concerned about new kitten

I have a new kitten (12 weeks old) and he has had a series of issues since I got him from a rescue organization.

First off, he had/has coccidia treated with albon but still had bloating, diarrhea, and has despite repeat fecal occult which was negative for coccidia.

He has a possible urinary tract infection (WBC and RBC found in urine, currently being looked at for antibiotic sensitivity)

The vet also noticed inflamed gums in the back of his mouth. A small area covering about 2-3 teeth and is thought to be stomatitis. The kitten is so young that plaque and poor dental hygeine would not be factors.

These three problems lead me to believe my kitten is immunocompromised. I am worried he has FIV or some sort of virus (calicovirus??). Any insight into how normal this type of presentation is?

You may be imagining all sorts of things. It is not uncommon for kittens with a bad start to have a series of problems. When I got my boys they were suffering from a whole series of parasites, internal and external, and stomch problems. It took several months to clear them completely, and then they were fine, except that Wellington has asthma, probably totally unrelated.

I agree with Jenny. These things may be because your kitty has been sick, or these things may be caused by your kitty's sickness. It's not uncommon at all for rescue kitties to have multiple issues when adopted. Who knows what kind of lives they have lead before being placed in a shelter! The new environment of the shelter, stress of multiple cats, stress of going to a new home can all aggravate and/or trigger illness in a cat.

Last year, we adopted a precious 6 mo. old kitty from Animal Control. She was so sick with an URI she almost died. She was flea infested, had worms, coccidia, and probably feline herpes. She spent the first week with us in the hospital so she could receive IV antibiotics & nourishment. When she came home, she had to spend almost another month in isolation because she was contagious...sneezing, blowing bubbles out her nose, runny, icky eyes. Our resident cat, whom I'd rescued 8 years ago and had been in perfect health, indoor only and all that, came down with a slight URI due to the stress of having a new kitty in the house. A few weeks later, she developed a UTI mainly because of stress.

Just this past week I took this now 18 month old cat to the vet for her annual checkup. She's now weighs 10.5 lbs, is in excellent health, has beautiful coat and skin, and generally wowed the vet! However, we still have a few ongoing issues with her in regards to air-borne allergens and stress (watery eyes). We know what to look for and how to treat these issues, but otherwise she's perfectly normal. Our 11 yo cat is now doing much better. She's playing like she's 5 years old, her coat and skin are more healthy, her arthitis is under control and she's back to her normal, jovial (most of the time) self.

All of this to say, you could be worrying over nothing. If your cat's been tested for those types of things and found to be negative, then your cat most likely doesn't have them, but is just having "normal" rescue kitty problems. Lots of TLC, patience, and working with a good vet should resolve these problems.

Stephanie

You just described what I went thru with Oscar as a kitten. He was dumped on us at about 4 weeks old and we struggled with his health for the first year. We went thru multiple rounds of Albon for coccidia, then at about 4 months old we had "non-specific" gingivitis that we treated for about 4 months (3 months of zithromax finally knocked it out of him). I too had a concern that he had an immodeficiency disease. We ran all the tests and could never find anything.

At a year old, he was only about 7 pounds but he has since blossomed to a rather pudgy 13 pounder. The odd thing I noticed about him is that when he had his growth spurts, he would sleep for a week at a time and at the end of a week, be a pound heavier. I've never seen that type of growth pattern in a cat ever.

We have never found what was wrong with Oscar, and at 3-1/2 years old, I still worry about him. His gingivitis went into remission for close to 3 years until just recently. It's back but not as bad as it was as a kitten and he is still tartar free so that is not the cause. I have a new vet now so if we ever uncover something, I will let you know.

And btw....when he had the coccidia when very young, he struggled with diarreha for a while after it was gone. Between the coccidia and the meds, his digestive system was pretty out of whack. We switched him to a high protein food for a while with a little bit of plain yogurt to balance out his system. Talk to your vet about a change in diet until he is over it.

I'm very worried about him and the rescue organization isn't returning my emails. I asked if the queen was tested for FeLV/FIV and if the foster had any issues with peeing on surfaces. No response. I can't keep him if he has FIV because I went through so much emotionally (and still am) when my other cat died of FeLV not too long ago.

I hope I'm worrying over nothing. I hope this is nothing and he'll be healthy and happy. I'm just so so so worried.

Kittens as young a 12 weeks old can be tested for Felv and Fiv. So on your next vet visit they can test him for it. Calcivirus does cause red inflammed gums but would also cause your kitten to be prone to upper respiratory infections. If your kitten came from a shelter and didn't get a URI, I would doubt that he has calcivirus.
Also, not always do parasites show up in fecal tests. Some parasites only shed eggs once every 3 weeks and can be difficult to find. There are several differant ways of doing a fecal test too. You may want to ask your Vet if they use a simple floation method because a fecal floation only shows about 30% of all parasites. A fecal centerfugation shows about 90% of all parasites and is much more reliable. You may want to also switch to an adult food because it is less likely to cause diarrhea and keep your cat on the same food. do not drastically change the food because this will cause diarrhea.