8 week old kittens are sick, I'm just stumped with this one...

Well let me start with saying I haven't been around TCS for at least a few weeks, not even sure how long now, maybe a month?

Kitten season hit like a hurricane, and I'm so happy to say that I have managed to save over 70 kittens/bottle babies from being euthanized.

So far that is....it is NOT over by a long shot.

I have had to recruit 7 new foster homes, especially from all the newborns, jeez what's up with that?! So many more this year than the norm...

Anyway, 4 days ago I rescued some from the shelter, shuttled them out to their foster homes, but kept 3 for my cat room, they def. need some extra TLC, etc. To anyone who does not know, my cat room is a separate room out back where I recover/evaluate/medicate/quarrantine, etc. for any newbies especially.

A black/chocolate female, and 2 black/white males. Same litter.

I knew from the start they were malnourished, very skinny, boney, very thin unhealthy fur, etc.

Found out real fast they have serious issues with food, omg I thought they were going to literally kill each other. I've seen tons of food aggressive kittens, but these kids take the cake.

So I feed separately. They ate and ate until their tummies were big and round, then vomit. So I was limiting what I fed, still, ate so fast and furiously they would vomit.

Then it went to vomiting AND now diarrhea, light colored both.

The first 2 days they were fed Babycat, which I love, it's the best for newly weaned/young kittens.

The vomit was digested food. So I cut out the dry and fed only canned kitten. Still vomit.

Yesterday morning I went out there to feed the canned and saw one of them looking lethargic, just not good. I was still thinking it was from their probably starving life, obvious malnutrition and inhaling food.

He ate a bit and stopped, went back to his bed.

Then the next one, same thing. He ate a bit more than the first one did.

The all black girl was fine. (well for her anyway)

Went back in the late afternoon, since I decided to stop feeding them to give their systems a break, diarrhea and both the boys looked crappy. Huddled together.

Then while I was looking at them through their cage, one of the boys got up to vomit. Yellowish vomit, watery though this time. My husband said probably from no food so they were over-drinking water. No.

The big "P" passed through my head, (Panleukopenia) Noooo waaayyy....I have 16 kittens in my cat room right now, between 5-7 weeks old. No way.

I took them to the emergency/after hours vet and was there until after midnight with them. (it was packed in there, more than I've ever seen) although they operate just like a hospital emergency room, go by urgency, so they swooped them to the back to get vitals, etc. and they weren't in immediate danger at least.

Diagnosis-unknown. Tested neg. for Panleuk, although I do NOT feel confident with this result since it was the snap parvo test used, I had false negs before since it must be caught at just the right time of shedding/symptoms.

Dehydrated, malnutritioned.

One of the males has pale gums.

Prognosis-guarded.

Brought them home, fed them a bowl of KMR with a jar of chicken baby food mixed in.

They ate like no tomorrow, but without the fighting.

I went to bed.

Today, so far no vomit (finally!!) but the clean litterbox had strange looking poop again, also some normal poop from the one female who still isn't acting sick. Yet..

I did take pics of the box/poop but I don't want to post it on here since it's not a pretty sight.

Anyone have a clue here?

Could it be Leukemia? (I ask because it's the one thing I have not dealt with or seen in kittens.)

I'm sad and very worried, these poor little kids have suffered so much already, just the fur and bones tell a story.

Ahh, I WILL post a pic of the one with the pale gums I took today right after he ate some of the KMR (that's the chin drip)

It's been a while since I took care of rescue kittens and the only one I had who came down with Panleuk had extreme diarrhoea and crashed very fast - mind you she also had lungworm and, like yours, they were extremely malnourished.

Yes, it could be FeLV and you won't be able to test for a while, will you? How old are they? I don't think you said. On the other hand, it could be simply their awful background.

Four days isn't long and you have already got them to no vomiting so they are improving even though it's tiny steps. The pale loose poop may be because they have had several changes in diet in those four days.  Can you put pumpkin in their food, or are they too young? Can kittens as young as these be given Metronidazole?

Can you feed them very small amounts throughout the day until their digestive systems settle down? I know, lots of extra work!

Can you give them sub-q fluids? That would hydrate them and make them feel better.

I do worry about the tuxedo male you show. Those half-closed somewhat glazed eyes don't look good. Is he the one with pale gums? 

I had a litter of three from a shelter to foster for a few weeks and they all turned out to be FeLV+.  The one who had trouble digesting his food tested positive first, another on the second test and the third was discordant. I mention this because the little one, who I called Roo and who died at 8 months, looked very like the one you showed us.  (By the way, I kept them all.)

However, we've all seen kittens looking this bad who come through with plenty, and plenty more of TLC and great supportive care.

Good luck!
 

Thank you Simka. I have seen panleuk, in very healthy, older kittens, about 4 months old. They took maybe a week to die, I knew then that even in very healthy, big kitties it kills. Period.

But I do remember their vomit was yellow water. Plus they didn't get diarrhea until the day before they died. The 6 week old kittens who gave them panleuk had diarrhea and vomiting for 3 days, then died fast.

This is different, so although it certainly is still a possibility, it's likely to be something else, just not sure what!

It is possible that it is entirely from extreme malnutrition, but I don't know....it just feels like more.

The tuxedo boy in the pic is the one with the pale gums too. This worries me.

Could it be FIP? How are their bellies? When they stand, do they have a straight top line or does it sway/sag?

The kitten in the picture passed away last night.

My heart aches for him, his short life of suffering, it's so terribly unfair. He went qietly in my arms, I was holding him for hours rocking and petting him. My cat room has music playing all the time to help the cats, the song came on by Abba-Fernando, I sung can you hear the drums Fernando?, the kitten looked at me and made a small squeak, it was the last time he could see me, so his name is Fernando.

Only had days with him, but it aches just the same as the very first time I lost a cat or kitten. He won't be forgotten, and I know at least I gave him an identity, food he so struggled for, and love, love love. He did not die alone.

I thought of posting earlier today to ask how they were.

I am so sorry, for you and for Fernando - I'm crying at work and  hope no-one comes into my office (which is like Grand Central at times). I didn't like to say yesterday when I commented on his eyes but they had the "inward looking" appearance that I so dread. I don't think I've ever been able to save a cat once that look comes into their eyes, no matter what veterinary help I've used.

Yes, he had love and comfort and a full belly of food, and a name, and you will remember him.

He reminds me of a hospice foster I called Vita because I so wanted her to have more life. She was CRF, malnourished, IBD from eating from the streets, but I did everything to give her more time.  She lived only 10 days but most of them were spent on a sofa bed with me, facing the french doors onto a deck filled with summer sunshine, with her nose always buried into my armpit. How someone could toss out a cat in her teens onto the street is something I can't comprehend. She also died knowing love, comfort, a full stomach, a name and remembrance.

It's particularly hard when you have a kitten who has faced such hardship but doesn't have the strength to live through the transitional period.
 

Thanks so much. Okay I'm back to bawling again...

I also know the look, just hard to admit defeat before it happens, I sooo wanted to save him, I just wasn't given enough time to repair the damage. I learned to follow my gut instinct, and I believe it was a bad bacterial infection in his intestines.

I still have his brother sick, but somehow I believe I can save him. He isn't quite as far gone, and his gums are still pink, a big plus there.

I had just started them on antibiotics the night before so they only got 2 doses before he went. Just not soon enough.

You have a heart of gold as well Simka.

Awwww.......................

What about giving them a probiotic as well? May also help sort out their gut problems. :cross:

Fly free, little Fernando. You were loved and had a name. You mattered.

I'm so sorry, hun. :heart3:

My heart is broken, too.  Had to stop and take a good weep.

Thank you for your reply and compassion.

I'm planting a little mini roses plant on his grave.

The ache in my heart is for Fernando, his sick brother, and for every little lost soul born unwanted, every abandoned cat who's world was turned upside down when they moved away and left their children behind, for every injured animal who has nobody to help and baby them through it, every cat who must put aside their dignity and dig through trash, hoping to find any little piece of food to survive, but considered a pest, or nuisance, for all the cats who live in constant fear, with no safe place, no shelter in the cold, no kisses and a bed to sleep on and purr, the homeless momma's who have babies and do their best to protect their children from raccoons/coyotes and dogs who will kill them in a second if they find them, as they watch helplessly, the cats who have litter, after litter, after litter, until they have nothing left in them and it kills them, for all the cats on death row, who were starving enough to be caught by animal control, and nobody to come and save them, the innocent cats who unsuspectingly eat poison, I could go on and on.....

For Fernando's momma, who is somewhere out there surely having more babies...........

How I wish people would "get it".

I find myself spinning down with such grim thoughts at times and when that happens, and I know there is nothing I can do to help in those particular circumstances, I remember one of my rescues at home - safe and comfortable. "Nevermore", who was in Animal Control after being seen wandering the streets for about six months getting thinner and thinner, and who took months to get over his nervousness of being in a home and with other cats.  Slowly he's understood they won't fight him for food and after a year he's started being playful with them. His coat is glossy instead of sparse, and he spends his nights tucked against my back - he's a big boy and it's not very comfortable, but ah well!  "Zazesh" was at the same Animal Control, taken from an owner who had made him an outdoor cat only and allowed his coat to become so matted that his back legs were stuck together and he was dragging them behind him to try to get food and drink. Malnourishment and dehydration took it's toll and his eyesight is poor, heart is affected. He then developed a neuromuscular disorder. BUT, he lives on my bed lying on soft, plush covers, with food and drink on a chest pulled up level to the bed, and loving his head scratches. Like you, I'm sure, I simply wish I had a home big enough and wallet big enough to take in the many, many more.

Vita is buried under the Sequioa at the bottom of my garden. She was so frail and weak I wanted her to become part of a mighty tree.

Good luck with your fight for Fernando's brother.