3mo kitten with pneumonia - Praying for Survival!

It's hard to believe that on the 18th will be one month from when we adopted Zoey and to think of everything we've been through and are still going through. She's definitely my little angel! [emoji]128149[/emoji] Someone asked how this all started and I wish I had a definitive answer. My only speculation is that when we first adopted her on Saturday she sneezed a few times. No discharge. No mucus. Eating well and playing like a normal kitten. When I took her to the first vet on Monday they said she was fine and to just let her body fight through this bc her symptoms weren't bad. Hindsight I should have been more demanding for antibiotics on that first visit considering Zoey came from a shelter and that's a common occurrence. Four days later, Zoey was on deaths door and the fight to save her began. I'm just so thankful she's on the way to recovery and praying my little munchkin bounces back with a full recovery! [emoji]128591[/emoji][emoji]127995[/emoji]

I've asked the vet about her recent coughing and she said that her lungs sound good and it could just be her body trying to break up the last of the pneumonia in her lung. Zoey hasn't had s fever higher than 101.4 in 4 days, which is remarkable!! She's continuing to gain weight. Now up to 4.4 lbs. The vet did another fecal test yesterday and it showed no more parasites! [emoji]128522[/emoji] Aside from her cough she seems like she's doing everything in her power to get better! We've decided to keep her on the Orbax until next Tuesday when we'll run another X-ray and CBC. I know it's not indicated for long term use in kittens but Zoey is doing so good with her meds that we want to ensure that she fully recovers. [emoji]128591[/emoji][emoji]127995[/emoji]

On a different note, the shelter called me this week and told me Zoey's brother was doing great after his meds! He's the love of the shelter apparently. Hahaha [emoji]128515[/emoji]
My husband decided after learning that Zoey's brother was doing well that he needed to be rejoined with his sister. So needless to say he is adopting him today!! [emoji]128525[/emoji] I know what you're thinking...don't expose Zoey to her brother until she has a clean bill of health and he has time to adjust to his new environment. I couldn't agree more! The good news is Zoey and I are in a completely different location so they won't be together for another few weeks (confusing I know). Trust me when I say I'm not taking any chances with Zoey after everything we've been through!! I'll posts pictures of Zoey's brother Cody once I get them. In the meantime I thought I'd share a different kind of pic today. Below are Zoey's last two X-Rays. The first was taken on August 5th. The second on August 11th. You can see the vast improvement!! Hopefully this week's X-ray is even better!!! [emoji]128591[/emoji][emoji]127995[/emoji][emoji]128591[/emoji][emoji]127995[/emoji]

See the white on the right lung (left side of the image). Both lung lobes are clasped.

This was last week's X-ray. You can see her upper right lobe is clear and now inflated!!

Fantastic to hear that Zoey's doing so well I hope that she'll soon have beaten that cough and her lungs will be fully functional again

I just love that you're adopting her brother too. You have to post reunion pics when the time comes, as well as pics of him as soon as you have some :nod:

Fabulous news all around! And what an awesome hubby you have!

Congratulations!! Can't wait to see pics of the two siblings reunited and healthy!! [emoji]128077[/emoji][emoji]128077[/emoji]

I'm so excited for Zoe's continued progress and that you're adopting her littermate!

You need to keep zoey and her brother on Lysine- Immune builder.  Antibiotics are used for secondary infections like pneumonia not a cold.  A cold is a viral infection which can be treated with Lysine. 

I'm going to add to Godschildren's post about L-Lysine:  Yes its long term use is indicated if your cat's original diagnosis was Herpes aka Feline Rhinotracheitis but there are several different types of viral URI's that don't respond to L-Lysine so its important to know what your vet thinks.  Below is a link about this virus.

As to the use of antibiotics, they were clearly indicated in your cat's case and you should not  change any medication, dose or frequency without your vet's "ok", and never because of what you read online here or anywhere.  

And congrats on the great outcome!!!  I think we can all agree with that!!!

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/feline-herpes-symptoms-treatment

So today has been full of emotion. Zoey's brother Cody is extremely loving and has my husband wrapped around his paw! [emoji]128149[/emoji] He purrs like crazy when you pet him and loves to be around people! I was able to FaceTime home yesterday to see Cody and he's is absolutely adorable!! See pics below. [emoji]128525[/emoji] The only thing that makes us nervous is that Cody has been sneezing like crazy ever since my husband brought him home! [emoji]128546[/emoji][emoji]128563[/emoji] As you can imagine my heart sank and went to the worst case scenario bc that's how Zoey started. We have an apt tomorrow with our vet to have him checked out and will be a little more demanding of treatment this time around. The shelter originally told me back in July that Cody was being treated for a "minor" cold with Doxycycline however nothing is indicated on his kennel card. I'm waiting to hear back from them about the dose, strength and duration. My husband said that when he picked Cody up the shelter gave him a hefty dose of Advantage Flea & Tick med. Apparently Cody smelledike medication for several hours after he was home. We did some research and found a few sites that said cats can sneeze after receiving Advantage. Have any of you experienced that before? I would love to believe that's the cause of his sneezing but I'm cautiously optimistic.

Now on to Zoey. Unfortunately she's still coughing. I was able to film it and show the vet today and they recommend doing her X-ray tomorrow instead of Tuesday. She also had a slight increase in her temp up to 102. I know this is still in the normal range, however she's been running around 101 and below for the past 4 days. I'm really worried that between her cough and this increase in temp, something is still causing an infection. I do need to note that I found 2 of Zoey's teeth yesterday when I was cleaning. I forgot to tell the vet today and was wondering if her increase temp could be from her teething. Again, does anyone know if kittens can get a slight temp when teething like babies do? I guess another question is...do kittens even going through a teething phase?

Below are the pictures of Cody. Needless to say I won't be able to post reunited pictures until both of them are completely healthy. In the meantime, I'll love Cody via Face Time. [emoji]128525[/emoji]

StephenQ said:

 
I'm going to add to Godschildren's post about L-Lysine:  Yes its long term use is indicated if your cat's original diagnosis was Herpes aka Feline Rhinotracheitis but there are several different types of viral URI's that don't respond to L-Lysine so its important to know what your vet thinks.  Below is a link about this virus.

As to the use of antibiotics, they were clearly indicated in your cat's case and you should not  change any medication, dose or frequency without your vet's "ok", and never because of what you read online here or anywhere.  

And congrats on the great outcome!!!  I think we can all agree with that!!!

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/feline-herpes-symptoms-treatment

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Hi StephenQ.  I appreciate the advise on L-Lysine. Our vet gave us Lysine treats when this whole "journey" started and unfortunately Zoey just plays with them. I've tried mixing the treats with her food, however she eats around the Lysine. Smart kitty! LOL!! 

As for "changing medications", please know that I am not suggesting that I would change her meds. In fact my vet is the one giving Zoey her antibiotics. I actually take her every morning and every afternoon to the vet. When I'm at work during the week, I drop her off in the AM and they keep her in a "Cat Condo" so she's not alone all day.   I'm so blessed that my vet not only has very flexible hours (open 7 days a week, 7:30 -7pm M-F/ 8-4 on Sat-Sun) but also that the nurses are absolutely in love with Zoey and look forward to her staying with them all day!  I am curious if there are other alternative treatments if the Clavamox and Marbofloxacin doesn't work. Lately with Zoey's coughing starting back up and her latest increase fever, I'm worried that she become resistant to this combination. I guess I'll wait and see what the vet says after her Xray tomorrow. 

Thank you again for all your advice! I'm grateful for all the support I've received from everyone on this site. 

Zoe Zoe said:

 
Hi StephenQ.  I appreciate the advise on L-Lysine. Our vet gave us Lysine treats when this whole "journey" started and unfortunately Zoey just plays with them. I've tried mixing the treats with her food, however she eats around the Lysine. Smart kitty! LOL!! 

As for "changing medications", please know that I am not suggesting that I would change her meds. In fact my vet is the one giving Zoey her antibiotics. I actually take her every morning and every afternoon to the vet. When I'm at work during the week, I drop her off in the AM and they keep her in a "Cat Condo" so she's not alone all day.

  I'm so blessed that my vet not only has very flexible hours (open 7 days a week, 7:30 -7pm M-F/ 8-4 on Sat-Sun) but also that the nurses are absolutely in love with Zoey and look forward to her staying with them all day!  I am curious if there are other alternative treatments if the Clavamox and Marbofloxacin doesn't work. Lately with Zoey's coughing starting back up and her latest increase fever, I'm worried that she become resistant to this combination. I guess I'll wait and see what the vet says after her Xray tomorrow. 

Thank you again for all your advice! I'm grateful for all the support I've received from everyone on this site. 

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I wasn't concerned that you were changing meds, i was responding more to another member's post on the subject or antibiotics and their use.  You can also buy l-lysine powder and mix it in with the food, your cat won't notice.  Vibes. 

Zoe Zoe  Glad to hear that your cat is getting better.  Just want to say I strongly agree with Stephen that you try using Lysine in powder form. Mix the lysine in with your cats favorite food or meat baby foods..You need to treat the cold-sneezing etc,.Antibiotics wont treat the cold which is a virus, only the secondary infections which are bacterial.

Don't get too upset over the return of the coughing.  Zoe was very, very ill and it will take time for her to recover fully.  She's going to have some lingering symptoms until she's fully recovered.

Kittens DEFINITELY go through teething, and they sometimes run a low fever when they do. I had a kitten who made these awful grinding sounds, so I thought her jaw was broken or dislocated. Nope, said the vet; just teething. (Sometimes they gnash their teeth!)

If it's hard to get pills or powdered meds into Zoey, one thing you might try is Pill Pockets. They make a huge difference with my cats. They are pretty pricey at the pet supplies stores (here, at least), but I have found some pretty good prices at Amazon. I also have found that you can cut up canine pill pockets into 2 or 3 pieces, and use each piece like a feline pill pocket; that helps lower the cost. (I have a cat who is taking a pill four times a day; couldn't do it without the pill pockets!)

I can so relate to your whole story! When I got my two they had a giardia infection that took me 8 months to get rid of, an eye infection, and an upper respiratory infection. It is now a year and a month later and they are still having the URI symptoms. The vet says it's viral and won't respond to antibiotics and to get them on immune boosting supplements. They've been getting the lycine treats since I got them, but now I've just added lactoferrin and transfer factor. I literally just got them doing solid poops in the past few weeks, because even after the giardia cleared up my girl kitty had colitis and the boy threw up 1-2 times a day and was severely underweight. The magic formula turned out to be omeprazole for George and pumpkin mixed with the food for Susan. She still has gingivitis so bad that she might have to have her teeth removed because her glands are swollen. So I'm hoping the immune supplements work!

Just wanted to say I could relate to the experience of adopting babies and thinking it would be years before there were any health problems, only to learn that they were both gravely ill! George and Susan and I are all praying for Zoey and Cody!

Sophie

I got side tracked and lost Zoey I was following her progress and somehow I lost her. How is she is she better worse or what. Sincere regards from Australia

Well, it's been 10 days since we stopped all the antibiotics for Zoey. The vet did another X-ray on Wednesday this past week and I'm so excited to say that 99% of her lungs have cleared and the report said no signs of bronchial pneumonia!! [emoji]128515[/emoji] The vet gave us the all clear to bring her home to my other house and meet her brother Cody. The vet said to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't breathe too hard when playing but that Zoey should do fine. With that wonderful news we set off north for our trip home. [emoji]128077[/emoji][emoji]127995[/emoji]

To my surprise they did extremely well upon their initial meeting. Cody and Zoey did the usually "sniff and greet" for a few minutes but then feel right into long lost siblings and played like true kittens! [emoji]128149[/emoji] It was so cute to watch them bond after so much time had passed! Pictures below aren't great, but you can see how they are now connected to one another!

Chasing ice cubes...
Enjoying their first meal together...
Meeting at the scratching post...

Such great news

So good to see that the bond between the two of them hasn't been totally lost too. You must be over the moon

LOVE this update!!!  So glad Zoe has recovered and she & Cody are getting along.  Woohoo!

I do have one question I'm hoping you all can help with...let me start by saying given everything I've been through I'm a little sensitive to the slightest changes in Zoey. I try not to "panic" if she does anything that appears to be a sign of infection, but I'll admit it's tough. (My own OCD) [emoji]128540[/emoji]

With that being said, I've noticed a drastic change in Zoey just this afternoon. About 4 hours ago my husband was playing with her and startled her with a feather toy. Zoey jumped about 3 feet in the air and took off running. Ever since then she's been extremely skidish and afraid of every noise. She's started to walk away from us when we try to check on her and doesn't like when we pick her up. It's very strange! Prior to that she and Cody were playing like kittens. She would follow us around like normal and even come running whenever we called her name. The only real change is that she's not eating as much as she did when she was by herself. I've tried to separate them during feedings but she loses interest quickly and wants to get out of the bathroom. Fast forward to right before the "scare" and she was playing with Cody like normal. Not very aggressive but out in the family and living room. Now she's just laying in the same spot for the past 4 hours. I got her to drink a little chicken flavored water but she won't eat much. She seems very lethargic but she does purr when I check on her. She's not coughing, sneezing or breathing fast (all symptoms from before). She just seems exhausted. Is this normal behavior considering she's been playing with her brother for the past 3 days? I've never had 2 kittens at the same time, especially one who went thru such a traumatic illness. I'm 3 hours away from the vet that has been taking care of her but am more then willing to make the drive tomorrow if I have to. I just don't want Zoey to relapse, but at the same time I don't want to be a hypercondriac if it's just exhaustion. Any thoughts on what I should do?

Zoe Zoe said:

I do have one question I'm hoping you all can help with...let me start by saying given everything I've been through I'm a little sensitive to the slightest changes in Zoey. I try not to "panic" if she does anything that appears to be a sign of infection, but I'll admit it's tough. (My own OCD) [emoji]128540[/emoji]

With that being said, I've noticed a drastic change in Zoey just this afternoon. About 4 hours ago my husband was playing with her and startled her with a feather toy. Zoey jumped about 3 feet in the air and took off running. Ever since then she's been extremely skidish and afraid of every noise. She's started to walk away from us when we try to check on her and doesn't like when we pick her up. It's very strange! Prior to that she and Cody were playing like kittens. She would follow us around like normal and even come running whenever we called her name. The only real change is that she's not eating as much as she did when she was by herself. I've tried to separate them during feedings but she loses interest quickly and wants to get out of the bathroom. Fast forward to right before the "scare" and she was playing with Cody like normal. Not very aggressive but out in the family and living room. Now she's just laying in the same spot for the past 4 hours. I got her to drink a little chicken flavored water but she won't eat much. She seems very lethargic but she does purr when I check on her. She's not coughing, sneezing or breathing fast (all symptoms from before). She just seems exhausted. Is this normal behavior considering she's been playing with her brother for the past 3 days? I've never had 2 kittens at the same time, especially one who went thru such a traumatic illness. I'm 3 hours away from the vet that has been taking care of her but am more then willing to make the drive tomorrow if I have to. I just don't want Zoey to relapse, but at the same time I don't want to be a hypercondriac if it's just exhaustion. Any thoughts on what I should do?

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Did she fall hard after jumping high? Maybe she is just tired, let us see how she does in the morning.