Kitten is sick. I'm getting worried.

Hi there, I'm new but pretty worried about our little kitten Limpit.

We got him on Sunday from a PetShop. They told us that he has not had his shots or anything and he is 6 weeks old.
We made an appointment to see the Vet today (Vryday) to get his first vaccination and checkout.
Sunday to Thursday morning he was playful and active, eating A LOT in the first 2 days.
On Thursday afternoon he started behaving differently and it was almost as if he was grogy and being dizzy. his one leg seemed sore and we thought he might have fallen down some stairs we have here although I didn't hear anything and I work from home. He also slept the whole day and last night.
We took him to the vet this morning as planed and told the vet that he is sick and he is sleeping all day, not eating and he has the limp. Our Vet checked him out, looked for dislocations or fractures. Checked his temp. Listen to his heart etc. Our vet says that he is pretty thin and it might be worms, so she gave Limpit some deworming tablets and said we must bring him back if he gets worse.
Our other Cat, Garuda was rescued from a cat adoption agency and he had all his vaccinations, neutered etc. and seems fine - He is 9 months old.

Is there anything in your opinion that could be wrong with him other than maybe having worms?
He slept all day today and if you pick him up and put him on his feet he just walks a couple of steps looking very dizzy and then flops down again.
Any help would be appreciated.

The kitten is very sick and needs a new vet ASAP. A kitten who completely stops eating should not be sent home. He needs to be checked and treated for dehydration and hand fed liquid food just to stabilize him

Was he checked for Calici Virus? This is an URI that can come on quickly, causes joint pain and often a limp, often a rear leg limp and causes sores in the mouth that can lead to not eating. Was he checked for sores in the mouth? You can look too, look for small white bumps or spots.

How are his stools? Was this "vet" guessing when he said "worms" or did he test a stool sample? If the kitten has loose stool there could be several causes. Worms won't create these symptoms. I know more than your vet, and that should worry you because I'm not a vet.

Is he sneezing or showing any upper respiratory symptoms?

Regardless, and even if none of the above applies, I think your kitten is very sick, possibly critically ill. I would find a better vet, and get him admitted overnight possibly. He needs a big evaluation.

And I would contact the place where you got him and talk to them. Was he purchased from a store? Are other kittens there having the same problem? Inform them of your kitten's problem.

Again I would go with a new vet, and an intensive exam. Your kitten's life may be at stake.

And he needs food in him now. Food is critical to a kitten at this age.

Hand feeding basics: Get human baby food, stage one chicken, nothing above stage one. Get an 8-10 cc feeding syringe from a drug store. Dilute food with water until soopy. Get food in syringe. Gently squirt a small amount of food SIDEWAYS into kittens mouth, about a teaspoon or less, basically what the kitten can handle in his mouth. let him swallon on his own. Do NOT squirt food straight back into kitten's mouth. You are not force feeding the kitten, but using the syringe as a tool to help you deliver food to his mouth so he can swallow on his own. He needs 2-3 jars of food a day.

Let us know what happens

This is defintely something more than worms. It could be a million things but if anything having worms increases their appetite, not the other way around. Has he been checked for fleas/ticks and other parasites? Fleas feed off your kittens blood and can cause him to become anaemic and dizzy and weak as you have described. Ticks can cause paralysis. I would hope that your vet had checked for that already though.

When was he vaccinated? Sometimes cats can have a vaccine reaction and they can go into shock - this is very serious and an emergency. It usually happens within 24 hours of a vaccine.

There are other diseases like Felv FIV, FIP, cat flu, etc that young kittens are susceptible too, but the best thing to do right now is get a second opinion and as soon as possible. He may need some blood tests to establish the problem if its not obvious and maybe even I/V fluids. Limpet sounds very sick and not eating / lethary is a big alarm bell as when they are so little they become dehydrated rapidly and they can die. Dont mean to scare you, but they are so fragile at this age. Limpit is lucky to have you looking out for him and I am sure with the right vet care he will be ok. Please keep us updated.

[QUOTE=

When was he vaccinated? Sometimes cats can have a vaccine reaction and they can go into shock - this is very serious and an emergency. It usually happens within 24 hours of a vaccine.


You must get him to the vet.
My cat passed away recently and she had the same kind of symptoms with the flopping down/not walking well and not really eating.
This was the next day after she had her jabs and altho she was took straight to the vets they couldnt save her.
Please take him now.
I wouldnt want you or your kitten to go through what we did.

Oh no...

Yes, he has not had his vacs at all that was what we where going to do today (got him last Sunday 5 days ago) and he became sick yesterday, but him being sick the vet said lets first see if he hasn't picked up some illness.

I took a bottle with a small squirt cap and diluted a little bit of water and some Hills sachet food and fed it to him in the manner you said - before reading this helpful posts though. Now about 3 hours later he seems a bit better and he ate a little bit of normal kitten food on his own but he is still sleeping the whole time.

I remembered the Vet taking a quick look at his mouth and also looked at his eyes - I don't see any spots around his mouth and he has no ticks or fleas.
His stool seemed normal last night but he did not do anything today, just urinated once.
He is breathing rather fast though. About 60 breaths per minute.

Thank you guys I will take him to another vet ASAP and keep you posted of his condition.

as a kitten, chloe had bad reactions to her shots. she limped really bad, didnt eat, got diarrhea, was extremely lethargic, etc. she developed vomiting later on. it got worse as she got older. she almost died last year. the reaction happened within 3 min of her shots and she had to have adrenaline shots
now we have to space out her vaccinations and give her benadryl before hand and watch her like a hawk--your kitty could be like chloe.

your kitty is probably limping on the leg he/she got its shots in. thats what chloe always does. my vet always calls to check the next day to see how the kitties are -esp chloe. if your vet doesnt care enough to check, id def get another vet.

either way, i think you need to take your kitty to a different vet for a second opinion

The kitten has *not* had any vaccines.

Since he didnt get Shots he might have caught something at the Pet Store. He is so young to be Adopted also. My Meeko was very sick as a Kitten. She had Worms and Severe Anemia. Has he had blood tests?

my bad -- i read it wrong. i thought they said theyd taken them for vaccines AFTER theyd gotten them from the petstore.

ive been REALLY illiterate this week. i either need to quit drinking or need to start

i think id have a chat with the petstore ppl AND the vet. and not a very nice chat if ya catch my drift then find a better vet

but i hope your kitties get better

awww poor sweetheart get another opinion for sure!!!!! poor guy I hope he feels better soon

It's ok Courtney I read things wrong too

I thought to take him to another vet this morning but my wife gave him the no 1 baby food and it did the trick I think. Thanks Stephenq!!!!
This morning he is A LOT better, he is eating and he isn't sleeping so much anymore, today he played a little and he never had any worms.
We are still keeping a very close eye on him and we found another vet to take him to if he takes a turn for the worse but at the moment he is getting better.
Might be malnourished from the PetStore.

I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks for all the good vibes.

I would still take him to a vet ASAP. Kittens can go downhill fast and you still don't know what is wrong.
Not to scare you but there is a disease called feline leukopenia:
http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=222

Because the kitten came from petstore there are chances this could be a result of a mother with health issues giving birth to kittens with birth defects.
Mary came in contact with a kitten that my friend rescued who seemed ok. He was up and down but ended up having leukopenia.

Limpit says "Thanks for helping!!"

He is 100% better!

Thanks again for all the help guys.

Awwwwwwwwww. Limpit is beautiful!!!!!!!!

My, goodness, what a beautiful baby! No wonder you fell in love with him.

Limpit is gorgeous. Glad to hear he's doing so much better.

YAY! Limpet is better. Limpet is also adorable.

Aw...Limpet is truly adorable! I'm so glad he's ok - I hadn't gotten to this until today and was so afraid to read what had happened. You have to keep us up to date on him - he is so sweet looking!