Time for a vet visit?

My foster kittens are doing well, all eyes open, very noisy, well able to climb out of basket if I don't respond soon enough to them, (don't worry the basket is never out of my sight )

But.. I have heard occasional coughs from the basket.. and since they were in contact with kittens with cat flu I am getting really paranoid.
They aren't coughing fits, just lone coughs, but I am still concerned.
There is no discharge from their eyes.

I'm really worried because tomorrow my co worker Dan is taking them for 3 days, and he won't be quite so attentive.. sure he'll feed them etc, but I know he isn't going to give up his social life for them like I have
Also these are really demanding little buggers, I'm constantly taking 1 fom the basket and cuddling till they hush and then gently place them back in the pile.

I'm not sure he would notice if they began to act differently...
So tomorrow is sort of my last day to make sure they are healthy.

Is coughing just a normal kitten thing or does it need to be seen to?
Normally i'd keep an eye on them since it isn't very frequent but I have limited time..

A lone, single cough isn't a worry - it happens as do little sneezes from time to time. But if it turns into constant coughing, with wheezing or fluid sounds, then you have a problem.

Ok so my kittens are back from my co workers after he had then since wednesday.. and they don't look good at all

When I last saw them they were wandering about, climbing, active, good stools, and generally lively little things.

Today I came in and they were huddled in the corner very cold, usually when I look in they'd start meowing but even picking them up there wasn't much of a response.
They have diarrhoea, very yellow and very runny, basically liquid, and 1 has a very sore anus, I am going to put some olive oil on it after their next feed.. they are due in a few minutes.

Wee is clear.. dunno if that is significant.. but please what can I do?
Is it because maybe we mix up the milk differently?
I'm not sure we do but maybe one of us had a less/more concentrated milk solution made up.

They are feeding well... not as well as they had been.. but still at least 7.5 mls. The diarrhoea is coming after every feed and also in between, in their basket.

I'v cleaned them all in warm water to get off dried stool and pee and am about to feed them all and cuddle and sort them out, i'v just gotten back from work with them.

Another note.. I heard one meowing a second ago.. and he's stopped now.. they were incredibly persistant when I had them, unignorable.
But they are giving up after a few meows now..

I'm going to go sort them now, I just want this post up early so I have most advice available.
Vet closed till tomorrow.. and tomorrow is only emergencies.. this an emergency??

Thanks for any replies

I would say it's an emergency. It would scare me to death if my kittens were having those problems. I don't know what could possibly be wrong with them, but I would definately get them to a vet ASAP!

I would certainly consider this an emergency, sick kittens can fade very quickly depending on just how sick they really are.

I agree, don't mess around, get these kittens to the vet now or face the possibility of losing them. At this age, they go quickly-

I also merged your thread- it is helpful to keep them together so people know the whole story. Good luck with them. I would be quite concerned if I were you, and be getting them in to be seen quickly

Thanks for merging the thread, sorry I was in a rush with mewling kittens in the background
I will bring them to the vet in the morning regardless of if I can get an appointment.
I am on very good terms with her so I am sure she'll squeeze me in.

I put some olive oil on the bum to soothe it.. they are all fast asleep now with 2 water bottles.

I forgot to mention in my hurry, earlier as the 2 of us were feeding them and toileting them, just as I was collecting them, I saw him lift his kitten upside down to toilet him!! :O after eating!
I nearly died and gently recommended a better way.. I was careful not to seem upset at their poorlyness as he seemed anxious himself..

Thanks again

They sound like he let them get to chilled. Can you make some rice heaters or put some plastic pop bottles filled with hot water and wrapped in a towel in their box with them to warm them up? Are they cold to the touch when you hold one? Just try and get them some safe warmth- don't use a human heating pad- a pet one is ideal, and get them to the vet as soon as possible.

Best of luck! Oh and you can use desitin baby ointment on sore rectums, not a lot, but you can use it sparingly. Also while you are at the store pick up a bottle of pedialyte and use that to mix with their formula/food

They were cold to the touch when he brought them to work.. he had a hot water bottle in but I think that was new there, because he had brought home a vet's heating pad to use, but it barely gives off any heat, it is really the sort that an animal lies on without any blankets.


I have 1 large hot water bottle wrapped in a towel, and their elephant hot water bottle also, so they are nice and warm now.

Unfortunately ireland it utterly useless for pet supplies, heating pads sold are ones for reptiles only and tend to be in the 100's.

While I was in england I got a heat pad for a tenner!
But I use that with my pygmy dormice and I would be worried about any crossinfection..

I'm not sure pedialyte is sold here, I'v looked a few times in the past but always end up just buying human oral rehydration stuff sachets... because I was told pedialyte is used for dehydration as well.. I like to keep first aid stuff around for emergencies..

They seem betterish now.. I think they recognised me because they are a bit more responsive now I just noticed the tiniest tiniest speck of blood on the sore bottom its teeny, and when I wiped it, there was no more.. but god i'm like a mother hen with these kits now.. fussing like mad.

I am gonna name them too

Oh, the poor little babies. I hope things improve with your attentive care. Thank you for watching these little ones so closely!

Make sure they stay warm & also there is a homemade recipe for pedialyte on the internet, I will look for that! Best of luck...

Ok Here it is:Also goat milk is really very good for small animals with diarhea since it is very highly digestible. Hope this helps!

http://www.night.net/rosie/rehydration-formula.html

Thanks for that! i'll have a go at making some tonight.

Hm i'm not very satisfied with the vet trip..My own vet was on a rare weekend off so I went to the vet that takes her clients when she is off..
It is a clinic I personally hate, as when I was 12 a vet there broke both my gerbil's back legs trying to clip her nails.
I'v since clipped them myself

Anyways.. it was a different vet this time.. she had a look one by one and took temperatures.
All normal temps, all kittens perfect apart from diarrhoea bar the one with a sore bottom.
The olive oil took away a lot of the rawness overnight so she said to continue using that.
She said diarrhoea was because of the food change and should go back to normal in 3 days.. but didn't give tips to help it, which was why I went!

She went on about how a mother's milk gives them antibodies etc so they are very vunerable but I reminded her they got a week of colostrum.
She said they still have a bad immune system... and then, promptly places a kitten on the unswept floor beside the bin to test its eyesight. (!!!)

See, I am worried about the 2nd tabby as she doesn't seem to see well at all, so that was her 'test' to see if she walked into the bin. but sure she didn't even move, just turned her head around, and the vet decides conclusively her eyesight is perfect.

*does anyone have more reliable ways to test??

I have to hold her full head while feeding or she misses the syringe, and she is always looking up at the ceiling in a strange way.. If I wave my fingers in front of her she has no reaction, even if I place the syringe a cm away from her nose she turns around the wrong way.

I have a powder to give the kittens to help settle their stomachs.

RE the goats milk.. there is a nanny goat at work.. who was used for milking but dumped because her baby was deformed. But her milk is ok for them? Raw goats milk?
I guess I could milk her lolol

I don't know if full strength goats milk is OK for kittens this young, but I started to give it to Dushka when she was 3/4 weeks old with pneumonia. AS she got stronger I mixed it with egg yolk, and she thrived. I can't get things like kitten milk here so I had to make do.

I have always used goat milk on my bottlefed babies, per advice or vet & fellow breeders. I found this site for you. I hope it helps! Have a great day, Dawnde
http://www.meyenberg.com/breeders.htm

Whoops! Forgot this one, It gives directions for weak or newborn animals...

http://www.meyenberg.com/breederdilution.htm

so if I were to somehow corner Heather the goat lol with a cup and get some milk, and dilute it with water, it is ok?

Would it not upset their already upset stomachs as it is a form of KMR itself?
I thought I can't alter their diet.. would it just be a few mls each, not a feed of it?

We handraised 2 lambs on her milk before.. they are now very fat sheep lol

I always fed the recipe with the goat's milk, yogurt etc...The recipe is on the last link. My golden pups were very healthy after 8 weeks of this! The mother had nothing to do with them, So at 8 weeks they were on 8 ounce bottles at 8 pups=no sleep! They took quickly to puppy food though soon after Thanks Heavens...

Going to my proper vet in an hour.
That vet yesterday was pure useless.

Squeaker's diarrhoea has a new definite tinge of red now so i'm not hanging around to see if they harden up.
wish us luck.. i'll get her to test Cheetah's eyes too, I'm not convinced.. she has too much trouble finding the syringe and water bottle and is very unstable.

On a plus side I got some puppy wee pads so I'm not going through 5 towels a day with them. just the one wrapped around their bottle.