A very sick little kitten :( - please help me

Hi guys,
I would really like some advice on this, im sorry its a bit of a long story.

I was in the process of adopting a kitten from a shelter when all the cats came down with cat-flu. because of this he was placed with a carer, and about a week later he got the all clear and i went to pick him up. the carer really didnt seem to know what she was talking about - she said he hadnt been eating (he is TINY) and she was feeding him adult cat food... anyway.
i took him home and for the rest of the day/night i couldnt get him to eat or drink anything and he was sneezing a fair bit. (maybe about 20 times?)
i took him to the vet at 9am the next day. the vet said he was extremely malnourished and by the looks of things he was about 5 weeks. he wormed him, gave me some formula to feed to him and if he didnt take to it - to force feed. I took him home, he would not take to the formula at all. I was meant to force feed him 150ml a day through a syringe. I managed to get about 15ml down before he threw it up about an hour later, so i headed back to the vet. He gave him some antibiotics, fluids and i took him home. He slept for a few hours, i tried to give him formula but no success. He randomly ate a dry biscuit and then ran around the house looking for more food. He ate about 1/4-1/2 of a kitten food packet overnight, and his sneezing got out of control - probably 100 times a day, but he had no other symptoms of cat flu. i headed back at the vet at 9am. he gave him some more fluids and antibiotics and prescribed me calvulox to give to him twice a day. it is now night time, he has ate a fair bit, but has stopped drinking water today? i also found a tiny bit of blood in his stool (however this could just be due to the worming). Also, his stools have never been solid.
im a college student - and i really cant afford to keep heading back to the vet if it isnt serious. this has cost me a lot so far.
i just want to know if it is worth contacting the vet again about the lack of water, or whether he'd be getting fluids through the wet food, and the tiny bit of blood in his stool. he did get a shot of fluids this morning under the skin so im not too sure.
sorry for the very long story - i am already very attached to this kitten and it would be horrible if i lost him.
any advice you could give me would be really good....

thanks a lot,
stevie

If he's eating all wet food, he may not need to drink any water. Check to see if he's dehydrated. . .pinch the skin between his shoulder blades. If it snaps right back, he's OK, but if the skin stays up for a while he's dehydrated and will need more fluids. Also, if he just got sub-q fluids he probably just not thirsty.

For malnourished little guys, I like to mix kitten formula with their canned food, even when they're older (up to 12 weeks or so). Gives them a little boost. And the extra liquid mixed in helps keep them hydrated.

The blood is concerning, but as you said it could be from the de-worming, or maybe he was straining a bit too hard. Keep an eye on him, if it happens again call the vet (he might not need to go in, but it's best to get the vet's take on it).

I hope he does well! I've raised a couple litters of malnourished kittens, it takes a lot of extra effort but most of them did grow up to be big and strong.

I'm sorry your little guy is sick. It's so distressing for everyone involved.

I second the recommendation that you add KMR (kitten milk replacer) to canned kitten food. You can also add a bit of baby rice cereal (found in the baby section; comes in a small cereal box) and mix it all together til it's the consistency of semi-runny oatmeal. Also, look for Fancy Feast kitten food in a can. Kittens seem to love it! You can also add a bit of the plain clear pedialyte to the mix or syringe the pedialyte to keep the little one hydrated.

Try taking your little guy into a steamy bathroom and sitting in there with him (play with a toy or hold him) to help open up his nasal passages. This will also help decrease the sneezing.

Watch for excessive sleeping and not eating or using the box.

Oh, I really have nothing to add to the wonderful advice given to you, but I am sending healing vibes for your new baby!!


Please keep us updated!

He still hasn't had any water, but he doesn't seem to be dehydrated and is eating a lot of food. Since he is severely malnourished (only weighs about 400g) should I just always have food available? I've been leaving it out and he seems to have a little snack every hour or two and will probably get through 2 sachets a day of wet food (they recommend 1-2 on the back with some dry biscuits for kittens - but I don't feel ready to give him the dry biscuits yet).

He has not had another stool sample for me to check about the blood issue. He had 2 with a little bit of blood last night and a third that didn't have any blood. I'm thinking it also might be because the first thing he ate was a dry biscuit and nearly choked on it, he might just have a bit of trouble passing it through. Especially because he has had a lot of wet stools due to the antibiotics so he is going more than usual. I hope I don't see any more blood and any reason to worry.

He is definitely appearing better. I didn't really know his personality but he is now playing for the first time and exploring which is great
His antibiotics are a struggle to get down. He seems to be very against syringe ever since I syringe fed him formula which he hated, but we are managing He is still sneezing quite a lot, every few seconds, and after he wakes up he does have a bit of a sneezing attack. The antibiotics are meant to run for 7 days and he is on .2ml twice a day.
How long would you recommend waiting to see a reduction in the sneezing before taking him back? I don't want to leave it and it continues to progress into a full cat-flu because I don't think he'd be able to pull through that.

Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it! Here is a photo of the little guy for you to see, his name is Nox

I would give the antibiotics at least 72 hours to get going in his system. The sneezing may take up to 7-10 days to subside. As long as he's sneezing less, that's good.

What a little sweetheart. He is so happy to have you in his life. Sounds like you are making progress.

Oh, the utter black kitten cuteness!! He's totally adorable, and looks like a sweet boy!

He is a sweet boy and bless you for looking after him so well. He sounds like he is a fighter so many good vibes for his recovery. You could also try giving him a little fromage frais (unsalted fresh cream cheese) or greek yoghurt - kittens love these usually, and they are nourishing.

he is now eating a lot! (maybe a bit too much )
there has been no more blood in his stools either, and they have actually turned solid

however, the sneezing is getting worse. he has been on clavulox for almost 4 days now. when he started on them he was only sneezing on occasion and now he never stops!
he also has discharge under his nose and eyes. treatment is meant to run for 7 days, but i'm worried he will just keep getting worse.
do you think i should take him back to the vet?

Couldn't hurt (except maybe your pocketbook). Sounds like he's on the mend, but, as others have discovered, kittens can be very delicate and fade very suddenly.

Since you're not seeing an improvement with the sneezing and the eye discharge, I would take him back to the vet. We used Gentamycin eye drops for Hannah in her eyes and nose to help clear up her URI when we first got her. It lingered and this seemed to do the trick of getting her over the worst of it.

Aww, what an adorable little guy. I love the name

I'm so glad to hear that at least his stool seems to be ok now and that his appetite is healthy. Have you tried calling the vet to see whether they suggest bringing him in? Of course they probably say yes, but that really depends on your vet and your relationship with them.

Good luck to you and Nox

i took him back to the vet yesterday, told them he wasn't getting better. so he gave me a tablet to try and dislodge some of the discharge to help him breathe.
but overnight he turned really bad and refused to leave his bed. if i put food close to him he would eat it, but he would struggle because he could not breathe through his nose at all. this morning he is even worse than last night. normally he wakes me up throughout the night wanting to play, but he was in bed at 9pm and it is now 11am and he hasnt moved besides eating a bit of food i put in there.
what do i do

Get him back to the vet immediately. Not eating will kill a kitten very quickly. The vet may be able to remove some of the mucous and help him breathe.

Steam him in the bathroom to help open up the nasal passages. Get him back to the vet immediately (maybe a different vet??).

Oh no! Poor Nox! He is sooo cute! Looks a lot like my Coal looked just a few weeks ago. He got very sick too, but has since recovered.

While Coal was sick, I did some researching to try and figure out what I should do. That's actually how I found this site! During my research, I read somewhere that discharge from the nose and/or eyes accompanied with sneezing is NEVER a good thing. I agree with a previous post about bring Nox to a different vet. If the same one has never been able to help get him well, maybe you should bring him else where and get a second opinion.

Maybe he has a sinus infection or something? I just hope he doesn't have the kitten version of SIDS. He is so cute, and I know you love him so much. Sending lots of vibes y'alls way.

I know you're taking great care of him... but really... get him to the doctor as soon as possible... a different doctor! Good luck, and keep us posted!

On another note, about the drinking water and food. Cats naturally don't drink enough water. They are desert animals. They are also carnivores. The way a cat in the wild would get its nutrients found only in vegetables would be by eating the digestive systems of their prey. (gross I know, but true and interesting) Wet food is a great way to give the cat the meat the need and crave, but also other nutrients kitties need... and water! Wet food has lots of water in it, and will help keep your kitten hydrated. Also, cats are very picky about the water they DO drink. It must be fresh... some cats prefer only running water. Try leaving out several water dishes for Nox to choose from... and make sure the dish and the water are both fresh and clean!

Also, choosing the food you feed your cat is very important. I know the best food out there is rather expensive. I have a friend who has worked for vets offices for many years and she gave me some great advice on feeding my Coal. She said wet food is always better than dry food. In general, dry food contains mostly trash and fillers. Wet food has meat, vegetables and lots of water... but I noticed Coal was digesting wet food quickly and he was always hungry. My friend suggested giving him just a little dry food a couple of times a day, like as a snack. This way he gets fillers to keep him full on top of the goodness of the wet food.

She also gave me advice on picking cheap, yet good healthy wet and dry foods. She said to read the labels! Check the ingredients. If the first thing listed in the ingredients is meat or meat by products.... it's a good decent food!

hi guys,

took him back to a different vet today, and she was hopeless. charged me $50 to tell me to keep doing what im doing. they wanted to run this course of antibiotics first before they try something else.
personally, i disagree. he started these antibiotics when he was only exposed to the URI and not showing any symptoms, he has been on them for 5 days now and it has fully developed into a severe URI according to the vet. so i think it's time that they try something different? it's pretty clear this isn't working and the antibiotics run out on saturday.
they said to bring him back monday if there is still no change (its thursday night here at the moment)
however he is still eating a fair bit. he isn't as active as usual, but i wouldn't say he is bed ridden.

i'm worried argh, i just want my little kitten to be healthy!

Originally Posted by stevie_rae

hi guys,

took him back to a different vet today, and she was hopeless. charged me $50 to tell me to keep doing what im doing. they wanted to run this course of antibiotics first before they try something else.
personally, i disagree. he started these antibiotics when he was only exposed to the URI and not showing any symptoms, he has been on them for 5 days now and it has fully developed into a severe URI according to the vet. so i think it's time that they try something different? it's pretty clear this isn't working and the antibiotics run out on saturday.
they said to bring him back monday if there is still no change (its thursday night here at the moment)
however he is still eating a fair bit. he isn't as active as usual, but i wouldn't say he is bed ridden.

i'm worried

argh, i just want my little kitten to be healthy!

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Find another vet. Kittens are so delicate, and any breathing issue is horribly serious. Did she do any kind of culture? Your little man may need an antibiotic, just a different one if these bacteria are resistant.
Good luck, and healing vibes for your boy!

My little guy had a URI and was on Amoxicillin. It didn't work as quickly so the vet changed to Clavamox that has two antibiotics in it. He has really come around.

Are you giving him nose drops? My little one had them 4 x a day.

But him being so tiny, time is really of the essence. I hate to say this, but maybe a different vet....a cats only clinic?

He is in my prayers. Nox is just so precious.