repeating Cat sickness leading to death - what could be cause?

sickmomcat

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ok so the kitten that stopped eating before yesterday developed yellow diarrhea and dehydrated extremely quickly and now the poor sheet thing died...I am so sorry for her. but the point of a story is that it is repeating for the past 2 years, where cats living in our garden shed are falling like this within 3=4 days.
first was her her grandmother who went away in a similar way. she was about 1.5-2years when one day I gave her food, and she suddenly took off to the garden to have a toilet, but she seemed somewhat alerted like in a shock something is going on inside her. she appeared to be tensed and alert like she would be hunting, but she was in a garden waiting for a toilet and it was diarrhea. after that she went into hiding, was down and deteriorated rapidly within 3-4 days. last time I saw her slowly sipping water for that is for hens...
she was totally down, eyes closed, face dirty barely walking, she was gone within few next days. she left 2 small not even 4 weeks kittens that developed the same symptoms after few days, both of them, where one went the same way as hers after having about 3-5 days similar symptoms and the other one which is mom of kitten that died today survived, but had very similar symptoms for few days too.
so i am thinking, there must be something that keeps killing these cats and I am trying to find out what it is. current mom has another 4 kittens all well and alive and strong, about double the size the kitten that died today.
suspects or the causes I think of what's going might be some hidden/forgotten rat poison in the garden, garden shed where they live, or vicinity that they ingest when they find?
or something called panleukopenia from what I have seen have similar symptoms, but where would they catch it? why the other 4 kittens seem healthy so far?
There are also hens living in garden, but I dont think it is related.
anyone can have any idea what might be going on? because the same symptoms are repeating, and they are heavy diarrhea, dehydration, extreme weakness and rapid deterioration and death within few days.
 

denice

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I were to guess I would guess Feline Panleukopenia, sometimes referred to as Feline Distemper. Distemper is actually a misnomer. The virus is actually a form of infectious gastritis. It can live in the environment, mainly the soil, for up to a year. The only way you could stop this is to keep the cats out of that area, have the adults that are left vaccinated. If that is what it is no kittens will survive, it is rare for a small kitten to survive even with round the clock medical care involving an IV.
 
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sickmomcat

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i misword sweet with h. and yes I think so too...I hope other kittens won't catch it as she was lastly sleeping between them. so sad...i just wonder where it can be from tbh...also forgot, there are hedgehogs who sometimes get into the garden shed and they also defecate there on purpose or so....i will try to adopt them, but not sure someone will give them such a good food as me...(they get regularly fresh raw chicken meat, organs, and i mix it with cat food and ocassionaly also kibbles) it's all preservative and chemical free....and they are strong and vital
 

Willowy

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If it's panleukopenia, it's everywhere. It can stay in the dirt for a year, and is very contagious. So you could even theoretically track it in on your shoes and infect an indoor cat. That's why cats should be vaccinated. If you live in the US, you can buy cat vaccines at farm/sporting goods stores and administer them yourself. I don't know about availability in other countries.

I will say that survival rates have improved greatly for parvo/panleuk. Most who receive vet care will survive now. Of course, vet care is expensive so that's a barrier for a lot of people.

I would also recommend providing the cats a separate water source from the chickens. Poultry tend to poop in their water and there's a lot of nasty things cat can catch from bird poop.
 
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sickmomcat

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If it's panleukopenia, it's everywhere. It can stay in the dirt for a year, and is very contagious. So you could even theoretically track it in on your shoes and infect an indoor cat. That's why cats should be vaccinated. If you live in the US, you can buy cat vaccines at farm/sporting goods stores and administer them yourself. I don't know about availability in other countries.

I will say that survival rates have improved greatly for parvo/panleuk. Most who receive vet care will survive now. Of course, vet care is expensive so that's a barrier for a lot of people.

I would also recommend providing the cats a separate water source from the chickens. Poultry tend to poop in their water and there's a lot of nasty things cat can catch from bird poop.
thanks i just read on youtube someone saying how vaccination actually make it worse....are there are side effects or risks with this vaccination?
 

denice

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There is always the chance of a reaction to a vaccination. One of my cats had an allergic reaction to a rabies vaccination. They are rare but they do happen. With panleuk I think the benefits far outweigh that small risk. There is a lot of anti vaccine propaganda out there, for some people it has become almost like a religion. At one time I do believe that we over vaccinated but the recommendations for frequency are changing now. Generally no this will not make it worse.
 

Willowy

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thanks i just read on youtube someone saying how vaccination actually make it worse....are there are side effects or risks with this vaccination?
Nothing in life is risk-free, but very few die from vaccine reactions. Since every cat who has gotten this illness has died, I don't see how vaccines could make it any worse :dunno: .
 

MissClouseau

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Feline leukemia is possible of course but also, I would check everything in case there is something toxic for cats there. A plant, soil, a poison for insects, anti-freeze, even the painting... I'm not sure how fast FeLV acts (worth to check the vet) but some toxic things show symptoms within the first minutes or even seconds.
 
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