help! dont know what to do!!

pennys momma

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Hi I recently inherited a sweet little kitten named Penny! She has became my best friend and my shadow.. but she is really sick... she got bit by a feral cat in my neighborhood one night when she got out and had four teeth marks in her neck which became abscessed. She was bleeding from her neck(smelled horrible) and was sleeping a lot and she stopped eating and drinking... I took her to the animal emergency hospital smd they gave her fluids and antibiotics... took her home and that night she acted normal.
. Wednesday I took her back to the vet because she was acting lethargic again and not eating.. now she's testing slightly positive for feline AIDS and ring worm... she stays with the vet overnight and I picked her up yesterday... she was running a fever at the vet but now its normal but I can t get her to eat or drink anything... she has sores on her mouth and discharge around her mouth... o got her to eat the gravy off of some canned food... don't know what else to do for her... any suggestions? Already spent over $600 in vets... can't afford anymore
 

renstwin

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For trying to get her to eat you could try some meat based baby food that does not contain garlic or onion. It's cheap and easy to find. You may find if you add a bit of water to it and put it in a syringe you may be able to coax her into eating some. Tuna fish is also pretty cheap.

As far as the sores around her mouth, I don't know what that is, and if they popped up while kitty was at the vet then I would have hoped that they could have given you some advice on this.

I am sure this is not safe entirely, but when my dear kitten Chester was so ill last month (he has passed on) his last few days I could only get him to eat raw calf liver.

Bless you for providing the best care you can for your kitty. I hope that she gets better.

Hopefully someone else with more experience can chip in some advice here for you as well.

ETA: Penny is a beautiful little girl. :-)
 
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lvnoah

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Penny is adorable!  I'm so sorry she's not feeling well.

Has Penny been vaccinated?  Did the vet say what they think is causing her mouth sores? 

I've never had to do this personally, but I think people will probably recommend you start syringe feeding her.  This will prevent her from getting fatty liver syndrome and give her the nutrition she needs to fight off her infection. 

Hope she feels better soon :)

Natalie
 

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She needs to eat something. At this point if she'll eat tuna or other bribe foods, just let her eat it even though it's not nutritionally complete. Cats need to eat every 48 hours or they run the risk of fatty liver disease.

 
 
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pennys momma

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Thanks everyone ..she only eats a few bites but I'm not sure why she has a slimy discharge around her mouth.. going to call the vet in the morning... she would only eat the gravy off of the food so I'm hoping its just the ulcers in her mouth... she wasn't vaccinated yet... I was actually going to take her in this week to get them and have her spayef but she got sick... I got her in my brothers divorce so I haven't had her all that long. she's starting to get her personality back a little just no energy or appetite
 

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The poor girl. How traumatic for the both of you! 

Look up feline calcivirus (FCV) as some of its symptoms are reflected in your poor Penny. The infection can be transmitted via saliva, and the commonly recognized symptoms seem to be mouth ulcers, salivation, and anorexia, among other upper respiratory difficulties.  Any discharge or ulcers on the nose or eyes? 

Since the cat fight was so recent, I don't believe that FIV would exhibit such severe symptoms so suddenly on. Mouth ulcers and anorexia do occur, but usually in the later stages when their immune systems start to break down. If she was infected with FIV before this incident then perhaps the infection that she experienced from the bites compromised her already weakened immune system enough to make her susceptible to the mouth sores. Just like humans, when we are run down, sick or stressed we can get cold sores/mouth ulcers/etc.

Cats that have already been vaccinated for FIV will test positive for it, so if she was ever vaccinated in your brother's care then this could explain the positive result. 

The salivating and lack of appetite is likely from the pain she is having in her mouth, she is having difficulties swallowing and chewing. Definitely force feed her and love her! Good luck at the vet tomorrow, please let us know how she does.
 
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pennys momma

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She was never vaccinated... she had a light positive which the vet said could be left over from her mother. ?.she suggested that we retest her in a couple of months.... I will post updates.. ive been so upset. ?. She had been the best cat I've ever had and don't want to lose her so soon
 

jfed

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FCV is treatable! and cats with FIV can live long healthy lives under the right conditions!

Regardless of what the cause and effects may be, you can always maximize her quality of life to the best of your ability. I understand that vet care is very expensive, but you may be able to negotiate a payment plan with the clinic? 

Penny is so lucky to have you looking out for her. I know how scary it can be and how helpless you can feel when you're responsible for a sick animal, all you can do is wait for a diagnosis and a treatment plan, and take care of her the best that you can. 

She's got a great mommy and all the love she can handle, she will come out of this okay :)
 
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pennys momma

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She seems to have more energy this morning.. I have to give her her meds by a dropper... i gave her a can if kitten food and she wont touch it... she only nibbles on the dry food but only one or two bites... going to try tuna now! hope all goes well! You all have been very helpful... will keep updating!
 

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I think you may have to do the syringe feeding.  A cat's liver works differently from ours, actually most other mammal's livers, and they can get into trouble pretty quickly from not eating.  They go into a condition called hepatic lipidosis because their liver isn't very good at metabolizing fat.  The body starts trying to use their fat stores, overwhelms the liver and they get fat deposits on their liver.  When they go into lipidosis they don't want to eat because of nausea and it becomes a balancing act trying to get enough food into them to stop the cycle without causing vomiting.
 
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pennys momma

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Thanks Denise. She seems to be more playful and active tonight than she has been since she's been sick.. shes nibbling on dry food and wont touch the canned food i bought her because i thought maybe it was the ulcers on her tongue and mouth causing her lack of appetite but if she doesnt eat more tonight i will definately syringe feed her.. thats currently how im getting her to take her medicine the vet gave her also
 

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Hi I recently inherited a sweet little kitten named Penny! She has became my best friend and my shadow.. but she is really sick... she got bit by a feral cat in my neighborhood one night when she got out and had four teeth marks in her neck which became abscessed. She was bleeding from her neck(smelled horrible) and was sleeping a lot and she stopped eating and drinking... I took her to the animal emergency hospital smd they gave her fluids and antibiotics... took her home and that night she acted normal.
. Wednesday I took her back to the vet because she was acting lethargic again and not eating.. now she's testing slightly positive for feline AIDS and ring worm... she stays with the vet overnight and I picked her up yesterday... she was running a fever at the vet but now its normal but I can t get her to eat or drink anything... she has sores on her mouth and discharge around her mouth... o got her to eat the gravy off of some canned food... don't know what else to do for her... any suggestions? Already spent over $600 in vets... can't afford anymore
 

potters

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I'm new at this so tell me if I'm doing it wrong but sounds like ur going thru what I just went thru and it's hopefully gonna be ok my cat got skinny overnight wouldn't eat or drink had sores in his mouth was crouching this was in the middle of feb.2014 that vet visit and a night in the hospital cost me $420 a month and half later we r at it again this time 2 nights in the hospital and another $420 this time the dr. tells me he has stomatitis which is mouth sores and gives him more antibiotics and a steroid shot that stuff didn't work the first time and it only lasted a week and a half this time I read where steroids r not good for them long story short my daughter was go ogling and found a website out of Australia all natural homeopathic I ordered some medications the first order got to me in a week thank god just in time as the antibiotics shot and steroids were wearing off he was back to not eating I didn't know if this would work but what else can I do I'm not letting this cat die. It WORKED he's fine can't believe it I ordered some other things off this website. And we r doing great I just typed my short story I hope I got it right ive never done this before
 

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Penny's Mom: how is your little angel doing now?
 
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pennys momma

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Hey! sorry so long for the reply! She is great! Shes back to her normal self! I am so happy! she had me scared for sure.. now going this week to get her shots and to get her spayed!
 
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pennys momma

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So far shes fine.. but do you remember the website? Just in case.. all of this one started with an abcess on her neck so im hoping it was just infection.. going to get her retested for feline aids... they said that might be why she got so sick.. she had a light positive.. they said it could be left over from her mother.
 

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I'm glad she's feeling better, and I hope she stays healthy! :clap:
 

beiyan

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I have been using a plastic dropper type pipette to feed my older cat. I also tried syringe which appeared too much for her. The dropper was about 1.5-2ml per squeeze and she ate well with it. Also, I found Rx Recovery type is very easy to feed and I mixed some Nutri-Cal and water. For my understanding is that Nutri-Cal provide more fat and the can provide more protein and others, it could be a good boost for her to gain some strength (nutrition-wise) to fight that nasty disease. Hope she will get better.
 
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