Well, my babies are definitely sick. The night before last, Bamf started sneezing more and his mucous was greenish, and I could hear him wheezing. Poor little guy. When he purrs right now, he makes little murbly meep noises with his rumble because of the mucous. It is actually really cute.
Anyway, I did get them in to see the vet yesterday afternoon. I really liked the doctor at the second-choice (now first!) vet. She was very natural and friendly, asked a lot of good questions and made me feel like she treated me as an equal instead of as someone who probably doesn't know anything about cats. I could tell that she didn't know much about nutrition, but instead of assuring me that wanting to feed my kittens Wellness and EVO after they finish the bag of Royal Canin was weird, she seemed to appreciate that I had researched it myself and cared so much about their welfare.
They both had a fever. Bamf's fever was a little high. They have no parasites in their stools, even though their stools are soft - no worms or coccidia, and very likely no giardia, but they came from a breeder. She said it is probably stress and their URI virus making their stools soft. Definitely a snotty nose on Bamf's part, and Pixel is just a little stuffy. The vet said that she was not as sick as Bamf. Bamf also has a bad infection in his left ear - a lot of mucous and puss in his left ear, poor guy.
Pixel's ears are fine!
The vet gave them both an injection of Ketofen to help bring down their fever. She gave me liquid Amoxy and showed me how to hold them and get the dropper in their mouths while she gave them the antibiotic. She gave me an antibiotic ointment called Animax for Bamf's ear and said it was also safe to use on small wounds on animals and people, and it should help him a bunch. She also gave me a smallish jar of powdered L-lysine to add to the babies' wet food.
So, they are definitely sick, but they are so cute and are putting up with everything fairly well. They behaved beautifully at the vet and in the carrier. When I got them home, they hid under the dresser for about an hour, but soon came back out and snuggled with me.
The vet told me that she was surprised that the kittens, particularly Bamf, were so sick, because if you look at how active they are (squirmers!) and how filled out they are, and how well hydrated they are, both of them seem perfectly healthy! She said that I must be doing a great job and told me to keep doing everything that I have been doing as well as giving them the medicines, and they should mend up just fine.
I am thinking about picking up a little jar of baby Vick's on my way home tonight to help Bamf clear his little nose.
I will let you know when they are feeling better.
Thanks for all the advice everyone.
Anyway, I did get them in to see the vet yesterday afternoon. I really liked the doctor at the second-choice (now first!) vet. She was very natural and friendly, asked a lot of good questions and made me feel like she treated me as an equal instead of as someone who probably doesn't know anything about cats. I could tell that she didn't know much about nutrition, but instead of assuring me that wanting to feed my kittens Wellness and EVO after they finish the bag of Royal Canin was weird, she seemed to appreciate that I had researched it myself and cared so much about their welfare.
They both had a fever. Bamf's fever was a little high. They have no parasites in their stools, even though their stools are soft - no worms or coccidia, and very likely no giardia, but they came from a breeder. She said it is probably stress and their URI virus making their stools soft. Definitely a snotty nose on Bamf's part, and Pixel is just a little stuffy. The vet said that she was not as sick as Bamf. Bamf also has a bad infection in his left ear - a lot of mucous and puss in his left ear, poor guy.
The vet gave them both an injection of Ketofen to help bring down their fever. She gave me liquid Amoxy and showed me how to hold them and get the dropper in their mouths while she gave them the antibiotic. She gave me an antibiotic ointment called Animax for Bamf's ear and said it was also safe to use on small wounds on animals and people, and it should help him a bunch. She also gave me a smallish jar of powdered L-lysine to add to the babies' wet food.
So, they are definitely sick, but they are so cute and are putting up with everything fairly well. They behaved beautifully at the vet and in the carrier. When I got them home, they hid under the dresser for about an hour, but soon came back out and snuggled with me.
The vet told me that she was surprised that the kittens, particularly Bamf, were so sick, because if you look at how active they are (squirmers!) and how filled out they are, and how well hydrated they are, both of them seem perfectly healthy! She said that I must be doing a great job and told me to keep doing everything that I have been doing as well as giving them the medicines, and they should mend up just fine.
I am thinking about picking up a little jar of baby Vick's on my way home tonight to help Bamf clear his little nose.
I will let you know when they are feeling better.