Upper Respiratory in 2 week old foster kitty

I am new to this forum and grateful that you guys are here. I am fostering a mama cat and her 4 kittens. They came to me when the kittens were 3 days old, they are now 2 weeks old. Mama was dx with a URI about 8 days ago - I took her to the vet because she was sneezing, no discharge, her appetite was good, she was feeding her kitties and they basically told me to keep an eye on her and if she started having trouble breathing (which she does not), or if she stops eating to bring her back in. They rx'd Lysine to put in her food 2X a day.

We have been weighing the kittens every other day and the larges kittens are 7 oz the smallest is 5. The smallest kitten started having SX of an URI this past weekend. I took her into the ER Sunday nite, she was sneezing, she had yellow discharge from her nose. They RX'd a form of Amoxicillin for her. I had already been steaming her in the bath (they are in the master bath so this easy), she stopped nursing I think because she can't breathe so they wanted me to supplement which I have been with KMR.

Tonite she will have been antibiotics for 48 hours, she is not doing any better, she is mouth breathing and lethargic. I am having a hard time getting her to take her KMR - she is supposed to have approximately 40 ml a day, however she is taking in about 18 ml's. I can't get any more in - when I feed her I have to use a syringe and she starts mouth breathing too much to continue so I have to stop. Her eyes are half open, the other kitties are fully opened. It seems as if her 3rd eyelid is the only thing that you can see when her eyes are open.

Her momma is licking her alot and does not push her away per se. However today when momma was out of the box of kittens I tried to have the kitten (who is a girl and her name is Midnight) nurse, she nursed for about 4 minutes and then the mom just got up and walked away and jumped in the box to nurse the other kittens who were meowing.

Any advice insights? Anyone have experience with this? I feel like this cat is critical and I am providing supportive care to the best of my abilities. She put on 1/2 ounce between yesterday and today.

I don't know if the kitten is nursing at all during the night althought Monday a.m. (yesterday) I woke up at 6 and she was actively nursing - that is the last I saw her nurse. I am afraid I am overfeeding her (because it says everwhere not to overfeed) because I don't know if she is nursing when I am not around.

Does this kitty have a chance or am I prolonging the inevitable? I just finished caring for 2 family members who were in hospice and subsequently died so I would like to have realistic expectations about this situation. However, I don't have ANY experience with kittens this young - this is my first time fostering a mama cat and kittens, I usually do dogs !. I am not ready to give up - but on the other hand I don't want to keep a cat on "life support" forever either - does that make sense?

Any advice from you experienced folks would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.

It sounds like she might need to be switched to a different antibiotic if there has not been any improvement on the one you are using now.

With URI's in my experience the main issue is getting enough nutrition to fight off the infection. However the youngest kitten I've had with a URI was 5 weeks.

Okay - thanks for the head up on nutrition, I am going to feed every hour since she is only taking in a little bit every two hours, maybe I can get her to eat more if I feed her every hour.

I would also suggest keeping her eyes clean by using a moistened cotton ball or soft washcloth. I know I had a kitten that at 4 days old, had a "cold" and couldn't smell the mom's nipples to nurse. I started emergency feedings of Enfalac until the SPCA gave me other instructions (was one of their moms w/ babies). As long as the baby is eating, even if it's not as much as you would like, just keep at it. I am going to speculate that if kept with mom and fed supplementally the kitten should fare well. Don't give up, you're doing great with what you are doing. Keeping a close eye on the baby is also a very good thing, that way you know exactly what is going on.

Watch the kitten carefully. I had a kitten die at two weeks because mom had a URI and the kitten wasn't getting enough milk.

Try supplementing her feedings - the kitten I had was at the nipple almost all the time but there just wasn't enough for her.

Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I tend to slkip through posts too fast - so I missed everything you said about th ekitten. (I thought you were talking about mom). You sound like you're doing exactly what needs to be done.

Bless you - it's hard work but so worth it..

Well the kitty I have been writing about, Midnight, seems to be doing better. Nursed vigorously 3 times so far today and less lethargic, I am still supplementing. This morning another kitten crashed, lethargic, not eating etc., I started on antibiotics (from Midnight), and am supplementing every hour instead of every two since they don't take in much at a time. They are all going back into the vet tomorrow. The mom has runny eyes now, but she is eating well and nursing her kitties. I can't go to the vet today - report card pick up day for my children. I might be able to take them tonite though. Everyone needs antibiotics not just the first one to crash - Midnight.


Thanks for your pearls of wisdom and support. This is really hard to do.

L

Keep going at it. You are doing the right things. Getting everybody medicine is definitely going to help stop the spreading of this stuff.

Here are some vibes for the kitties to pull through and get better.