Herpies the silent killer

Help,
My Kittens have Herpies. I had 8 now only 3 are left. The vet said to give them formula when they stop nursing and he gave me a dehidration packet to mix with water. But three more have died sence. They still nurse untell there last hours of life. Isnt there something else I could do to save these last three kittens? (There a little over a week old)
*Kristie*

I'm so sorry to hear about your babies. I know nothing about Herpies. Just want you to know you and your babies are in my prayers.

Lisa

Originally Posted by MyFirstRagdoll

I'm so sorry to hear about your babies. I know nothing about Herpies. Just want you to know you and your babies are in my prayers.

Lisa

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You are in a difficult spot because herpes in kittens that young is so relentless. Are they also in full-blown upper respiratory distress? You can do a couple of things, when they get stuffed up, put them in a small room with a vaporizer and run some vicks through the machine. See if the vet will give you some clavamox or some zythromax- though the latter is prohibitively expensive. If you can find some lysine that does not have any proployne glycol in it try and get it completely dissolved in the formula to see if that helps.

In the meantime, keep the babies warm, and if they aren't eating well, be sure and clean out their noses first before bottle feeding- also feed kitten glop as well you can find the recipe on www.kitten-rescue.com

and my thanks to my friend and author Dusty Rainbolt who has had her share of dealing with Herpes and has freely shared her knowledge with me. You can find information about kittens and kitten care in her latest book Kittens for Dummies

It doesn't just kill cats, either. We've had five horses die of it in our area in the past week, so horse owners here are in a bit of a panic.
Your kittens are in my thoughts.

Your kittens are in my thoughts.

I'm so sorry you lost your kittens, Kristie. Please do let us know how your 3 little ones are doing.

See if you can get some antibiotics to help with the secondary infections. We had a round of Calici virus with this litter I'm fostering, and lost half. Even though all the kittens were on antibiotics to prevent secondary infections, it didn't stop the virus from taking them. The three that survived have been bottle fed, tube fed, sub q'd etc. just to keep them with us. They are seriously small for their age (all under a pound at 5.5 weeks old) BUT... they are all also on solid food now, and using the litterbox, and learning to play. In fact tonight I cracked up as Kala was "pouncing" (as much as he can pounce) on Chloe's tail while she was eating.

If mom has an outbreak in her mouth, she may not eat as her mouth is hurting her (this is what happened with Chloe) and then her milk production was rather low. So even though your kittens are nursing, they may not be getting enough - are their bellies full (not wrinkly, but round and plump) if so, they are doing well. I had issues with my guys not getting enough to eat until we started supplementing. Its very relentless like Hissy said, and this group of fosters has been a very tough (yet rewarding to see these last three thriving). Good luck to you.