- Joined
- Aug 13, 2017
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I am not sure whether to post this in the behavior or health section as it is kind of a combination of both, but I guess the possible health concerns are most urgent so I am putting this here.
About 12 days ago I adopted a kitten who now is 5 months old. After a few hours of being shy he warmed up to me and things seemed to be going well. After a couple days he was completely relaxed, we played a lot and he was choosing to sleep in my lap, or with me on my bed, following me around the house, and seemed to really enjoy my company, though I did not have the sense he was as passionately personally attached to me as my last kitten who I adopted at a younger age.
After the 11 days of bonding time he had to go to the vet. I live quite a ways from the vet and this involved being in his cat carrier for a total of 4 hours traveling including a long wait at the vets. The whole trip was obviously stressful for him. But nothing that happened would have been particularly painful or uncomfortable.
At the vets he was examined and given 1 quick shot he barely seemed to notice. He had only been given 1 shot of his core vaccinations when he was about 10 weeks old, so he had another shot of the core vaccines plus the one for feline leukemia was included. And before I could object and suggest I would do this myself in a couple days, so he did not have so much happening all at once, the vet treated him with Profender...
Anyways, the combination seems to have been way too much for my poor kitten. It has been about 20 hours since the shots and Profender and he is obviously feeling crappy. About 12 hours ago after we got back from the vets he ate 1/2 a 3 oz. can of cat food and drank some water but now he has completely lost his appetite and just sits looking uncomfortable and is also avoiding me and leaving the room whenever I come into it. It isn't like he completely hates me or is totally scared of me now, and I have reached out and gently patted him and got him to purr a couple times since we got back and he watched me play with his favorite toy and followed me to watch more, but did not join in. But mostly he really seems to want to be alone. This may be partly the effects of the vaccinations and dewormer. Last night after he used his litter box he got all tripped out staring at his kitty litter like there was bugs in it and he stayed 1/2 in 1/2 out of the litter box watching in wide eyed wonder for about 10 minutes after doing his business. He has never done this before.
I am not sure how much his need to avoid me is that I wrecked our fragile bond by taking him to the vet, and how much is a possible neurological side effect from the treatments.
And I am not sure if I should be concerned by his physical reaction as from what I read decreased appetite and lethargy are quite common after a vaccination and can also occur after Profender.
I am just trying to give him space and gently reaching out to him from time to time for a light pat, but giving him the choice and space to refuse me, which he is doing pretty consistently right now and it seems to have gotten worse not better since getting back from the vets. I am kind of heart broken that our connection was this fragile and easily damaged. And I guess maybe strongly bonding with an older kitten may take more time. I really hope he will forgive me and that the next time he needs to go to the vet that won't reinforce his tending to bad opinion of our friendship...
Is this probably partly a side effect of the stuff he was given and if not what can I do to help him to forgive me? I feel it may be best to just leave him alone until he approaches me, but I am also worried that he is physically OK and need to check on him from time to time...
About 12 days ago I adopted a kitten who now is 5 months old. After a few hours of being shy he warmed up to me and things seemed to be going well. After a couple days he was completely relaxed, we played a lot and he was choosing to sleep in my lap, or with me on my bed, following me around the house, and seemed to really enjoy my company, though I did not have the sense he was as passionately personally attached to me as my last kitten who I adopted at a younger age.
After the 11 days of bonding time he had to go to the vet. I live quite a ways from the vet and this involved being in his cat carrier for a total of 4 hours traveling including a long wait at the vets. The whole trip was obviously stressful for him. But nothing that happened would have been particularly painful or uncomfortable.
At the vets he was examined and given 1 quick shot he barely seemed to notice. He had only been given 1 shot of his core vaccinations when he was about 10 weeks old, so he had another shot of the core vaccines plus the one for feline leukemia was included. And before I could object and suggest I would do this myself in a couple days, so he did not have so much happening all at once, the vet treated him with Profender...
Anyways, the combination seems to have been way too much for my poor kitten. It has been about 20 hours since the shots and Profender and he is obviously feeling crappy. About 12 hours ago after we got back from the vets he ate 1/2 a 3 oz. can of cat food and drank some water but now he has completely lost his appetite and just sits looking uncomfortable and is also avoiding me and leaving the room whenever I come into it. It isn't like he completely hates me or is totally scared of me now, and I have reached out and gently patted him and got him to purr a couple times since we got back and he watched me play with his favorite toy and followed me to watch more, but did not join in. But mostly he really seems to want to be alone. This may be partly the effects of the vaccinations and dewormer. Last night after he used his litter box he got all tripped out staring at his kitty litter like there was bugs in it and he stayed 1/2 in 1/2 out of the litter box watching in wide eyed wonder for about 10 minutes after doing his business. He has never done this before.
I am not sure how much his need to avoid me is that I wrecked our fragile bond by taking him to the vet, and how much is a possible neurological side effect from the treatments.
And I am not sure if I should be concerned by his physical reaction as from what I read decreased appetite and lethargy are quite common after a vaccination and can also occur after Profender.
I am just trying to give him space and gently reaching out to him from time to time for a light pat, but giving him the choice and space to refuse me, which he is doing pretty consistently right now and it seems to have gotten worse not better since getting back from the vets. I am kind of heart broken that our connection was this fragile and easily damaged. And I guess maybe strongly bonding with an older kitten may take more time. I really hope he will forgive me and that the next time he needs to go to the vet that won't reinforce his tending to bad opinion of our friendship...
Is this probably partly a side effect of the stuff he was given and if not what can I do to help him to forgive me? I feel it may be best to just leave him alone until he approaches me, but I am also worried that he is physically OK and need to check on him from time to time...
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