Kittens contagious to adults?

Hello everyone,

We received some kittens from a high kill shelter and they spent a whole weekend in a barn waiting to travel to a foster home. (ten hour travel time )
I received two of the kittens. They eat well (a lot), they drink well, and they play happily. 

They came with goopy eyes and noses. They were sneezing.
They seemed to not get goop now (day three) but they still sneeze frequently and their purr crackles.

They are isolated. So I feel bad for my own cats when I am with them and feel bad for the kittens when I leave lol. neither group like to be away from me. My cats are very jealous..I think they know


I'd like to introduce them soon as possible, because I know they would nurture them and show the kittens a lot of cuddles while we are at work.
My other two cats are rescues -and when our male was rescued at 6 months we then rescued a female cat who was 8 weeks...He mothered her li a lot. He groomed her and snuggled her etc..He even let her suckle his tummy- though nothing was going to come out! LOL.

He is Very good with kittens.

The kittens have had vaccinations for rhinotracheite, calivivirus, and panleucopenie.
(That all may be in frech-they came from Quebec to Ontario). It's all french to me anyways lol. I don't understand that part of their forms.
But our own cats are vaccinated -updated a month ago)and had colds when we first got them too-and worms! But they are extremely healthy adult cats. My male is indoor cat- ten pounds and my female is indoor-8 pounds. Black cats.


So, could the sneezing be an infection, or allergies from being in the barn? or a reaction to vaccines? Would our adult cats immune system be able to avoid this if we let them roam ? Or at what point can we? I'm afraid they can get their little paws under the doors to our adult cats- and my clothing may spread the cold anyways(I do wash my hands)

The kittens seem to be happy, not lathargic or anything.
My own cats are pretty mad at me lol. I am getting the cold shoulder for hiding such a fun secret. I don't want to make them sick though..but I also don't want to hide them if it's not contagious to them. Night is a time we all snuggle on the bed and I feel so guilty the kittens are isolated

Let me know any advice! Thanks!

Hi there Larimar,

Congratulations on your two new additions! Very exciting to have two new fur-fluffs! 

From your description of the two kittens, it sounds like they may have an upper respiratory infection (URI) or feline herpes. Although receiving core vaccinations can help, it sometimes isn't 100% guarantee your kittens won't get them. I'd take them both in to the vet's office with all of your paperwork, so they can see what has already been done. I think they'll likely administer antibiotics to treat the infection, and advise you more about keeping your adult healthy cats seperate in terms of time. I believe you can also wipe their eyes with a warm compress and do it frequently as needed over the day. Keep note of any color in the secretions of the eyes and nose, and report it to your vet when you take them in. Also good to note would be their eliminations when you scoop. My suggestion for URIs/feline herpes virus would be to add 250 mg of L-lysine to each kitten's wet food per day to help boost their immune system. L-lysine is an amino acid you can buy cheaply at any health food store/vitamin shop for humans. It works to prevent future viral replications, so that when viral numbers do decline, the kitten's natural immunity is able to suppress it back into its dormant state. Antibiotics do not kill viruses, but are usually given as a preventative for developing secondary bacterial infections from it. L-lysine is also flushed through the cat's urine, so it's not usually something to fear that cats can over dose from.

I hope this helps you somewhat...please know that kittens' immune systems are usually not fully developed for some time, so getting adequate medical care is quite a necessity, especially if you have other felines in the home. Healing wishes to your kittens, and positive vibes that the adults do not catch this and become eventually all become one happy feline bunch with you! 

Link regarding feline URI: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2134&aid=210

Agree with above, they have URI's, the adult cats can catch it, they need treatment and isolation until it's over.

Thank you for the advice and sorry for the late reply! I had lost the link initially.
We were lucky, our cats learned to open the door to our office where the kittens were being held, so we let the older cats nurture the little ones. Our cats never caught anything. Unfortunately one of the kittens died We were told it was just a cold and nobody took us seriously. My boyfriend rushed the kitten to the vet when she collapsed in his arms. The vet put her to sleep. It was the saddest day.
The sibling kitten went to a good home and has grown so much! He is doing well. We have since taken in four more. Two were adopted and the other two are at an adoption event for the weekend.
All I can think of is that at least the little kitten who passed away had a forever home with me..and I was her momma..Because that's all she knew, that we were her real family and I won't tell her otherwise ..rest in peace little one.

She had feline leukemia.