I posted this over on the pets.ca board but there's no harm in spreading the word on good news.
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Under normal circumstances, today is the day I would be burying yet another litter of kittens killed by panleukopenia. Fortunately for me and Enny, Mini and Mo, these are not normal circumstances.
Brief history: I foster for the local SPCA. Last weekend I had a kitten die from panleuk with the typical symptoms: vomitting, fever that fluctuated, extreme lethargy and dehydration. Symptoms started on Friday and the little girl (Cookie) had died by Sunday. Her brother Fudge started his symptoms the following day on Monday and was put to sleep on Tuesday.
I was on "death watch", litterally marking days of my calendar watching to see if my other 3 foster kittens came down with the symptoms. They were kept separate from the others but the virus "travels" well (clothes, hands...)
When my house got hit by the damn virus the first time, I had done some online research and found Ambertech's products. I asked here but no one had any experience with them. After Cookie and Fudge died, I looked up a supplier near here and got some "feline distemper" just in case. It was too late for the other kittens but I would try my hardest to treat the last 3 if I needed to.
On Sunday, exactly one week after the death of my first girl, Mo started throwing up and had a fever of just under 105F. Mo weighs under 2 lbs. I was devastated - on top of treating them for coccidia it looked they had been hit by the panleuk virus too. It was just a matter of days before the other 2 kittens would start throwing up too. I started with Ambertech's "Feline distemper" product every hour, all through the day and night for 2 days.
Today is "Day 3": Normally, today would be marked with all 3 kittens lying in pain, close to death (that would be tomorrow, day 4), dehydrated with me trying everything I could to get them to feel better. Instead, Day 3 is marked with a kitten pounding on the door to get me to feed her and all 3 of them crawling over me trying to get me to pet them first. Yes, they are more quiet than usual but they are NOT at death's door. They are eating, do not have a fever, have not thrown up since I started treamemt (they do have huge diarrhea though) They are not out of the woods yet as Panleukopenia is a horrible disease but we're a darn sight better than what my previous experience with this virus is !
On a normal day, my insides would be twisted with fear of what I would find next and helpless to do anything about the pain they were in. Today, I am smiling and being stomped on by purring kittens.
They have a dog version too: parvaid. If you have an animal (cat or dog) that has distemper or if you even *think* they might have it - do not hesitate to get this product - it just might save a life. I'm not saying this is a magic bullet and I would certainly advise everyone to check with their vet FIRST but if you have a positive diagnosis or until you do get to see a vet, I would try this product
Julie
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Under normal circumstances, today is the day I would be burying yet another litter of kittens killed by panleukopenia. Fortunately for me and Enny, Mini and Mo, these are not normal circumstances.
Brief history: I foster for the local SPCA. Last weekend I had a kitten die from panleuk with the typical symptoms: vomitting, fever that fluctuated, extreme lethargy and dehydration. Symptoms started on Friday and the little girl (Cookie) had died by Sunday. Her brother Fudge started his symptoms the following day on Monday and was put to sleep on Tuesday.
I was on "death watch", litterally marking days of my calendar watching to see if my other 3 foster kittens came down with the symptoms. They were kept separate from the others but the virus "travels" well (clothes, hands...)
When my house got hit by the damn virus the first time, I had done some online research and found Ambertech's products. I asked here but no one had any experience with them. After Cookie and Fudge died, I looked up a supplier near here and got some "feline distemper" just in case. It was too late for the other kittens but I would try my hardest to treat the last 3 if I needed to.
On Sunday, exactly one week after the death of my first girl, Mo started throwing up and had a fever of just under 105F. Mo weighs under 2 lbs. I was devastated - on top of treating them for coccidia it looked they had been hit by the panleuk virus too. It was just a matter of days before the other 2 kittens would start throwing up too. I started with Ambertech's "Feline distemper" product every hour, all through the day and night for 2 days.
Today is "Day 3": Normally, today would be marked with all 3 kittens lying in pain, close to death (that would be tomorrow, day 4), dehydrated with me trying everything I could to get them to feel better. Instead, Day 3 is marked with a kitten pounding on the door to get me to feed her and all 3 of them crawling over me trying to get me to pet them first. Yes, they are more quiet than usual but they are NOT at death's door. They are eating, do not have a fever, have not thrown up since I started treamemt (they do have huge diarrhea though) They are not out of the woods yet as Panleukopenia is a horrible disease but we're a darn sight better than what my previous experience with this virus is !
On a normal day, my insides would be twisted with fear of what I would find next and helpless to do anything about the pain they were in. Today, I am smiling and being stomped on by purring kittens.
They have a dog version too: parvaid. If you have an animal (cat or dog) that has distemper or if you even *think* they might have it - do not hesitate to get this product - it just might save a life. I'm not saying this is a magic bullet and I would certainly advise everyone to check with their vet FIRST but if you have a positive diagnosis or until you do get to see a vet, I would try this product
Julie