Newbie with cats

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tortiesandtabbies

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Got back from the x-ray. The front and back of the lungs(?) look a little white. The vet thought his gums look pale so they took some blood for a simple red blood cell count, can expect results in a day or two.

Got a 2-week antibiotics course with anti-inflammatory and immune-strengthening meds and will see how that goes.

The vaccination and neutering seem like a faraway goal at the moment :frown:
 

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Antibiotics can raise heck with gut flora. If your kitty shows signs of digestive troubles, give him some probiotics or yogurt after his antibiotic regimen is finished. No reason to worry now, but keep an eye out for vomiting or diarrhea.
 
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tortiesandtabbies

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That’s great! Sounds like the antibiotics are working! 😊
The blood was taken at the same time of the consultation (prior to meds) but yes, a good thing nonetheless, thank you :)

Also think that they have been teething (found a premolar, if I identified it correctly) due to their slight reluctance with dry food and looking a little down.

Question: are cats in heat are always noisy? They're about 6 months and 10 days old now and butt sniffing is something I see on and off.

Would they be 'not caterwauling (if in heat)' because there are already ready partners?

I want to prevent this (and any babies) because it'll be another week or two before their 3rd vaccine and can only do the spaying/neutering after this.
 

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Yes, they are in heat. Can you get them spayed before their last vaccine? I would get that done asap rather than the vaccine just for sanity reasons lol
 

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I agree! The males may try to mount the females anytime now. This is not good. But yes, adult males in particular can be very noisy when calling for a female, and females can get noisy (and miserable) too when in heat.
 
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tortiesandtabbies

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Yes, they are in heat. Can you get them spayed before their last vaccine? I would get that done asap rather than the vaccine just for sanity reasons lol
Thanks for confirming. I kept reading that cats make loads of noise about this but they're pretty much normal except being a little more vocal at times.

I'm not sure why but the vets here prefer a minimum 6 month-old cat with all 3 shots. A clinic offered to do it either 1 week before or after the vaccine if I was in a rush but the timing clashed with the x-ray consultation, which I feared I couldn't handle if both went ahead. And if they're in heat, some clinics prefer if it's delayed till the cycle is over

Again, it's the first time I've had a cat or cats, and I wouldn't be familiar with the signs, so it's possible that the mounting had happened or otherwise, and one of the girls had diarrhea this evening and will have to monitor her stool.

It's one vet visit after another 😭 Their 3rd shot is just next Thursday, sighs.
 
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Out of curiousity, I separated their sleeping quarters last night (girls and boy) and they don't seem very happy with me at all today

It's a normal reaction from the separating, I suppose?
 
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tortiesandtabbies

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Antibiotics can raise heck with gut flora. If your kitty shows signs of digestive troubles, give him some probiotics or yogurt after his antibiotic regimen is finished. No reason to worry now, but keep an eye out for vomiting or diarrhea.
Appreciate this, I hope to get some probiotics once things settle down (lungs, neutering then recovery). So far, the stool looks normal but gut health could always use some strengthening. :yess:
 
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tortiesandtabbies

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Got the follow-up done and another x-ray to get an updated look.
A lot of the inflammation cleared up but some remained so he'll be restarting his vaccination shots once it's completely cleared. It'll be some time till then, meaning neutering is definitely not in the cards for now.

All of them are doing great so far and that's a relief :D
 
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Very pleased to report that the male kitten finally got his vaccine shot (starting from scratch) on Friday! No adverse reactions so far.

However, the female kitten that has been doing okay while the others are unwell, is now unwell herself.
*Went to the vet but they're unavailable today and hoping they will be available tomorrow. I brought all of them along for the male kitten's vaccine shot for a quick check-up on Friday and no noticeable problems then so I'm not sure what's the matter.

She probably puked her food in between last night/this morning and has not touched her food (both wet or dry) or water. So she's on some glucose water (1-2ml every 10 minutes; depending on her weight).
Might have overfed some water earlier because there's a small pool of liquids so I'm going easy on the amount I'm feeding her.
Seems feverish so I slipped a cold pack between the cloth lining to help.

Any other advice?
 

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Great news about the male kitten.

Kittens do get occasional tummy upsets, just the same way kids do. Are you able to take her temperature? As she is vaccinated, has only thrown up once and you're keeping her hydrated I don't think you have anything to worry about. A vet visit as soon as they open is a good idea, but it doesn't sound like an emergency.
 
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tortiesandtabbies

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Great news about the male kitten.

Kittens do get occasional tummy upsets, just the same way kids do. Are you able to take her temperature? As she is vaccinated, has only thrown up once and you're keeping her hydrated I don't think you have anything to worry about. A vet visit as soon as they open is a good idea, but it doesn't sound like an emergency.
I missed out on getting her temp checked (hands full with feeding every 10 minutes) but after keeping up with the glucose for about 4 hours, she improved and managed to get some kitten wet food down. But I stopped mid-way and she felt a little weak again so another short round of glucose and looked much better while eating some dry food.

Will see how she does tomorrow and whether our regular vet would be available. And thank you so much for the reassurance!! Definitely experienced some flashbacks about what happened a while back.
 
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Apologies for not writing here sooner, the female kitten with the tummy upset recovered later that night and was right as rain the following day. Norachan Norachan

She ate, pooped and isn't looking lethargic (basically behaving normally!) so we skipped the vet (but we also let them know how the kitten has been as they wanted to be sure).

The stool was light-coloured (once) and on the soft side (but not shapeless) but it does look like the stool is nearing normal, just need a little time.
 

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That's good! You're taking really good care of them, they were lucky to find someone like you.
 
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tortiesandtabbies

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That's good! You're taking really good care of them, they were lucky to find someone like you.
Thank you for the kind words. It's really reassuring to hear that.
Everyone is doing all right and my male kitten's neutering date is set for tomorrow! (The vaccine shot went without a hitch and he's feeling fine after, phew :D)
The female kittens are waiting for their turn, fingers crossed.

I wonder if their food would need adjusting after they turn 1 year old? 🤔 Especially after neutering.
 

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Probably will need to adjust feeding, as they don't need as many calories after they stop growing. Larger breeds keep growing for a longer time, so the one-year rule isn't hard and fast. You'll need to adjust based on your observations.

A fixed cat generally isn't so sex-motivated, which is the reason for a drop in activity and caloric need. Having one fixed isn't the sole cause of an overweight cat. Mine are all fixed and at a healthy weight (aged seven, six and three). They play, fight and have the zoomies like any other cat. In fact, the youngest is rather skinny, but eats the same as her "brothers." I keep trying to feed her more, but she doesn't want it.
 

vince

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Probably will need to adjust feeding, as they don't need as many calories after they stop growing. Larger breeds keep growing for a longer time, so the one-year rule isn't hard and fast. You'll need to adjust based on your observations.

A fixed cat generally isn't so sex-motivated, which is the reason for a drop in activity and caloric need. Having one fixed isn't the sole cause of an overweight cat. Mine are all fixed and at a healthy weight (aged seven, six and three). They play, fight and have the zoomies like any other cat. In fact, the youngest is rather skinny, but eats the same as her "brothers." I keep trying to feed her more, but she doesn't want it.
Probably should have worded it better. I should have said. "...which is the reason for lower activity and caloric need as an adult..."

I didn't intend to imply that fixing a cat results in lowered caloric need as a kitten. They're still growing and need more. A fixed adult cat isn't so likely to be running around looking for a mate and entering into related activities that expend energy.
 
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tortiesandtabbies

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Probably should have worded it better. I should have said. "...which is the reason for lower activity and caloric need as an adult..."

I didn't intend to imply that fixing a cat results in lowered caloric need as a kitten. They're still growing and need more. A fixed adult cat isn't so likely to be running around looking for a mate and entering into related activities that expend energy.
No problem and yes, understood kittens and adult cats have different caloric needs 👍 Appreciate the heads up :D
 
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