I'm worried about my kitten.

Hello everyone, I'm hoping someone can maybe give me some advice until I can get to a vet. I signed up for this site months ago when I got my first cat Baby who I about 1.5 yrs old now, I'm not sure if I ever introduced myself or him in the new members thread so if I did not I apologize. Anyhow, my vet had suggested that I adopt a kitten as a companion for him since he has been having a lot of anxiety issues especially separation anxiety whenever I leave for work, I had been looking into adopting for a local rescue or shelter when all of the sudden my friend tells me about an older kitten her friend was "fostering" that had been abandoned in a home with no heat, food, or water. The girl couldn't keep her because she already had quite a few cats/kittens in a small place and money was tight. One look at her and I couldn't resist she is an exact twin of my Baby and they even both had the same name(oreo) prior to coming to my home. The only problem was she was never taken to a vet, spayed, vaccinated or any of that. But I figured it was okay because Baby had all his shots and is neutered, and I was told she was only four months old so I had time to make the appointment and get things taken care of. The girl who had her did get her de-wormed so I was not worried about that. Okay now to what I am worried about right now. I have had her with me for a few weeks now and everything has been fine, no signs of illness what so ever. I was going to take her to my regular vet to have her checked up and vaccinated and all that but then I found the luv my pet thing at petco that comes like twice a month on weekends and does the vaccines for like 50$, so I held off. My vet wanted over 200$ just to get her in the office and do distemper and rabbies. At petco they did the 4&1 & rabbies & de-wormed again just to be sure for 50$ and I have to bring her back for boosters. So then Saturday morning all of the sudden she went into heat on me. Thank God Baby is neutered. Neither of them go outside. So I have an appointment to get her spayed on Tuesday. I was planning to get all of this done, but I was not expecting her to go into heat so quickly, it's been hectic with the holidays. I'm assuming she is older than 4 months. I know they can go into heat that early but I still think she is older. Okay I know all of this is irrelevant and I still have not gotten to what is wrong with her I'm just trying to get some background here. Now back to the vaccines, I got her the vaccines on Sunday morning and she was fine most of the day and then all of the sudden by Sunday night she was acting very strange and did not move out of one spot for almost 24 hours and would growl when me or Baby went near her, I think she was in pain from the shots and by Monday afternoon she was acting normal again and back to being horney again. But now last night I noticed her one eye was staying closed. This morning she is back to laying in the same spot, she got up and ate very little, usually she is a pig, I know she was eating less because of the heat, but yesterday she was eating, I picked her up and her left eye is not opening when I tried to open it her third lid is staying shut and the whites of her eye is blood shot. She was just laying in my lap very lethargic, but when Baby tries to go near her she is hissing and growling! She never acts like that with him, they get along great always play well together and cuddle nice they groom eachother and when they do play fight there is never aggression. So I know something is wrong with her. When I Google her symptoms with her eye it is coming up feline herpes or FLV, which is one of the things she just got vaccinated for???? Wth?!? Can a vaccine cause a cat to come to with the virus? She is not showing other symptoms like sneezing but she was wheezing a bit when I was holding her before. I'm so upset right now. I guess I should have just taken her to the regular vet but the money they charge is ridiculous. I wanted to adopt because when you adopt they are already spayed, vaccinated, microchip all for adoption fee, but this poor cat was just abandoned. I felt like as long as I can love her with all the love I have and take care of her the best I can she is better off then where she was! What should I do?!?!

You will need to take her to the vet for a sick kitty appointment rather than just dropping her off for a spay.  If I were going to guess she has herpes and the stress from being in heat brought on a flare but only a vet can tell for sure what is going on with her.

Hi and welcome to the site!

The first thing most of us will recommend is a vet visit asap.  The vaccine wouldn't infect your cat with any of the illnesses it protects against as the standard FVRCP vaccine uses killed virus, but if she was about to come down with something, the stress of the vaccine on the immune system could make her symptoms worse.

There are multiple types of URI viruses only some of which get protection from the vaccine, and it isn't 100% protection in every case, and it takes time to even work so its probably coincidental that she became ill after getting the vaccine, possible made worse by the timing.

Now that she is ill, she needs a vet, possibly antibiotics, and possibly eye medication, and supportive therapy to make sure she keeps eating and stays hydrated.  None of this should cost all that much.

Until you get to a vet, you can help her eye by gently holding a warm wet and soft cloth/cotton balls to the outside of her closed eye for a few minutes several times a day.  That will relieve some of the stress on her eye and help it to open up.

Under no circumstance should you try and give her any OTC meds that you may have at home, many of which are very toxic to cats.

And once she's well please discuss with your vet getting her spayed.

Also, it will make it much easier for people to read your posts (and therefore get you more replies!) if you break them up into short paragraphs.

Welcome to the site and I hope your kitten gets better soon!

Stephen

Am I understanding your post correctly, you got her, all her shots, at once, plus got her wormed at the same time?

Being when she came from, un known cercumstances, she should have been quarentined, away from Baby, until she could be tested for FIP. 

She most likely, has had a reaction to all the shots and womer she was given all at once. I highly recommend, you take her to your vet, today.  If you wait, you could lose her. 

Do not spay her, until she gets over this, or you will definately lose her. Her little system has been way overloaded.

Please take her in today.       

I think Flint meant she should have been tested for FIV/FeLV not FIP, and the FIV/FeLV test can be done on the spot with the results known immediately.  And yes she should be separated from the other cat, and you should wash your hands before handling the healthy cat.

No vet will want to spay her while she is sick.

Hello
Thank you both for the quick response.

I'm sorry for the huge paragraph lol, I am on my phone so it's not so easy to type on here.

I have an appointment with people for animals to have her spayed, microchiped, Fiv, Felk test on Tuesday the 7th. I had this appointment prior to any of this happening. I honestly would like to find a different vet because I am unhappy with the one I have right now.

I know having a vet is very very important, but the right vet is also important, the office that I have been using has three offices and about 40 vets and I have never seen the same vet twice and It cost me hundreds of dollars every time I go when I don't feel like they have helped me with anything, I feel like I end up finding out more on my own and that they care more about lining their pockets. I know not all vets are like that I just have to find the right one.

So I should not keep that spay appointment? I want to get her spayed as soon as possible because what I have heard is once they go into heat they will keep going untill they mate and become pregnant and with every heat they go into there is a higher chance of medical issues down the line like cancers and stuff.

I have eye drops from the vet because my other cat was having a lot of stress related problems when he first came to my home, what if I used those on her?

Well, they gave her a liquid in her mouth for the worms and one or two shots, I also thought they were going to do the Fiv felv test which I asked for but they didnt and when I went to pay I asked why not, they said oh they can do it when you come back for booster, that's why I called and added it to spay package.

I wouldn't get spayed until she is well.  I doubt if a vet will spay her while she is sick.  It's true that repeated heat cycles can cause problems especially pyometra but she needs to be well for surgery.  I wouldn't use drops prescribed for another cat that may well have a completely different condition.  I have had better luck with cats only vets.

And that was what they suggested at the petco, it was a vet that was there doing it, that's why I didn't think there would be an issue. She actually came out and crawled up on me and is purring and more alert right now, but I am still going to have her checked out. But according to what I can find there is nothing they can do for most uri in cats especially herpes, only treat symptoms. :-(

Ok thanks for the info

It wasn't responsible of them to delay the FIV/FeLV test because if the kitten was positive your other cat could catch it, especially the FeLV which is  much more contagious and much worse to get.

As far as treating the URI, treating the symptoms is important because untreated she could loose her appetite and become much more sick.  Cats are at risk for secondary bacterial infections and vets basically all agree that antibiotics are important, and anytime there is eye involvement you need an eye cream or drops (some are anti viral, some anti bacterial) to prevent permanent damage to the eye.

Thanks Stephen! LOL 

Stayed up to watch the ball fall, and what I am trying to say, is just not working right, this morning. 

Okay thank you, and yes I know I was upset about the test too, I was upset when I found out my other cat had never been tested or taken to a vet either in the year his previous owners had him, only to spay clinic, so right away I had him at the vet. But they charged me 400$ and sent me home with all these useless medications and I just felt like they wanted my money and still feel like that every time I go there even if I tell them things are tight they don't try anything to work with me and still try to push useless stuff of me. I'm not one to overmedicate. If it's needed to survive by all means. But just to charge me money no. They give me medication everytime I go that does nothing. I want a different vet but I don't know a good one I need to find one. I have been asking people for references but a lot of people go there because it's convenient.

You might be able to get a good vet recommendation from your local humane society. And I wouldn't use those drops again without a vet's recommendation, different drops are used for different types of URI's, but having said that, using them wouldn't likely hurt her if used as directed.  And as others have said, no spay while sick, not safe to do.  She can handle being in heat this last time, and she won't get pregnant if you don't let her out.

And Flint, hahaha :-)  Happy New Year!

Stephen

I'm sure you found plenty of threads here about supplementing with L-lysine.  It's pretty cheap, easily available, apparently tasteless, and it does wonder for cats with feline herpes outbreaks.

I would bet the lethargy was due to the vaccinations.  We've had a couple of cats have the same problem.  Pretty scary.  But they usually come out of it after a day or so.

I actually have heard of L-Lysine I take the supplement for myself for cold sores and I have the powder for the cat food just because I heard it was great for the immune system.

I have not used the drops yet I was just wondering what you thought if they might help. I will look up the actual medication and see what it is used for. My vet gave them to me because my other cat was having crust in his eye when I first got him she said it was probably from stress and after I used the drops for like two days it stopped so I stopped using them and still have them.

And yes I thought the lethargic was from the shots also, but then she got better and then worse again, but she seems okay now and she ate the rest of her food, it was wierd. But her eye is still not open all the way. I am gonna keep an eye on her and call around during for a better vet.

Denice said:

 
I wouldn't get spayed until she is well.  I doubt if a vet will spay her while she is sick.  It's true that repeated heat cycles can cause problems especially pyometra but she needs to be well for surgery.  I wouldn't use drops prescribed for another cat that may well have a completely different condition.  I have had better luck with cats only vets.

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I agree, I am fortunate to have a cat's only vet here in town, & even though it's way across town, I take Angel there.  Yes, definitely look up the eye drops first, if you decide to go that route, but honestly, I would try to get into a vets asap instead.  They do use different drops for different eye issues. Angel was always given the Neo Poly drops for his eye when he needed it, but once had an ulcer in it instead, (couldn't open it, like you describe), & different drops were given. If it is an ulcer, (& from what you say, it could be), they are very painful, so you want to get that treated asap, so she is not in pain any longer than she has to be. 

Keep us posted. 

DO NOT have her spayed while she is sick, it will make it extremely hard on her system.  Yes the vaccines can cause a herpes outbreak (if she is prone to them) which is why my girl DeeJay hasn't been vaccinated for years as fighting to give her meds is not worth it to me.  Definitely find a vet you can get her checked at.  In the mean time you can start her on Lysine. 

Hey,
Thanks for responding. How would I go about locating a cats only vet? I didn't even know they had them so I'm not sure they have one around me. But if it's a better vet then it's definitely worth a drive. The vet I go to now makes me drive a half hour sometimes to their main office because they don't do half the things or barely ever have doctors staffed in the office down the street from me.

The drops I have here are Tobramycin Ophthalmic Solution. I haven't looked it up yet but I haven't used them on her yet. If she did have an ulcer would I be able to see anything on her eye or she just wouldn't open it? She's opening it a bit now but still squinting a bit, and there is no crust or tears. I feel better that she ate and used the bathroom but she is still a little lethargic and I am going to take her somewhere.

I just felt terrible and freaked this morning because I have never seen her like that before, she has been through a lot this week though, her first heat and her first time out in the crate, and her first shots, all in a matter of days. And at the petco waiting for the shots we had to wait in line with everyone else with their animals and there was dogs there which she was not happy about. It was very stressful for her I felt horrible. :-( ..... I could tell she was terrified. But when we got home she seemed fine. But then she was in pain. I think it's just been a lot on her system. Like I said I am gonna bring her in and keep an eye on her until then. I don't know of anywhere to take her today

You can find cat friendly vets here: http://www.catvets.com/  Or here is a listing of some: http://clubs.ncsu.edu/scaafp/feline_hospitals.htm