My kitty is sick and I don't know what to do! HELP!

The kitten I recently got, Cuddles, wasn't feeling so good lately. She had sores on her paws and yesterday began to limp, then she became listless and lethargic and had no energy. She only ate if we brought the food right in front of her.

Today, we took her to the vet. They said she had a high fever most likely caused by infection in her paw. They gave her antibiotics, subcutaneous fluids, and an anti-inflammatory, and she hasn't responded to any treatment. My vet thinks that her inability to fight the infection could be caused by FeLV...she is too young to have the vaccine, only six to seven weeks old.

Now the vet thinks Cookie (one year old, wasn't vaccinated for FeLV) has been exposed. We can't test the kitten for FeLV until she is six months...

Help. I'm terrified, I've already lost two cats this year, and I don't want to lose these ones. I'm already sobbing my eyes out at the fact I could lose Cuddles and Cookie. Please give me some advice and support ASAP, I'm so so upset.

kittylover23 said:

Today, we took her to the vet. They said she had a high fever most likely caused by infection in her paw. They gave her antibiotics, subcutaneous fluids, and an anti-inflammatory, and she hasn't responded to any treatment. My vet thinks that her inability to fight the infection could be caused by FeLV...she is too young to have the vaccine, only six to seven weeks old.

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I would ask the vet to do the screening test for FeLV, ELISA, and then if need be, the immunofluorescent antibody test (IFA) to confirm (or wait and repeat ELISA). She is not too young to have this done: http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/pages/felv_web.pdf "Kittens can be tested at any age because maternal immunity does not interfere with testing."

If she does test positive, under no circumstances should she be vaccinated for any disease as her immune system is already compromised and is going to react negatively.

Can you do this and then post back? There are ways to be proactive with FeLV kitties so they can have a good quality of life.

Aw, my heart goes out to you, sweetie. Hang in there and take things one step at a time.

Thanks so much for your reply.

I just called my vet back and she said not to panic. I told her about all the tests you mentioned and she told me that we will get them done in the next week or so. Right now, she's working on treating the fever and Cuddles has to go back once a day for the next week to have her temperature taken.

She also said there is a good chance that it isn't feline leukemia, because it could just be that the infection got too far before it was treated. I took her into the vet last week for the burns on her paws, but all they did was give us Bactroban ointment and send us home. We put the ointment on diligently but there was no difference.

I just hope it's not FeLV. I've heard bad things about it before. My feral Lucky, had these tests done a couple months ago and it turned out negative for the leukemia, but he was FIV positive. He's doing very well though, so the vet thinks it may have been a false positive.

Cuddles is currently curled up on the couch sleeping off the pain medication. I think it's making her really tired, and hopefully she will be back to herself by tomorrow morning.

I'll update every so often on how she's doing. She is going to have her temperature taken tomorrow, as well, so I'll let you know how that goes.

Thanks again for the reply, as soon as I got back from the vet my heart sunk and I've been in panic mode ever since.

First of all for ALL of you! :rub:

And Jules, THANK YOU for that link to Winn Feline! GREAT to know the IFA for FeLV can be given to kittens, I did NOT know that!

And I wanted to take a moment to address this:

kittylover23 said:

I just hope it's not FeLV. I've heard bad things about it before. My feral Lucky, had these tests done a couple months ago and it turned out negative for the leukemia, but he was FIV positive. He's doing very well though, so the vet thinks it may have been a false positive.

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Yes, FeLV is a nasty one, and it usually takes cats within 3-5 years of diagnosis. It can be passed via casual grooming, where FIV cannot (other than perhaps in severely immune compromised kitties).

But FIV is different. It is much slower acting - much like HIV in people. Someone can be HIV positive, but never develop AIDS. Same with cats. Our Chumley is FIV+, and he lives inside with our other 7 kitties. Kitties with FIV may never develop the equivalent of kitty AIDS. They do tend to have problems with their gums and teeth, so dentals every six months are recommended. If they have allergies, best to treat with acupuncture or Chinese Medicine or whatever alternatives, because steroids (which suppress immune response) are contra-indicated. But put a kitty with FIV on a healthy diet with probiotics, get them dentals every six months, and you may never see them get sick. :cross: If they do get sick with something - a virus or whatever - treat it early and aggressively. It may take longer on antibiotics (especially the older they get). But kitties with FIV can live normal long lives.

LDG said:

But put a kitty with FIV on a healthy diet with probiotics, get them dentals every six months, and you may never see them get sick. :cross: If they do get sick with something - a virus or whatever - treat it early and aggressively. It may take longer on antibiotics (especially the older they get). But kitties with FIV can live normal long lives.

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Lucky's doing good. he's currently eating Wellness canned and it's fattened him up quite a lot, he's a piggy :lol3:. I don't have him on probiotics though I do give him a high quality multivitamin daily. Where do you get kitty probiotics by the way? I take probiotics daily myself so I know that there are many benefits.

Cuddles is doing a bit better, she woke up and cuddled on my lap and purred. She played a bit but now she's back to sleep, it might be the pain meds kicking in. Either that or the stress of being around big doggies all day :lol3:

Thank you guys for your support. It means a lot.

You can give him the same probiotic you use if it's basically an acidophilus supplement. My hubby and I use Natural Factors acidophilus+bifidus, and that's what the kitties get too. :lol3: I just sprinkle the capsule on their food once a day. Whatever you use, it should have 10 billion active cultures and be basically acidophilus.

Geez, this crazy vet. Definitely changing clinics after Cuddles recovers.

Well, I brought her in this morning to have her temperature checked, and it was still up, apparently very high. The anti inflammatory and antibiotics didn't help. They gave her more subcutaneous fluids and told me she may have heat stroke.

I took her home and all she does is sleep. I fed her some kitty milk, and she drank a lot of it, and she ate a bit of food for me. Then she curled up and has been sleeping since ten this morning.

Oh yeah, and now they tell me Cuddles doesn't have FeLV, they did one of those tests but I'm not sure which one it was. They got me freaking out for nothing. *eyeroll*

I've been keeping her face cool with a damp cloth. I don't know what to do. The vet has been absolutely useless.

I'm so scared she's going to get worse. Her fever won't come down. They said it's at 102.5...

Vibes for Cuddles please, she needs em

I would think about changing before she recovers.  Just how hot is it where you are?  Cats are desert animals and usually cope well with heat.  Have they taken blood?  She would sleep because she's not feedling well, but it doesn't sound to me like the vets have any idea what is wrong with her or how to treat her.

I'm looking for a new vet in my area as we speak. These vets aren't taking Cuddles' situation seriously and I'm tired of it. I've spent 386 dollars at their clinic trying to help this poor kitten, and they haven't done anything to make her feel better! The only thing they've done that may benefit her is the subcutaneous fluids. And everytime I go to their clinic without making an appt a week ahead of time, they charge me 30 dollars (an "emergency fee"). I'm a loyal customer at this clinic and I've taken my four cats there for many years, I can't believe how they're acting.

Enough with the vet ranting. :nod:

I live in Ontario, Canada. It's not too hot here usually, but we've been currently going through a heat wave. The vet thinks that Cuddles may have gotten dehydrated when she was found outside two weeks ago, and hasn't drank enough fluids to recover.

Yes, they've taken blood (last week) when I came in for her first examination. They said it all came back normal, which is very good.

Thanks for your reply

Good news!

Cuddles is feeling a bit better today. She got up this morning and ate some food and drank some water and lightly played in her box. She seems timid around Cookie though, but I think that may be because she knows she's still not 100% and she doesn't want crazy Cookie jumping all over her. :lol3:

She gets up to go to the litterbox now, and is drinking and eating. And she's starting to give me kisses again!

Her temp is still at 102 though...but she's acting normally so maybe she just has a naturally high temp?i don't know, I'm just glad she's feeling better.

I didn't go back to the vet. They're being useless anyways, and I found a vet not far from me who seems to be very good. His name is Dr. Deji, and hopefully he's better with Cuddles then Dr. Sonia was.

YAY!

Cuddles' temp is 100.9....within the normal range! HALLELUJAH! She's playing in her box right now, feeling much better

....and a picture of the Cuddles cuteness :nod:

FABULOUS news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And SUCH a relief!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bigthumb: Wow, that's just great news!

Aw, she IS a cutie-pie! :lovegrin2