Kitten with a lot of health issues, flu related?

I'd like to start by saying I've had her to the vets about a dozen times over the past year, with no solution to her health issues.. looking for some further insight or home remedies to make her more comfortable.

I adopted her and her brother from a farmer who had 2 litters of kittens on his farm. Her brother is a large tom from one litter (same father, different mother) and he is perfect healthwise, never had any issues with him. The female kitten, Dime, has nonstop ongoing health issues that the vet has told me are related to cat flu.

She started wheezing/coughing/sneezing a week after we got her, so I took her to the vet and they primarily told me she was in fact only a few weeks old, as opposed to the 8-10weeks we had been told. She was taken away from her mother far too young, but it was too late to return her even had I wanted to. She hasn't grown any since she was approx. 12 weeks old. She is the size her brother was when he was 8-10weeks old.

They diagnosed her with cat flu and gave her a course of antibiotics. The antibiotics dulled her symptoms, but never cleared them up. Over the past year, we have had several different courses of antibiotics which have helped maybe for 1-3 days, and then made no difference. The vet informed me she was a 'carrier' of cat flu and would suffer her whole life, with the symptoms becoming less frequent as she ages. Whilst her coughing/wheezing/sneezing is becoming slightly less regular, we have other health issues flaring up with her which the vet has told us are directly related to her cat flu.

As I said, I'm really just looking for further insight and possible ways to make her more comfortable at home as she's a very unwell little kitty and it's really breaking my heart.

Her health issues are as follows:

- Sneezing fits, producing a lot of snot

- Drooling (only during/directly after a sneezing fit)

- Protruding eyelid: this flares up every couple of weeks, vet has said it is the kitten equivalent of a cold sore and will continue to happen, nothing to be done except steroids to reduce swelling

- Balding patches (her back legs are almost bare..)

- Lesions on her skin

- Whiskers breaking, nails peeling

- Urinating outside of litter box

- Peeling pads  

Balding/Lesions/Whiskers snapping

Vet informed me this is because she isn't receiving enough nutrition due to the fact her immune system is being repressed by the cat flu. She advised I switch her food back to kitten food even though she is now around 14months old, which I immediately did about 10 weeks ago. It has made no difference. I inquired about giving her multi-vitamins, but the vet said she will receive all she needs from her food. Should I give her some anyway? Because her symptoms haven't lessened at all with her change of diet. In fact, the balding is 'spreading' and becoming more frequent. 

The lesions appear on almost every bald patch, which she will regularly irritate by licking/cleaning. They never become infected and generally heal within a few days. Is there anything I can use on her skin to help relieve the itching/irritation for her? Perhaps a soothing aloe vera shampoo?

Protruding Eyelid

When her eyelid swells, we have resorted to bathing it to keep it clean as it has generally cleared up by the morning. After the third time this occurred, and the 3rd emergency appointment, the vet advised us that we do not need to keep making emergency appointments because it would generally clear up within a day - any longer and it would be advisable to have the steroid injection, but that she will suffer this with almost every bout of flu for the rest of her life. But when it does flare, it's irritating her and quite obviously painful - this isn't helped by the fact she paws and paws and paws at it whilst it is swollen. Is there anything further we can do to help with the flares?

Urination Around House

I have recently caught her urinating in two different locations, but there has been many other accidents in the house over the past 6 weeks. I regularly change her litter box, we have 2 in different locations of the house. We have used the same litter since she was very young, but recently switched it in case her avoidance of the litter tray was related to the type of litter itself. Is this somehow related to her illness?

Peeling Pads

I noticed this for the first time last night. She was limping around, refusing to put any weight on her front right paw. When I looked at her foot (she would only allow a 2 seconds glance), I noticed one pads was 'skinned' and the other, half-peeling. Today, I phoned the vet and made an appointment for tomorrow as I'm panicking about her pads becoming infected. This afternoon, I noticed it's actually every pad on her foot.. her most outer pad has the top layer hanging off of it. Is this also related to her flu sickness? Is this possibly why she won't use a litterbox? Is there anything I can do for her this afternoon? Should I bathe them?

I apologize for the length of post, but as previously stated Dime is a very unwell little kitten and I want as many home solutions as possible to make her comfortable. I also do have confidence in my vet surgery for the mostpart and have seen 4 different vets over many different appointments regarding her health, but I feel like there must be SOMETHING that can be done for her? Please help!

there are a few things to consider.

herpes- or cat flu is correct. lysine can help stop the symptoms but some people think it doesn't work. it works for my girls. they get sneezy and weepy eyes. the lysisne is called L Lysine by NOW! products on Amazon. there is a 1lb bottle that can be shipped for around $20 and it lasts a long time.

your vet should know about it. 1/4 tsp daily=its an amino acid that scrambles the RNA of the herpes virus but its not the human herpes we think of=theres a long name but for whatever reason the cat folks call It herpes. its like a cold. always there and stress brings it out.

the peeing=stress related? are there any changes in the house right now? like new people moving in or dif hours worked?

Did you have them take urine and examine under a microscope to look for red white blood cells and proteins? they can send it out to see if anything grows.

they can try a shot of convenia but there are tons of stories where people say not to use it. I have used it successfully in my girl who had a kidney infection. convenia works on E coli bacteria.

As far as the itch-some people use pred but I caution use of a steroid while treating an infection. you kind of need to treat the infection first if that's whats going on in the bladder but some people have good results with pred for skin allergies.

have you changed the washing of clothes to nonscented soaps? sometimes the itchy is from something in the environment and I hesitate to use pred before making sure the environment is cleared up.

another thing is food allergies can cause the itchys.

you can try to feed a novel protein diet=search the threads for this=some cats have reaction to chicken/fish or whatever. some people have good luck with rabbit or duck. chewy.com has free shipping over $50.  I know its a lot of money for food but I wonder if you can find food with no corn or potato in it?

I have one cat who pukes from corn meal or corn byproduct in the food so we cant feed most grocery store foods. we use 4Heallth which is tractor supply. they are reasonable but it does have potato and peas. but my elder girl has no trouble with this food. she wont eat the fancier foods. so for now this is it.

hopefully more will chime in.

Thank you so much for your input, I have heard no mention of lysine so I'll be looking into this straight away!

I intend to ask them about checking her for any infection that may be related to the urination tomorrow. We did rescue a dog about a month ago, however she has been around dogs and for a cat is very friendly towards them and has never been afraid of dogs, she doesn't bother with him at all. Could this change still be causing her stress? The urination was occurring in the weeks before this, but I'm wondering if (even if she doesn't act it) the rescue of the dog may be adding to the problem?

Never thought about the skin problems being related to allergies, but I will looking into changing her diet and buying soap-free detergents too (: anything to help her, anything. Like I said, the vet simply stated her skin issues were related to the flu and seemed unconcerned, but it bothers the kitten and is very upsetting to look at.

Like Foxxycat said, "cat flu" is really Feline Herpes Virus (Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis)  and can be controlled (usually) with L-Lysine. 500 mg. a day is the standard dose. Some cats are fine with 250 mg. Double the dose temporarily for a flare-up. What tests has your kitty had? She should've been tested for Calicivirus, FeLV, and FIV. I would also consider tests for Chlamydia and Bordetella if the viral tests are negative. 

I do want to make a clarification. Calicivirus is the equivalent of cat flu, Feline Herpes virus is like a cat cold. I do agree that your kitten likely has FHV (Herpes), along with some other issues. I'll address the FHV first.

First and foremost cats with FHV should NEVER receive steroid injections. Doing so will initially make them appear better, and then things get worse. Steroids suppress the immune system even further and the body is left defenseless against the virus.

Medications you should consider are:
Famciclovir (an oral anti-viral)

Idoxuridine (an anti-viral eye drop)

Cidofovir (another anti-viral eye drop)

Veraflox (an antibiotic used specifically to treat bacterial infections associated with FHV.)

Polyprenyl Immunostimulant
- this treatment is certainly more expensive, but your kitten is one of the few I'm really going to suggest this to. I have used it twice on cats with severe FHV that either no longer were responding to other treatment or who would have recurrent flare ups within days of stopping treatment. These two cats have not had one single flare up since we treated with PI.

As for the skin lesions, what food are you currently feeding? Is she treated regularly for fleas? (Even if indoors only...one single flea bite can wreck havoc, especially on a cat with a compromised immune system.)

With that said, I am more suspicious of a food allergy.

The peeling paw pads. I think this might be an autoimmune issue. And, since you mention her paws are painful, it could certainly be contributing to her litter box issues.

Litter box avoidance...

Has a urinalysis and urine culture be run? If so, when was the most recent?

Wondering if she doesn't have a UTI, cystitis or even something called idiopathic sterile cystitis which is brought on by stress (her being chronically sick could certainly account for this!)

I hope they find some relief for your baby. CatPack is correct in all the info=THank you! I couldn't remember the exact names and what they were but I know they are both annoying to deal with.

Hope you update us on whats going on with your baby.

What food are you feeding right now?

For a cat with health issues i really recommend raw food if you can afford it.

kittyluv387 said:

For a cat with health issues i really recommend raw food if you can afford it.

Click to expand...

While a raw diet may be beneficial to some cats, it is not appropriate for all. When dealing with a cat with a compromised immune system a raw diet may not be the best option.

I can post a more in-depth reply to you wonderful people later, but right now I'm getting ready to take her to the vet. I'm going to inquire about a urine test being taken, what else should I ask about? I feel they have really let me down by completely eliminating any kind of useful information. I have asked time and time again if there is anything I can do at home for her - they have never mentioned anything about food (except for telling me to put her back into kitten food), lysine or any other information you guys have given me. Both angry and disappointed that she has suffered a year longer than she potentially had to because of lack of communication on their part.

Update: Finally got a vet who seemed to be on the same level of concern as myself. He suggested blood tests for her biochemistry to ensure everything is functioning correctly and he tested her for FIV, FeLV and another virus beginning with C and her tests came back negative. I took this as a positive result.

He said from the vet history at the surgery and his own diagnosis that it's most definitely a form of cat flu with an underlying bacterial infection which he has given her a 2 week antibiotic injection to treat. If she isn't any better, he's suggested we go back and have more complex swabs and further blood tests taken.

Regarding her skin/paws, he feels that's also related to the bacterial infection and they will improve if the infection clears up. He said he's confident it's NOT diet related, nor is she malnutritioned. Again, this is a massive relief but makes me question the previous vet who told me that was the issue.

I feel confident in dealing with this vet and have my fingers crossed that she improves now, if not I'll continue to see him personally because he has been infinitely more helpful and enthusiastic about helping than the others we have seen.

He informed me she has a heart murmur, which upset me a good deal having had a lot of issues with pets with murmurs before, but overall I'm feeling very positive about today.