Help with rescued kitty w/cold

Hello: I just brought a new kitten home 5 days ago, she's about 3 months old. She is a beautiful little half breed siamese. She had been living in a hay stack in the cold--temps down to the 20's. She looked fine the first night I got home with her but the next day she started sneezing and had a funny little cough and sleeping most of the time. I took her to the vet and he gave her some Clavamox 2 times a day for 5 days and some gentamicin eye drops for her eyes and nose. She had a small amount of green mucous from her nose the first day. Now she won't eat anything for 2 days and is only drinking water. I've tried canned food (force fed her some), scrambled eggs, milk, tuna. She started vomiting after about 1 hour after the Clavamox, so today I haven't given her any. This would have been the last day to give the anitibiotics. Any ideas on what to do now? Do you think she needs a different antibiotic or should I just leave her alone today and see what happens? She is still urinating 2-3 times per day. It's been a long time since I've had a cat and I have never had a sick one to try to help. Any suggestions would be appreciated because she is a great little cat. Thanks, Candy

she started sneezing and had a funny little cough and sleeping most of the time.

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She might have a viral infection - bacterial infection or possibly both.

Her body is weak, using all possible resources to fight off the infection which is causing her to sleep and not be active. It is considered that some cats are just chilled cats and others are active, however it is generally seen that kittens are very active and playful and if she's sleeping most of the time then that's not a good sign... but please note, kittens do sleep most of the time any way but in between sleeping they're a little too crazy and very hyper active. So sleeping alot in it self isn't a bad sign for Kittens, but it is if they're not being playful at all.

I took her to the vet and he gave her some Clavamox 2 times a day for 5 days and some gentamicin eye drops for her eyes and nose.

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Not familiar with these brand names but i'm sure the Vet prescribed these to fight off the possible bacterial infection.. but I wonder, did the Vet take her rectal temperature? High Temp' is indicative of a bacterial infection because the body raises its own internal temperature to try and kill off the bacteria.

Now she won't eat anything for 2 days and is only drinking water.

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That's not a good sign, she really needs to have her electrolyte balance restored... there are over the counter products that contain the appropriate solution that you can syringe feed her. Such as Pedialyte.

I've tried canned food (force fed her some),

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I think dry food would be better in this instance, especially those designed for kittens.

Do you think she needs a different antibiotic

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Only a medical professional can answer that, antibiotics should never be given to any organism with out the consultation of a physician. So please, consult your Vet regarding this question.

she is a great little cat.

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Im sure she is and I pray she gets better.


Basically, her environment has to be clean and sterile as possible. She has to be well hydrated and well fed, if she doesn't the water and energy needed to fight off this infection... her body will shut down and she will expire. So you need to take her to a Vet immediately and see if they have to start an IV if she isn't able to eat on her own.

It is really important to get the right food, for my cats... they had "Royal Canin" and "Nutro" for kittens... different brands, both pretty good. So see if you can get that... but the most important thing right now is the pedialyte, and you need to ask a Vet how much pedialyte you should give her.

So please, see a Vet. If you can't, atleast call one to see how much pedialyte you should give... get the right type of food, clean the environment your cat is in and it is better to quarantine her.

Wash your hands, and make sure you are as clean as possible when interacting with her.

Do not let a Vet convince it is ok to vaccinate her, it will kill her. Other than that, see a vet as soon as possible.

Thanks for your reply--I have an appointment in a couple of hours. She has been up and drank some more water but no food. She looks a little better, I think that antibiotic was not agreeing with her at all. She did in fact have a fever 103.2 rectal at the vet's office. She hasn't been vacinated yet and from what I understand that isn't a good idea at all right now. I will try to get her some better type of cat food but I live in the middle of no where. Is Science Diet any good for cats? We feed it to our Boston Terrier and so far she is really healthy. The last cat I had was 17 when she was killed and I'm not kidding she would not eat a thing except Meow Mix (cringe). Any way thanks for all your info and the Pedialite sounds like a great idea.

Believe it or not a cat/kitten has to be able to smell their food to eat it. If your little kitten has a stuffy nose it can't smell it's food. Make a saline solution with about 1/8 tsp salt and a cup of room temp distilled or spring water. Hold kitty in your lap, put a cotton ball in solution and squeeze a drop or two in kitty's nostril one at a time. Hold her head back to do this make sure it's just a little drop. The kitten may sneeze and spit or stuff will come out it's nose but that's okay. Kitty will be able to smell temporarily and then may eat. Make broth with chicken necks, backs and thighs. Simmer it for a long time. Take just the broth add about 1/4 cup of tomato (not V8) juice. serve it to kitty at room temp. The rest can be frozen. This is great for a sick cat, very high in protien. These things are okay even if kitty is on meds. from the vet. Good luck!

Have you tried warming her wet food to make it more smelly?

Did she improve at all with the Clavamox? If so, she might just need more time with it. My kitten Eve needed a second round of amoxycillan to permanently kill off her URI.

It could also be that the first antibiotic wasn't the right one. Different bacteria need different antibiotics, and sometimes the vets don't guess right. Hopefully a different antibiotic will work better for her.

About her throwing up- was she getting the antibiotic on an empty stomach? Try feeding her first, then giving her the antibiotic. That can help prevent her stomach from getting upset.

I know how rotten it is having a sick kitten. Best of luck, and I hope she gets better soon!

I rescued a feral kitten about a month ago. I was actually able to pick her up by hand because she had such a bad respitory infection. She was running a fever too. The vet put her on Clavomix which we gave by syringe and we fed her the P/D Science Diet wet and dry.
With your kitten, one reason she could be vomiting is the rapid changes in diet. Even healthy cats can't tolerate rapid food changes. If you use the P/D wet, about a tablespoon mixed with a little water to the consistency of lumpy soup and warmed in the microwave for 12 seconds in a shallow saucer she should be very interested. If she can't eat it, filling a syringe with it and gently introducing it to her mouth in a very slow thin stream should do the trick. They get weak quickly if they are sick and not eating when they are so little. You'll be surprised at how quickly she'll rebound. We've used P/D Science Diet wet with lots of feral kittens and it always does the trick.
One thing the vet told me was that stress can acerbate the symptoms of repsitory infections, so we made sure she was in a small dim very warm room, witha regular feeding and medicating schedule. Also wipe her little nose gently with a very warm wet cloth and give her a bit of a wipe down. Licking is how mother cats stimulate their kittens to eat.
After three weeks of this care, a few weeks ago our latest feral kitten (Frida) went home to her new mommy, healthy and happy. Its so nice to see their little round tummies where once they we skin and bones.

Thanks to everyone who helped me with my kitty. She is doing so much better today. All of your info was great but Chrisdan your info about the saline worked great. She started eating about 10 min. after the treatment. I would encourage this simple treatment to anyone that has a kitten with a cold. This seemed to be the trick. She still is sneezing a little but no further fever when we rechecked her at the vet's office. I'm sure she is going to make it now and grow up to be a great cat. Her and the Boston have been playing a little tonight. They love each other.
Again many thanks to all of you. Bye for now.
Candy

Originally Posted by chrisdan

Believe it or not a cat/kitten has to be able to smell their food to eat it. If your little kitten has a stuffy nose it can't smell it's food. Make a saline solution with about 1/8 tsp salt and a cup of room temp distilled or spring water. Hold kitty in your lap, put a cotton ball in solution and squeeze a drop or two in kitty's nostril one at a time. Hold her head back to do this make sure it's just a little drop. The kitten may sneeze and spit or stuff will come out it's nose but that's okay. Kitty will be able to smell temporarily and then may eat. Make broth with chicken necks, backs and thighs. Simmer it for a long time. Take just the broth add about 1/4 cup of tomato (not V8) juice. serve it to kitty at room temp. The rest can be frozen. This is great for a sick cat, very high in protien. These things are okay even if kitty is on meds. from the vet. Good luck!

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Wow this brought back memories. When our daughter was 6 months old she had such a terrible cold and it was Christmas so the family doctor was off with his family. Lucky for us, he was the old-fashioned type who gave me his home and cottage number when he found out I was pregnant and told me to call any time day or night if I had concerns. (They don't make 'em like that anymore.) Anyway, I called him at home because Jennifer could only breathe if she was crying to pull air into her lungs. He told me to fill an aspirator with warm salt water and squeeze it into her nostrils while holding her over a basin. It seemed cruel at the time and was hard for us to do (my dad had to leave the room, he couldn't even watch), but my hubby said we would do whatever we had to. After squeezing the stuff in her nostrils, she sputtered and spit all that gunk out and finally cleared up enough to get some sleep (for all of us).