We have two teenaged Persians, 14 and 15, and in the past month we adopted two feral kittens. All of the cats are sick and on meds right now, and of course, it's Saturday night, when I can't call the vet when I'm worried. There's just too much going on around here. I feel like we're running a clinic. We live in a small apartment and can't isolate anyone.
Our male kitten began sneezing right after we got him, and his baby meow grew hoarse. He has a URI, which our vet didn't think was serious. It didn't affect his appetite or energy at first, but didn't get better in more than 10 days. This week it got worse. Bad sneezing, sniffling, pawing his nose, which must be all blocked. He seemed to be struggling to breathe so I raced him to the vet a few days ago; he's been on amoxicillin liquid for two days so far. He's been sleeping a lot since then.
Today his nose became a little bloody and he's suddenly got a red sore under one nostril. I'm running a vaporizer and putting warm, wet sponges on top of his nose without touching the sore, which looks painful. He's eating well, but isn't active. Is there anything else I can try?
Our male Persian, 14, must have caught the same virus, and is having a tough time. He lost his voice two weeks ago, and our vet put him under and looked down his throat and said it's very inflamed. He was on pain meds for a couple weeks (at about $5 a shot, we couldn't do it indefinitely). He has been getting amoxicillin for two days. Since he's been getting that, he's barely eaten, although I try to feed him Science Diet AD "pudding" with a spoon or all-meat baby food, which he loves. He began regurgitating whatever he ate a few days ago, before the vet put him on the antibiotic. He hasn't done that for a couple of days, anyhow: the little he does eat stays down. He's not emaciated or weak, but I'm worried. Either it's from pain and/or difficulty swallowing and smelling, or could it be the drug? Tonight I noticed that the fur around his mouth looks a little bloody, as does his nose, just a bit. Is this to be expected with a URI?
I suppose it's only a matter of time before our female kitten and our 15-year-old female (who takes steroids for IBD and also has mild CRF) catch this, right? We trying to give all four cats lysine gel in their food but they often won't touch it.
I'll call the vet on Monday morning, but if anyone has any experience with any of this, or advice, or tips, I'd love to hear from you!
On top of all this, the kittens came with all kinds of worms, of course, and one may have ringworm fungus, too. We're treating the worms; the kittens still have loose stools, but their appetites are good and they are drinking.
We're waiting for the ringworm culture results, which could take another 2 weeks. We're treating the suspicious spots on that kitten, a female, with Tresaderm. She's had two antifungal baths. Our male kitten had one bath, but then his URI got worse. I am cleaning our house like mad and learning all I can about ringworm. If they have it, it's going to be crazy around here!
Our male kitten began sneezing right after we got him, and his baby meow grew hoarse. He has a URI, which our vet didn't think was serious. It didn't affect his appetite or energy at first, but didn't get better in more than 10 days. This week it got worse. Bad sneezing, sniffling, pawing his nose, which must be all blocked. He seemed to be struggling to breathe so I raced him to the vet a few days ago; he's been on amoxicillin liquid for two days so far. He's been sleeping a lot since then.
Today his nose became a little bloody and he's suddenly got a red sore under one nostril. I'm running a vaporizer and putting warm, wet sponges on top of his nose without touching the sore, which looks painful. He's eating well, but isn't active. Is there anything else I can try?
Our male Persian, 14, must have caught the same virus, and is having a tough time. He lost his voice two weeks ago, and our vet put him under and looked down his throat and said it's very inflamed. He was on pain meds for a couple weeks (at about $5 a shot, we couldn't do it indefinitely). He has been getting amoxicillin for two days. Since he's been getting that, he's barely eaten, although I try to feed him Science Diet AD "pudding" with a spoon or all-meat baby food, which he loves. He began regurgitating whatever he ate a few days ago, before the vet put him on the antibiotic. He hasn't done that for a couple of days, anyhow: the little he does eat stays down. He's not emaciated or weak, but I'm worried. Either it's from pain and/or difficulty swallowing and smelling, or could it be the drug? Tonight I noticed that the fur around his mouth looks a little bloody, as does his nose, just a bit. Is this to be expected with a URI?
I suppose it's only a matter of time before our female kitten and our 15-year-old female (who takes steroids for IBD and also has mild CRF) catch this, right? We trying to give all four cats lysine gel in their food but they often won't touch it.
I'll call the vet on Monday morning, but if anyone has any experience with any of this, or advice, or tips, I'd love to hear from you!
On top of all this, the kittens came with all kinds of worms, of course, and one may have ringworm fungus, too. We're treating the worms; the kittens still have loose stools, but their appetites are good and they are drinking.
We're waiting for the ringworm culture results, which could take another 2 weeks. We're treating the suspicious spots on that kitten, a female, with Tresaderm. She's had two antifungal baths. Our male kitten had one bath, but then his URI got worse. I am cleaning our house like mad and learning all I can about ringworm. If they have it, it's going to be crazy around here!
