I have a four-cat household. Fifty percent of my cats are sick! Can you help?
I'm giving all the details I can think of in case it helps you experts weigh in.
My seven year old girl Inga and my 11 yo girl target are both sick. neither kitty is eating and I don't think they are drinking water, either. Target seemed to get ill thursday morning, and Inga followed suit later in the day. Both cats are listless. Both have been to the vet, where they got IV fluids and antinausea meds. Vet also prescribed the appetite stimulant, which I gave about two hours ago. Target seems a bit better, tho still not eating. It's Inga's behavior that has me stumped: she isn't vomiting per se, but she is doing this thing where she sort of shrugs,***** her head to the side, wretches, and gags out a little dime sized spot of clear saliva. Has anyone ever seen this? Yesterday it was several times an hour and today it is less frequent. Yesterday when she did try eating she would take a bit of food, start to chew it, then do what I described, spitting it out. Target doesn't do that but she does try to bury her food bowl.
The vet did a sedated mouth exam to make sure Inga didn't have a foreign object or angry tooth. She also got an X-ray of her gi tract and it was clear. For target, she did a complete blood work up and said she was very healthy. Palpating their abdomens, the vet said they felt nice and soft. She did comment that inga's x ray showed a lot of gas.
I am really worried and hopeful you guys can help me understand what's going on with my babies!
Here are the variables. All cats are indoor only. The 14 yo male cat is perfectly fine. The fourth cat is our new kitten. He came home two weeks ago. For the first week he was in his own room. Last Friday he came into the general population. There was some stress and hissing from target but it lessened every day. Inga seemed cautiously curious and never distressed. Early this week things seemed to be peaceful and everyone was healthy and happy seeming. The two girls also had soft stools and now they are straining to produce bowel movements at all. I feed the kitten separately still but they share litter boxes. The kitten came from a shelter where he was tested for FIV and FELV and was negative. He has had two courses of Frvcp vaccine and his rabies. He had ringworm in the shelter but tested negative begore adoption. He had one or two soft stools after coming home but is otherwise very healthy. Neither girl currently has a fever. My resident cats all had Frvcp boosters in October. They have always been healthy.
The resident cats currently eat blue buffalo dry food for sensitive stomachs. They switched to that in August from iams. They started a new bag this past Monday. Kitten eats his own kitten food.
I had plugged in a Feliway diffuser one week ago to try to ease transition. As of today I inplugged it just to have one less variable. I don't think it could cause adverse effects, right?
I am trying to give them food every two hours till bedtime tonight. If they haven't eaten then, I will dilute canned food or baby food (free of spices and flavors, just chicken water and cornstarch) and feed 5 ccs or so by syringe.
Am I doing the right things? Any ideas? Anybody been through something similar and got reassurances for me?
Inga is scheduled to see the vet on Monday again, when Toby goes for his kitten booster. Monday they will also have the results of the girls' stool samples.
So what say you?Contaminated food bag? Food allergy? Virus from kitten? Parasite? Something terrible and serious? I am a worrier. Thank you for any help you can give.
I'm giving all the details I can think of in case it helps you experts weigh in.
My seven year old girl Inga and my 11 yo girl target are both sick. neither kitty is eating and I don't think they are drinking water, either. Target seemed to get ill thursday morning, and Inga followed suit later in the day. Both cats are listless. Both have been to the vet, where they got IV fluids and antinausea meds. Vet also prescribed the appetite stimulant, which I gave about two hours ago. Target seems a bit better, tho still not eating. It's Inga's behavior that has me stumped: she isn't vomiting per se, but she is doing this thing where she sort of shrugs,***** her head to the side, wretches, and gags out a little dime sized spot of clear saliva. Has anyone ever seen this? Yesterday it was several times an hour and today it is less frequent. Yesterday when she did try eating she would take a bit of food, start to chew it, then do what I described, spitting it out. Target doesn't do that but she does try to bury her food bowl.
The vet did a sedated mouth exam to make sure Inga didn't have a foreign object or angry tooth. She also got an X-ray of her gi tract and it was clear. For target, she did a complete blood work up and said she was very healthy. Palpating their abdomens, the vet said they felt nice and soft. She did comment that inga's x ray showed a lot of gas.
I am really worried and hopeful you guys can help me understand what's going on with my babies!
Here are the variables. All cats are indoor only. The 14 yo male cat is perfectly fine. The fourth cat is our new kitten. He came home two weeks ago. For the first week he was in his own room. Last Friday he came into the general population. There was some stress and hissing from target but it lessened every day. Inga seemed cautiously curious and never distressed. Early this week things seemed to be peaceful and everyone was healthy and happy seeming. The two girls also had soft stools and now they are straining to produce bowel movements at all. I feed the kitten separately still but they share litter boxes. The kitten came from a shelter where he was tested for FIV and FELV and was negative. He has had two courses of Frvcp vaccine and his rabies. He had ringworm in the shelter but tested negative begore adoption. He had one or two soft stools after coming home but is otherwise very healthy. Neither girl currently has a fever. My resident cats all had Frvcp boosters in October. They have always been healthy.
The resident cats currently eat blue buffalo dry food for sensitive stomachs. They switched to that in August from iams. They started a new bag this past Monday. Kitten eats his own kitten food.
I had plugged in a Feliway diffuser one week ago to try to ease transition. As of today I inplugged it just to have one less variable. I don't think it could cause adverse effects, right?
I am trying to give them food every two hours till bedtime tonight. If they haven't eaten then, I will dilute canned food or baby food (free of spices and flavors, just chicken water and cornstarch) and feed 5 ccs or so by syringe.
Am I doing the right things? Any ideas? Anybody been through something similar and got reassurances for me?
Inga is scheduled to see the vet on Monday again, when Toby goes for his kitten booster. Monday they will also have the results of the girls' stool samples.
So what say you?Contaminated food bag? Food allergy? Virus from kitten? Parasite? Something terrible and serious? I am a worrier. Thank you for any help you can give.
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