My Cat Keeps Getting Sick

[amazingdrummer]

So my cat keeps getting sick all the time.
I got her neutered when she was 6 months, took her 7 days to start eating again. Two month later, she got cat distemper although she was fully vaccinated. She spent 7 days at vet and then gradually recovered.
And when I got to travel and sent her over to a cat sitter for 3 days, she went home with skin infection (none of the other cats at the cat sitter got it ). Took her a whole month to recover.
Then she suddenly got throw up, although the Vet gave her shot and said she would be okay after a day or two, it actually took her a week.
Two week ago, I gotta send her to the cat sitter again (a different one) for 5 days, she got back super tired with infected eyes. She was so upset I gotta hug her all the time.
I wanted to adopt a cat (a relative wanted to abandon) but she hates other cats and she could get sick (for whatever reason) so I didn't dare to.

I'm so confused, I don't know how to help her. I'm spending too much money and time to care for her than I could afford. She got dewormed every month, no liver problem (I got her blood tested), eats only cooked meat, drinks bottle water, and never go out of the house, but still somehow manages to get sick. She is a very young cat (1 yo). Anybody can advise me if she got some hidden health problems (and what tests she should take)?

 

[Antonio65]

Hi amazingdrummer , I'm so sad and sorry to read how fragile your cat's health is.
Have you tested her for FIV and FeLV?

 

[cheesycats]

Is there a way you can have a sitter come to your house? My cats have feline herpes and get sick when they are under stress which is usually when I move them around. It’s best to not move them anywhere at all if possible.
Also by cooked meats do you mean you are giving her a balanced homemade diet? Just feeding her cooked beef or chicken isn’t a good diet and will likely add to her sickness. There’s nothing wrong with raw or homecoomed just make sure you’re doing it right otherwise I think it’s time to put her on a commercial canned and/or kibbles diet.
If you keep her in your home you’re reducing chances of illness because you are keeping her away from other cats and reducing stress. If she was adopted from a shelter or a multicat family she likely has feline herpes.
Also if shes indoor/outdoor keep her indoors. The outdoors can make cats very very sick with a multitude of things.
Hopefully she starts turning around. She’s young and I find younger cats (especially ones being moved around often) get sick easily. So just add some stability to her life and she should calm down a bit.

 

[amazingdrummer]

Thank you for your advices, she is my first cat so im not experienced with possible sicknesses but I believe it's not normal for my little girl being so fragile.
I will call my Vet to ask for FIV and herpes test (I just googled those deseases, never heard of them before, thanks)
It's true that my cat live on chicken diet only, it was because she is picky eater and she refused canned food or kibbles. I do understand these foods are more balanced but I failed to make her eat them. She would smell them and walk away so I ended up throwing foods away.

 

[lavishsqualor]

You are going to have to get her to eat a balanced diet or find a way to get the proper supplements into her. A cat cannot live on nothing but cooked chicken. This is exactly why she is getting sick. The lack of proper nutrients has weakened her immune system.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - Thanks for coming here!
I agree with lavishsqualor
also, if there is a next time that she stops eating, you may have to syringe feed her because a cat can NOT go without eating.
For now however, here is a list of tempting toppers you can use, either on top of wet food or mixed in, and also in addition such as with the liquids;

• Chicken or beef flavored baby food - make sure it doesn't contain any garlic or onions

• Tuna and/or the juice

• Salmon

• Sardines (make sure there are no bones)

• boiled cut up chicken or turkey with no seasonings - you used this so it may be the thing to put on or in her wet food to help her know the "new" food is ok and good to eat

• kitten food - it's usually smelly. See if it's eaten on its own, then mix it in or put on top

• Try mixing in Kitten Milk Replacer - there are recipes on the internet

• Fish, tuna or BBQ flavored canned wet food (I personally have never seen BBQ flavors, but...)

• Lickable cat treats or pouch treat gravy poured over the food

• Pouch cat foods - these typically have more gravy

also Nutri Cal for when it is an urgent situation of the cat not eating

• goat milk, or low/no lactose cow milk
• whole cooked eggs (both yolk and white)
• broth with no salt and no garlic or onion or seasonings of any kind

 

[amazingdrummer]

Thank you for your suggestion Furballsmom . Actually I tried to feed her kibbles and wetfood for the last 6 months, she always ended up licking the top (if it was chopped chicken, she didnt eat fishes). If I bought her those expensive chicken flavour canned foods, she ate for a day or two then insisted to be back to boiled chicken.

I try to make up for her bad diet by feeding her cat grass (she loves cat grass but wont eat any other type of green)

It's frustrated for me to see her being so picky and fragile. Except for food problem, she is the sweetest cat ever, and maybe because of that, I find it hard to forcing her anything against her will

 

[Furballsmom]

Well, give it another try, add some of that chicken she likes so well into some canned food, or add some broth to some dry food (if you do this don't leave it sit out for very long although you can leave wet food out for longer).
Try some kitten food, and try some pouch food like Merrick Backcountry - I'm rooting for you!!

 

[duckpond]

Yes, i agree with what everyone else is saying. She needs a balanced cat food. Wet is best, but if she wont eat wet, please try to find a dry kibble that she will eat. A cat cannot live on just cooked people food. She will continue to get sicker. Best of luck for you guys.

 

[amazingdrummer]

Thank you everyone. I was giving the princess (my cat) eyedrop for her eyes infection. I gotta wait till I have some money to take her for xray and bloodtest (that's what my Vet advised). Her eyes getting better, and she suddenly switch to kibbles. I do not know why, she just started eating kibbles although she never ate them before (I always put out some kibbles in one of her bowls for her -- just in case). 9 months trying with no success and then she just eat them on her own. Cat is strange animal but one less problem to worry about. Still, I will bring her to vet for check later when I can afford it.

 

[amazingdrummer]

Vet said that my princess got cat herpes, it's so so stressful for her and me. Her eyes got serious infection that a whole week of antibiotics couldn't help. I gotta clean her eyes every 10 minutes (literally) because of excessive discharge. But when I'm out to work, the yellow discharge from her eyes make her very uncomfortable because her eyelids stuck shut by discharge so she will hide under the bed till I get home and clean them.
It's 10 days of antibiotics already so she has to take a break.
And the most horrible thing, the VET said she might never get rid of the virus. My heart's broken

 

[jen]

Aww that sucks. Herpes is a bit more common then you would think. It just means she will carry it, and have flare ups when her immune system is weak. So keep her on the good food, keep her in the house, away from other kitties, and when you see flare ups, have eye meds or whatever meds handy. Did they end up checking her for FIV and FeLV also?

 

[nese]

And the most horrible thing, the VET said she might never get rid of the virus. My heart's broken

Yes, once they get herpes they live with it. We have one rescue cat with herpes virus. As long as she gets good nutrition there is nothing to worry about herpes. Ours live any sympthom free since 6 months (we rescued her nearly 6,5-7 months before). In fact she is the strongest and healthiest of our 3 cats.

Regarding nutrition I agree all the others, she cannot get proper vitamins, taurine, minerals from only cooked chicken. You need to supplement her diet with a good vitamin, taurin, mineral mix. Probiotics will also help to strenghten her immune system.
We feed our 3 cats balanced raw diet. One of them gets frequently sick similar to yours. On blood tests her White Blood Cell count (WBC) detected low two times. We used immune supplement for cats with echinacea, a vitamin/mineral mix and probiotic for 3 weeks. After that her WBC level was normal.
Next time you bring her to vet, you can ask hemogram which will Show WBC values. It is a good indicator of immune system.

Stress is also a very important factor on immune system. They really get stressed when they change homes. I strongly advise the pet sitter to come to your house once a day when you are away and spend some time with your cat, instead of bringing her to pet sitter's house.

 

[jen]

Lysine is good for boosting the immune system too.

 

[cheeser]

Vet said that my princess got cat herpes, it's so so stressful for her and me. Her eyes got serious infection that a whole week of antibiotics couldn't help. I gotta clean her eyes every 10 minutes (literally) because of excessive discharge. But when I'm out to work, the yellow discharge from her eyes make her very uncomfortable because her eyelids stuck shut by discharge so she will hide under the bed till I get home and clean them.
It's 10 days of antibiotics already so she has to take a break.
And the most horrible thing, the VET said she might never get rid of the virus. My heart's broken

Sorry to hear that your kitty is sick, but at least now you know why, and there are some things you can do to help strengthen her immune system so maybe she won't get sick quite so often. As others have already mentioned, a balanced diet is a great start, as well as L-lysine. We and our vet also found this old post helpful: Stubborn herpes infection? Add lactoferrin in addition to Lysine. He also recommended Feliway diffusers, and an OTC calming remedy called Zylkene to help cut down on stress, which can contribute to flare-ups. Once we got the basics covered, we've learned how to adjust the dosages as soon as Buddy starts showing symptoms again.

Hope your furbaby is on the mend soon!