various threads on this particular category of forum (Health and Nutrition), you will find not only a lot of good advice for the more common types of problems, but also reports of some very unusual or puzzling conditions. Check out earlier threads. I have found this group extremely helpful, because people (like yourself) are writing about real experiences.

Keep in touch.