Six month old with enteritis

tsorcus

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Hi,

I have two six month old kittens and the little boy is sick with enteritis (the non-chronic sort). The vet has given him antibiotics and an anti inflammatory injection and I have to inject him with antibiotics every other day until Sunday. He's not vomiting at all, but has diahorrea and is very stiff and obviously unhappy. He's eating OK, but doesn't seem that interested in drinking the amount of water I feel he should need to help him get better.

Has anyone had this and do they have any tips as to how to make him more comfortable? I'm worried that the little girl will catch it too, but the vet said that there wasn't anything that could be done to prevent it...

I lost my 12 year old cat to kidney failure last January and I must admit that any illness that seems along those lines freaks me out these days...
 

jeanette65

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Hi --

About water.... I have had luck in getting my cats to take water by mixing some in with their food. If you feed a wet food it contains moisture already which is helpful. I feed a canned food and mound it up in the center of a larger plate then put water around it. Because the flavor of the food mixes with the water, my cat ends up drinking the water and eating the food at the same time.

I too lost a cat to kidney failure so I understand how you feel. Hydration is really important with infection and especially with chronic diarrhea. If you he feel he isn't drinking enough perhaps the vet can give you fluid to give subq.

I wish I could offer some advice about comfort. I posted a question yesterday seeking suggestions for helping keep my cat calm and sane on crate rest but have had no responses. It seems that most people haven't had to deal with it; I can't find any info on line about it either.

I'm going to check back with your post to see if anyone offers comfort suggestions.

Best wishes for your cat's speedy recovery. I hope you'll post again to say how he is doing.

BTW, that is the sweetest photo...
 

kittkatt

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I haven't had any experience w/ this myself w/ any of my furbabies, but I'm sure that there is someone here who has. Hopefully they'll read this, and be able to respond..


As Jeannette suggested, add some water to your furbaby's wet food, to ensure he gets enough liquid.

I don't blame you for "freaking out": I have two furbabies who have the dry form of FIP, and any time either of them even sneezes or acts the least bit abnormal, I panic, too.


He is one handsome little devil, BTW!


Sending good vibes your way for your little furbaby!

~KK~
 
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tsorcus

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Thank you for the replies.

He seems a little better this evening, he's eaten most of a packet of Whiska's kitten (I have him on a premium dry food usually but he prefers wet cheap stuff and I reckon anything is better than nothing as he wasn't interested in the dry stuff at all) and he seems a bit more alert. He's drinking a little bit of water and I'm squirting more into him with a feeding bottle regularly just to try and keep him hydrated. His stools seem to have got firmer as well, although he doesn't seem to be pooping very much now - so that's the next thing to worry about... I've decided that if he doesn't pick up majorly by tomorrow I'm taking him back to the vets.

I was a little concerned about his sister, as she threw up yesterday, but she's really lively and perky still, so hopefully she'll be OK!

I was sitting with Oscar on my lap on a cushion all evening as he seemed a bit lonely and it's really the best thing I can do for him as he doesn't appreciate any more contact in his condition - I hope that I'm not just annoying him, but at least it feels like I'm doing something.

I was trying to entice the dog to lie with him a bit as the dog is Oscar's favourite person and the only one he'll purr for (and he makes a great hot water bottle!), but the dog is too hyper tonight!
 
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tsorcus

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The good news is that Oscar is much better today! He's eating lots, moving around by himself and even grooming a bit.

The bad news is that I've just come back from the vet's with his sister, Lily, as she was off her food this morning and just lying around....

She's got the same thing, the vet reckons it's bacterial OK and due to them ingesting something they shouldn't have and passing it on to each other.

I'd be really freaked out by them both being sick if Oscar wasn't getting better, but if it only lasts a couple of days I'm not that worried...

The mixing the water in with the food really worked on Oscar by the way - thanks for the advice!

Oh, and giving a cat an injection of antibiotics is much much easier than forcing a tablet into them in case anyone is worried!
 
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tsorcus

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Pleased to report that Oscar is nearly back to normal today! He started grooming, purring and even playing a little last evening and woke me up at twenty past five this morning demanding to be fed. (He'd better not think he can keep that one up!)

There were very touching scenes of reunion between him and the dog, as this was the first night they could sleep together all week. Oscar was nestling into Jasper's chest while having his ears licked and purring at top volume!

Lily is much better already too - she was never as bad as Oscar, as we spotted it and got her treated sooner. So I'd say that we should be back to normal in a few days.


Now, I only have to get them back into shape so they can be neutered and spayed - they were booked in for last Wednesday but obviously we had to cancel that!
 

kittkatt

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I'm sorry to hear that your other furbaby got sick too, but I'm glad to hear that what they have is treatable and that both are doing much better!


More good vibes are coming your way!

~KK~
 
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tsorcus

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Thanks Kitt!

You wouldn't know that Oscar's been sick at this stage, except that he's really hungry now and he thinks only wet food will do! He was much worse than Lily is and she's definitely on the mend too at this stage (the second shot of antibiotics seems to do it).

Of course, Oscar is a bit of a drama queen about everything and extrememely vocal, while Lily is really quiet and patient, so maybe she was feeling as bad but just didn't make so much of a fuss...

Amazing how quickly they recover though...
 
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