Sick Persian Kitten

I am thinking of taking on a project...

I purchased a healthy Persian kitten in December from a very reputable breeder in Washington State. This weekend I brought my kitty (Ashley) and went back to visit her.
I have been thinking about getting Ashley a playmate for when i'm gone at work all day and I agreed to take one of her new kittens that has had a cold off and on through its life - it is about 14 weeks old. The kitten eats very well,(had a full, bit of a bloated belly), drinks well and plays just as much as the other cats, even though she is a bit of a "runt" she doesn't seem to have any problems - but she sneezes and gets a stuffy, runny nose, you can hear her breathing sometimes.
While I was there, the breeder gave the kitty nose drops and she sneezed 4 or 5 times and that seemed the clear her nose.
The breeder is going to provide me with antibiotics and will be nebulizing the kitten this week until I pick her up next Saturday.
My question to you is - do you think this kitten will pass on this cold to my other Persian who is perfectly healthy?
The breeder has not isolated the sick kitten at all and lets it run freely with the other cats in her cattery (there are probably 30-40 cats there). She said she hasn't noticed it in any of the other cats, and that sometimes these things just happen.

The breeder also mentioned that perhaps this kitty just has a weaker immune system - she didn't push me to take this kitten at all, I chose her out of a bunch of other, healthy kittens because of her demeanor and her cute face & eye shape. I guess I felt like if I could give her my full attention and her medications regularly, she could get better - more so than the breeder could do with several cats to look after.
Any insight into this would be appreciated...
Thank you.

Adrienne

Well, if it were me, I would isolate the kitten from my healthy cat, at least until it was 100% well. Probably the first thing I'd do, would be to take the kitten to the Vet, and see what is actually wrong with it, but I certainly wouldn't expose my healthy kitten to it.

I would isolate the kitty until you can get it to a vet, some cats are just sneezy all their life. Brachycephalic cats have a tendincy to have trouble shaking off URI's.
I have an Egyptian Mau who has always been very sickly, she has an enlarged heart, severe malocclusion, deformed nasal cavity and hip dysplasia. She constantly has a cold and we have tried almost all antibiotics. We finally tried Zithromax, and it worked.
If the breeder has tried all antibiotics ask your vet about Zithromax, the pills are cut into 16 pieces. Its not widely used in veterinary medicine because normally other drugs can fix the problem.
Aspen (my girl) didn't give her URI to the other cats. I wouldnt think this kitten would, especially if the other cats in the breeders house where healthy.

Thank you for the encouraging post. I posted this on another site and I got nothing but flack for saying I would be "helping out the breeder by taking her".
Apparently most of the people on that site were rescue workers and felt that the breeder brought it onto herself...

Anyway - thank you again. I REALLY want her, and i'm just trying to make the best decision for both of us.

That is why I recommended you join this board.

Katie

Apparently most of the people on that site were rescue workers and felt that the breeder brought it onto herself...

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Some rescuers take their practices too far and believe that ALL cats should be neutered or spayed. I rescue cats myself (but don't breed) and there is nothing wrong with responsible breeding. Yes, when breeding you do ocassionally get animals with problems (and not just animals, people too), but you deal with it. I have no reason to believe this breeder wouldn't have cared for the kitten for its life had she not found someone equally willing to care for the animal.

It doesn't matter what the breed of cat, or if the cat is a purebreed or not, you will always encounter problems when you have multiple cats and they are breeding. Some breeds are predisposed to problems, but if you know that going in and you arm yourself with knowledge and understand that the cat must be secluded until the problem is resolved, then you are ahead of the game. As long as you have vet care, medicine and isolation for this poor kitty, she should kick the problem. I would certainly make sure that there wasn't something really seriously wrong with her prior to bringing him home. I would suggest a vet visit prior to you bringing her home, a visit the breeder perhaps will split the cost, and use your vet, not hers.

My persian kitten is just over 8 months old. She has had URI 3 times now. We have tried different meds including zithromax. The first time she had it 2 of my other cats got it. The 2nd and 3rd time no-one else had it. This last time seemed to stay with her a long time. She needs lots of care during her bouts but it is worth it. I hope things work out for you with your new kitty.

Hi Adrienne,

Any updates?

I definitly reccomend(sp??) a vert visit for your kitten, especially if you have another one at home. Sometimes this is just a problem persians have(haven't experienced it myself), I hope the poor kitty is ok! I hope we're able to see pictures.

Best of luck,
Sam
Captivating Persians & Exotics.

Why do people breed cats to have health problems? I and my partner is crime have just rescued a cat with a squashed nose. This cat has breathing problems. Why? Breeders are causing these animals great distress. Why?

Goblin

Originally posted by Goblin
Why do people breed cats to have health problems? I and my partner is crime have just rescued a cat with a squashed nose. This cat has breathing problems. Why? Breeders are causing these animals great distress. Why?

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Breeders do not breed cats with health problems...I take that back, good breeders do not breed cats with health problems. Responsible and careful breeding results in healthy cats. I have the most beautiful Himalayan Persian in the world and she has no health problems whatsoever. When you rescue cats you will encounter problems.

When you rescue cats you will encounter problems.

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Please refer to the orginals posters comments...this kitten is from a breeder..not a rescue. Please do not make sweeping remarks about rescue...it is inaccurate. We recently had a purebred persian come into the rescue I volunteer with and she had no issues what so ever.

Katie

Originally posted by TNR1
Please refer to the orginals posters comments...this kitten is from a breeder..not a rescue. Please do not make sweeping remarks about rescue...it is inaccurate.

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I wasn't replying to the orgional post, I was replying to the post I quoted. And I run a rescue and when you rescue you run the risk of having problems. Cats who come in to rescues are more likely to have problems.

"running the risk" and "more likely" is not how you phrased your reply earlier. When we receive a cat to my rescue, the cat's health depends on where the cat has come from, how it has been kept and how it was bred...some cats come without any issues at all...some do come to us with issues. The important thing is..it is not all rescue cats. I am glad that you clarified what you meant, because the way I read it..it seemed to imply that "all" cats in rescue will have issues, which is not the case.

Katie