Kittens have a cold :(

I saw some kittens on craigslist and went to pick the brother and sister up today to bring home since we've been dying to get a kitten...when I get there the lady explains they just got back from the vet today and have small cold. She gave me the medicine to give them each day for the next week. (she didnt know they had a cold untill today so i'm not mad that she didnt put that in the ad.)

But i'm an obsessive kitty mommy...They have the sniffles and a runny eye and it worries me sick to hear them sniffling.

How long does it take for an 8 and a half week old kittens cold to go away when its on its medicine?

Also I'm confused about the medication. Its Oxytetracycline in powder form which I cant find anything on it online. It says 1/2 tsp per 4oz of water or food for 7 days.... I just got off the phone with the previous owners she says its twice a day.

Can't help with the meds, but keep an eye on those little ones. Keep them warm and make sure they eat and drink. If they stop, or if you think they're getting worse, take them to the vet ASAP as kitties can go downhill quickly. To help them, you might want to confine them to one room and run a vaporizer. If you don't have a vaporizer, steam up the bathroom then close them up in there with you until the steam dissipates. This helps break up the congestion and snot in their head.

I'm watching them carefully...the little girl wont eat. She had a few sips of her milk with the medicine last night but wouldnt touch her food this morning. She's constantly crying for no reason... I dont know what to do for her

milk? not real dairy milk right? Kitten formula feeding stuff?

Make the Kitten Goop and force it down her either with a syringe, bottle, or even on your finger.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46295

Also check out the other links in the kitten formula regarding kitten care: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74659

You can also get meat baby food (stage 2) with NO garlic or onions, clear Pedialyte and mix together. Warm it up (just a few seconds) a bit in the microwave or in a water bath and see if that interests her. You can also try a really stinky canned food, warm it up a bit, again, just a few seconds, but enough to enhance the aroma, and see if she'll eat it.

we gave them evaporated milk diluted with water.

today I took the little girl to the vet. They did a blood test said she has some sort of secondary infection possibly, but we couldnt afford an x-ray to find out so he gave her a liquid medication and told me to stop giving her the powder stuff. Also he gave me Nutri-cal to give her since she wont eat. I've been using a syringe to give her way diluted milk since she's not drinking anything either.


Her brother is doing wonderful he's sneezing and his eyes are still watery but he eats and runs around. I think she just got the worst of it.

the vet says if it gets worse to bring her in right away, but he still wants to see her in a week.

He says she's in a grey area and that I need to keep a close eye on her, make sure she gets her meds and nutri-cal and if she will eat food.

I'm so worried for her.

Make the kitten goop or get goat's milk or KMR from the pet store. Don't feed her regular human milk or evaporated milk. You can also mix in a bit or KMR with some canned kitty food and syringe feed it to her. You need to be very dilligent in making sure she's eating and drinking or you'll lose her.

What kind of medicine did he give her?

If she's congested, make sure you either run a vaporizer or "steam" her in the shower. Turn the shower on as hot as you can, close the bathroom door and let it get nice and steamy. Bring her in the bathroom with you, close the door and stay in there with her until the steam is gone. You can also take her in there while you're taking a shower. Do this as many times a day as possible. It'll help break up the congestion so she can breathe. If she can't smell, she won't eat.

Stephanie

I will do that tonight when we go shopping, defiantly need her to get better. She's on clavamox..my be spelled wrong...I'm afraid to syringe feed her because I don't know how much a kitten her size is supposed to eat or when is it enough..she still wont drink anything either should I syringe feed her water so she doesn't get dehydrated?


Also her left eye is sealed shut..I've been washing it hourly with a warm cloth lightly wet, but she wont open it.

I'm gonna put her in the bathroom while i take a shower, her and her brohter both. see if that helps them out.

Edit- I just had the best sight ever...after the shower (which she cried for the whole time on her blanket on the floor) I brought her out and she went straight for her food and ate a little I was a heart warming sigh to see.

Dana that's great news about your little girl eating! Praying she continues to improve. You might want to give her the "spa treatment" again. You might also use a saline solution in her nose to help clear out the snot. You can use Little Noses. I've never tried that, but others on my herpes group have with success.

Well we were worried about that eye of hers and her lack of energy. I read online about home remidies and a bunch of places mentioned apple cider vinagar.

And my husband brought some home.

2 minuets after we put it on her she ran from the kitchen into the living room and dove into her food dish, her brother ran up to and tried to eat and she growled at him vicously pull the food to her. Now before she'd been passive letting him take her food etc. And she even opened her eye, which was sealed shut.

She's barely touched food in a couple days or really had energy now she's eating alot.

I wish we'd thought to look this up sooner..really. We'll still give them both their meds but we'll also keep with the apple cider treatment.

I haven't heard about the apple cider vinegar. What does it do for kitties? Are you still steaming her? I'm so glad she's eating!! That's such wonderful news!

Oh! Have you shared pics of them yet???

Hadn't heard of the apple cider vinegar trick. I think I would dilute it about 50/50 with distilled water, if I used it.

However, my mother used to make a very weak boric acid solution to clean kittens' eyes. Boric acid is a component in most eye washes, so that's not too surprising. Mind you, this is something that she learned growing up on a farm.

Vinegar is about 5% acid, and I think she made her solution down in the 1-2% range.

How are the kitties today? Continuing to improve?

Stephanie

They are doing wonderful!

Cloud (the little boy) is still a little sniffly, and Daeva is nearly 100% normal she's starting to open the eye she kept closed while she was sick, its almost all the way open. I was worried she was going to loose her eye

But they run around play and are the sweetest, and most loving kittens I have ever had, they think I'm their momma its really cute.

Course Daeva, the girl who wouldn't eat when she was sick...has quite the appitite..and will eat anything and everything food related and will bite anyone but me if they try to take it from her. Guessing that has to do with her mother not feeding her and her brothers getting all the food. She's gone from skin and bones (which was heartbreaking to see) to being a cute chubby fluffball, she actually looks like a healthy kitten should, and Cloud is a very lean muscular cat.

and cause someone asked for a picture of my babies
Daeva is the main coon lookish one in the back with the squinty eye, and Cloud is the one in the front.