5 infections, all at once.

Hello cat people

I recently adopted a 2 1/2 month old kitten from the shelter. He has been so calm and cute and cuddly, but not very active. He also came home with a respiratory infection, which our vet told us to just let heal on it's own.

We took him back to the vet today and he was diagnosed with not one, but 5 conditions. His belly is all liquidy, his eyes are goopy and infected, his ears are itchy, he's still sneezing, AND he possibly has ringworm. He's eating special food and we have to give him 3 different medicines twice a day. If he isn't better by next Friday, we're bringing him back in to get medicine for ringworm. Please let it not be ringworm. Please let it not spread to my other cat. 

I literally started crying when the vet told us all of this, it was so embarrassing. Do any of you have success stories or words of encouragement? They would be greatly appreciated, I feel so bad for my poor kitten.

Thanks for reading this :-)

You can do this! You got this, girl! Even tho your kitten is very sick, you are doing a great job of taking care of him. You are being proactive with his care. Now, as for the dr telling you to let your kitten just get over it, that's usually not how things work especially when cats comes from the streets or the pound. They almost always have some kind of infection, and viral or not, need to be given an antibiotic to stave off a secondary infection. In this case, I feel, your vet failed. From now on, if something doesn't seem right or you don't agree with your vet's dx, act on that. Get a second opinion if you have to. But you can do this. It's going to take some hard work and sleepless nights, but it's doable. I'm completing my 6th week of three very sick cats while workinG a full-time job. Yes, there have been times when I didn't think I was going to be able to continue and I cried a lot because it was so hard. But it is so worth it!! When you see your baby getting better, even just a small success, it will make you feel incredible. You can do this!!!

Yes, as BelleL pointed out, you can do this!  You're his Mom, and that's what Moms do.  Moms should run the world because we are capable of so much   And if that includes bursting into tears when we first get bad news, so be it...we get it out of our systems and then go forth and get down to business.  Nothing n to be embarrassed about, IMHO.

So do you have an ointment for his eyes, or an antibiotici in pill form that's supposed to help them.  What about his itchy ears?  Are you to put something in them a few times a day?  is that one of the meds?   And the special food is to help his "liquidy" belly?  What's a liquidy belly anyway?

Now, about the ringworm...why couldn't he diagnosis it or not when you were there?  I know it doesn't always show up with a blacklight, but could he do a skin scraping?  Or is one of the medicines FOR it, just in case?  What was his reasoning in waiting an entire week to see?  He knows you have another cat, right?  Are you to keep them separated? 

for the little guy (and YOU )

The "good" news is that the eyes and ears are probably connected and go along with the upper respiratory infection, so you're now down to "only" 4 issues.   You can do it!  Most kitties come home with something when adopted.  I think most of us have had to deal with multiple issues all at once.  Take it one day at a time and celebrate the baby steps.  We're here for you!!

It sounds like you are being a wonderful kitty parent and taking care of your little one. You have absolutely no reason to feel embarrassed about anything. You are doing everything you should to make your kitty better.

I have to second the concerns though about your vet. I've had a kitty come from the shelter with a respiratory infection and it took some heavy hitting antibiotics to take care of it. I've never heard that it will clear up on its own and a kitty that young can go downhill quickly. Personally, I'd go to a different vet for a second opinion on your kitties various problems and make sure they aren't interconnected or misdiagnosed. Vets can make mistakes and if you are going to a small animal vet they might only see 15-20% cat patients so they might be unfamiliar with your problems or they had a bad day. But what it sounds like isn't sitting well with me but if you love and trust your vet I totally understand sticking with what they are saying.

That said I am right there with the juggling multiple issues. I had an abcess on Link, Rocket get stress sick off of that, then both better for a week, now Link has a broken leg and I am watching Rocket like a hawk for her to get stress sick again. All in 3 weeks. Its been non-stop and all I can say is focusing on one day at a time and enjoy the small victories. I seriously did a happy dance this evening that Link was toe touching with his broken leg when the used the litter box.

I also came home with a very sick kitty from the shelter years ago (the shelter asked if I wanted a different cat and they'd put him down level sick) who had several things wrong and took weeks of care. That cat was the most loving and, as much as I love my current two, he was on a whole other level. I've always felt it was because he knew he was so close to death and bonded with me when I nursed him back.

You will get through this. Stay strong. Stay vigilant on your kitties symptoms and don't hesitate to go back sooner ir get a second opinion if you feel you need to.

Both good news and sad news- I'll start with the good.

After giving him his medicine and food, he gained half a pound (!!!) He was very underweight when he came home from the shelter and now he's obsessed with food. Second good news, the medicine made his respiratory infection and his eyes better

Bad news- he has ringworm. And I'm so sad. My mom decided that it would be best for us to drop him off at the shelter's vet to get treated for ringworm because of our other cat. He'll be back with us in two weeks or so and we'll be cleaning our house like crazy people until he's back. 

Also, I think my other cat has got ringworm now. There's a black ring inside her ear and maybe it's just earwax but it's making me very nervous. Does this seem like a symptom of ringworm?

Thank you all for all of your wonderful support   

Ringworm can be very contagious, even humans can catch it.  Can you get the cat to the vet for a check of it?

We're taking her to the vet on Saturday to get her checked out- in the mean time we'll be disinfecting and vacuuming our house like crazy trying to get rid of spores.