Dog lover ends up with sick kitten, help!

I have never owned a cat but when a 4 week old kitten wandered in my yard looking very sick and underweight I fell in love.   I took her to the people at banfield and they said she seems to have an upper respiratory infection and there's a problem with her eyes.  Puss keeps coming out of them and it's so much puss it crusts her eyes closed.  I know she can open her eyes because she does when I clean them, but a few minutes after I clean them they crust back over again.  She's eating replacement milk and nutrical very well, and seems playful and happy but she can't see and she does rattle a little when she breathes (much better today than it was yesterday).  I can't afford the actual vet visit or the total of the meds, I have about 30 dollars I can spare and that wont even cover the fee to be seen.  I tried putting an ad on craigslist to see if anyone had meds they hadn't used on their cat but so far no responses.  I'm trying my best, I thought about taking her to a shelter but won't they just put her down?  I will do anything I can to help this kitten but I don't know where to go from here.  Any ideas?  Any home remedies I could try?  

A lot of times sick kittens can be brought around with just a lot of TLC. I have never needed antibiotics for a kitty with a "cold", but if it progresses to a bacterial infection she'll absolutely need antibiotics. So if she doesn't look/sound better soon you'll need to find some way to get her the care she needs.

If she has teeth, she can eat solids. Get some canned kitten food (I usually get Fancy Feast Turkey for kittens, because they sell it everywhere) and see if she'll eat that. If it's too solid for her, add some kitten milk until she can lap it up. Chicken or turkey baby food (make sure it doesn't have onion powder) would be good, too. Keep her hydrated, use Pedialyte or homemade Oral Rehydration Solution (Google for recipes) if you have to. If she isn't drinking on her own you can give liquids with a big plastic eyedropper (usually found in the baby medicine section of the pharmacy), but you need to be careful that she doesn't get any in her lungs. Feed her as much as she wants, several times (every 4 hours is good at this age) a day.

Keep her warm and dry. If you need to bathe her or wash her, make sure she's in a warm, draft-free area until she's completely dry. Being chilled is very bad for baby kittens. Keep wiping out her eyes (gently of course).

If you end up needing to find a vet, don't go to Banfield. They're overpriced and usually not very good. Grab the phone book and start calling private-practice vets. Explain the situation and ask about their prices. You should be able to find some help that way. Also call shelters and rescues--some have vet funds for kitties in need.

If you keep her, she'll need her shots when she's healthy, and will need to be spayed before 4 months.

Generally, what you're seeing is a feline herpes infection. Supplementing the kitten's food with some L-lysine can help get it under control. It's available in a generic form at most pharmacies, Walmart, etc. It needz to be treated; it's the most common cause of blindness in cats.

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