Several sick Kitties Need advice

[kmbishop111]

Ill just jump right into whats going on. My son and his fiance just had a baby. They also have just moved into another place. They asked if I could keep their cats in my spare bathroom and bedroom for 2 days until they moved. I agreed.

They have Patches who has 6 4 week old kittens, Luna whom is pregnant, and Stripers who is a 6 month old kitten. All were asymptomatic when they dropped them off. (With the exception of a few crusties in a cpl kittens eyes)

Well, for Christmas I paid for spays and neuters for the 3 that would be old enough.

Ive had them for 2 weeks, and the kittens are sick. Conjuctivitis, sneezies, etc. I have a humidifier in the bathroom for them and clean their eyes every 3-4 hours when not at work. Video from tonight
Luna's kittens

Two nights ago, 2 of my 6 personal cats began sneezing. Last night I found my eldest, Izzi, as in the video.
Izzi

I wash my hands after going in both rooms, nothing comes out of that room that can come in contact with my cats. (Other than my clothes )

I have noticed Patches playing footsies under the door with my cat, Stewpot, and he was the first one to start sneezing.

Now my son is not taking the cats back and I am in a horrible situation. I dont see any other option but to humanely euthanize the kitties, as I can't afford Vet bills for 15 cats and treatment.

Until I can get my cats in to see the Vet, I have started them on Doxy and sprinkling Fortiflora over the food w the Doxy. I will have to pick up some L-ysine and Terramycin as I dont have any on hand.

I feel absolutely horrible ab the situation, but I dont see any other options at this point. Am I wrong?

 

[silent meowlook]

Ok. Hold on before you do something you can’t undo.
Let’s start with your kitties. Where did you get the doxycycline? By sprinkling it on, you aren’t getting an accurate dose and it really shouldn’t be given that way.
Izzy is really sick s you know and needs a vet ASAP.
Call the place where you had them spayed And tell them the cats got sick. Ask them what to do now. Be nice or they won’t help you.

most likely the cats that were spayed picked this up and spread it to the kittens and your cats. If it is a virus antibiotics won’t help andit can be airborn.
What area are you in? In the US? There are organizations that can help.
As for your son.......I’ve got nothing to say on that.

 

[kmbishop111]

The doxy Im dosing at 10 mg/kg every 24 hours. The cats have an appt for the 15th to be s/n'd, sorry I was unclear on that. I have prepaid as it is a low cost spay neuter clinic. The Vet sponsoring this, I worked for for several years.

I have worked in the animal field for a number of years, as either a Vet Tech, Shelter Director, founding a TNR organization in my city, etc. I know the odds of adopting these kitties out, costs of treatment for each, and time involved. I work full time and take care of 5 colonies of feral cats.

Realistically, there are not enough hours in the day to provide these kittens the type of care they need. I have reached out to fellow rescue friends and shelters with no luck. And yes, I am in the US.

 

[kittymama18]

Any cat who is eating/drinking/pottying through their cold you don't need to worry as much about as long as they're eating/drinking. Wipe their noses to help them breathe. Hopefully you're giving them wet food? Anyone who is unable to eat/drink needs vet care - probably fluids & maybe some appetite stimulant to get them through it. SubQ fluids aren't pricey and surely the vet you work for would give you a discount on access since you work there, and could do the injection/etc yourself. Maybe one of the other vet techs would be able to help out as well.

 

[fionasmom]

I am sorry that all of this has been dropped onto you and that the kitties are so sick. This is not much, but once during a huge URI issue at my house ( due to rescuing a sick kitten whom I did not bring into the house), the vet diagnosed two of my cats and agreed that the rest had the same thing and gave me meds for all of them which was a lot cheaper than an office visit for all of them.

 

[Joelle and the kittens]

Given your earlier posts about your son and his fiancée's garbage pet ownership, I'm not surprised you've ended up with the kitties (although didn't they also refuse to hand over those poor newborns to you, despite the fiancée being too lazy to actually bottle feed them enough, and the kittens all died?). Euthanasia should obviously be a last resort, and I'm astounded none of your vet/shelter contacts have room to foster. Does the vet's office not offer boarding? It's possible you could get donations toward their care that go directly to the vet (which is far more palatable to donors and might get more success through social media).

 

[kmbishop111]

Given your earlier posts about your son and his fiancée's garbage pet ownership, I'm not surprised you've ended up with the kitties (although didn't they also refuse to hand over those poor newborns to you, despite the fiancée being too lazy to actually bottle feed them enough, and the kittens all died?). Euthanasia should obviously be a last resort, and I'm astounded none of your vet/shelter contacts have room to foster. Does the vet's office not offer boarding? It's possible you could get donations toward their care that go directly to the vet (which is far more palatable to donors and might get more success through social media).

Yes, I am not speaking to my son at the moment over this! He most certainly was not raised to treat animals as throw aways!! He was brought up coming to work w me at the shelter or on weekends at the Vet Clinic to help feed the animals. To say Im DISAPPOINTED is an understatement right now!!

I am broadening my search for help with these kitties. I have reached out to my local resources, and no help.

Vet appts are backed up here like any other place, but Im sure I could get one of my Vets to look at one of my personal cats, the 6 month old kitten, and one of the 4 week old ones to get some meds.

I'm just overehelmed at the moment and so freaking upset!!

 

[kmbishop111]

Ive searched for a foster but no luck as of yet.

 

[kmbishop111]

Here is them in their little Christmas tree.....

 

[kmbishop111]

I have 6 5 week old kittens that were abandoned with mom which I am caring for. Mom stopped nursing ab 5 days ago and also cleaning kittens. They are half the weight they should be, weighing from 229-368 grams today.

I started feeding just KMR, but yesterday switched to kitty slurries @ 6 pts wart, 2 pts KMR, 1/2 can FF Kitten pate.

With them having an URI, its been tough. Im trying to get a good idea of how much to feed and if I should continue w kitty slurries or if this is too much for their digestive system to process at their size?

Im not sure which chart to go by since their age and weights conflict so very much.

Also, what have yall found the best for cleaning kittens up without them getting chilled? Theyre just so fragile and I want to see them thrive. TIA!

 

[StefanZ]

What is wart?

Do you have access to raw goats milk? Anyways, goats milk is always an alternative. As it is or in a combo with other foods.
A well made slurry is more calory rich and nourement rich than kmr or goats milk. So the usual advices of 8ml / 30 grammes body weights no longer applies...

Anyway. If you want to increase the calories, use pedialyte to mix out, not just water. There is some glucose in pedialyte, it gives always some calories for free. Btw, if they do have much diarrhea, you shall give them some pedialtye too, to compensate for the loss of salts and electrolytes.

Another possibility is to use goats milk instead of water.

A third idea is you get them an IR warming lamp. The weak and sick are always freezing. Also, it gives nice warmth after the bath...

You can perhaps lend a lamp from some neigbour? Many rheumatic persons use IR heating lamps. Or owners of lizard terrariers.

 

[kmbishop111]

Sorry, wart would be water. lol
I can check into goats milk and see if I can find that local. Pedialyte sounds like an excellent switch I can make tomorrow as I'm researching goat milk accessibility.

I will check with my mom who has rheumatoid arthritis and see if she has an extra lamp. If not I may go the pet store route and find one.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[StefanZ]

As pedialyte, best is to take a flavorless; the same as for human babies.

 

[Sarthur2]

Have you had the mom cat checked out? If she has stopped feeding her kittens suddenly she may not be well or she may be stressed.

At 5 weeks, the kittens should begin to wean on their own soon. Do the best you can with getting food into them until they eat from a plate on their own - whether it is KMR, goat milk, or a slurry.

Here is a helpful weaning video:

I understand your situation. Hang in there!

 

[kmbishop111]

Omg, finally, FINALLY, kittens are putting weight on!!

I have one that will eat a little from a dish, one that is curious but cant figure out quite where the food is and ends up chewing the actual dish, and lost the runt "Betty" last night. So it has been a rollercoaster of emotions for mom here.

Im just so glad to start seeing some improvement!! I have switched to Pedialyte unflavored and am adding more kitten pate to their slurries every couple of days. Thanks for the tips and video, Ill update in a few days.

 

[Sarthur2]

I’m so sorry to hear you lost the runt. I do hope the others continue to improve!

 

[vince]

It's always saddening to lose one, but that the others are gaining is a real step forward.

 

[fionasmom]

You are absolutely trying your best for these kittens and without you none of them would have had a chance.