another sick kitty

Hi... I had posted on Saturday night about a kitten with URI symptoms... Since the anti-biotics and communication with the vet he is doing great.. eating, drinking, playing, etc......

On Monday my other kitten (Bindy) started to seem abit sick... but his symptoms were different than a URI.... he was vomitting, diarrhea, no eating or drinking... I called the vet, started anti-biotics... I took him in this morning as he had not improved... they hydrated him, gave him an anti-biotic shot and nausea medicine... the symptoms are classic distemper symptoms except that he is improving little by little rather than getting worse quickly... His temp. was 104 but he didnt seem to have stomach tenderness...

He didnt have worms either...

When they gave him the shots I could hear him screaming in the back.. when the doc came back in with Bindy he said he doubts its distemper because of the fight he put up as most kittens with distemper are too weak to do anything... he said probably not distemper yet he had a BAD temper... lol

Since then hes been sleeping in my room... He hadnt eaten in 48 hours, but 2 hours ago I fed him baby food with a syringe and he licked it up and he hasn't thrown it up (yayyy)... I have only fed him about 3.5 ml. of food so its not too much for his sick tummy... He wasnt readily eating but he didnt turn away like last night.. he licked it up.. I dont want to force him...

so, my vet figures my kitties ate something that didnt agree with them... but both sick, different symptoms??? I'm so confused...

I have no poisonous 'stuff' around the house such as slug bait or anti-freeze, etc.... the kittens do not roam far... I know lil Bindy ate a frog a week ago and has been bringing in baby gardner snakes... I also found an empty snail shell.....

can frogs and snails make kittys sick??????????

I just worried and really stressed out having 2 kittens sick in such a short time...



well, I hope he gets better...

anyone have experience with feline distemper???? does it sound like it...???

I guess I need some reassurance...

Did they rule out distemper? There are pockets of this disease blowing up all over the United States right now.

You poor dear, what a worry. I'm sorry I have no good recommendations for you but some wiser folks than I should be around soon and hopefully can give you some answers.

He didn't REALLY rule it out, but he said that he was feeling very doubtful it was distemper, based on he seemed to have improved, if even only abit, rather than get worse... He said distemper is a quick decline... He has not seen a big outbreak here, but there had been a couple (2) of cases over last few months...

I suppose if there is any chance at all a kitten can survive distemper, we would be taking the same good care of him, along with praying!

aww my poor little bindy... I am just really crossing my fingers hes gonna pull out of this...

Fingers crossed here, too. Come on, Bindy, you can do it!!

I hope Bindy feels better soon.

Thank you all for your good thoughts...

Well, I've been feeding Bindy 2ml. of beef baby food every 1-2 hours... I warm it up and he's eating it... So far he hasn't thrown up... He hasn't drank yet, but had fluids given to him earlier... He also cleaned himself, which is a good sign to me... He cuddled up against our dog and loved on me... Earlier he didn't want us to pet him at all...

I don't know if I am seeing improvement or just trying to make myself feel better...

Uncertainty is the worst!

I don't know what else I can do for him except keep doing what I am doing... I figure I will take him in tomorrow (before the weekend) and have fluids given to him if he hasn't begun eating and drinking on his own... I guess I can always make arrangements for him to receive fluids at the EV over the weekend... oy! its a long weekend at that...

I am going to try to give him some nancy's yogurt later on... He seemed interested but just doesnt feel like eating...

will keep you up to date... as I said, its gonna be a long evening...

~Spirit

I figure it will be a long night...

OMG! Could it be the big ALOE VERA plant on my back porch??????????

Will that make my kitties sick?????????

ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh

http://mainecoonrescue.com/poison.html

Yes...Aloe Vera is Poisonous to kitties.

Thank you... I actually found a 1800 number for animal poisoning and she said although it CAN cause vomitting and diarrhea its unlikely to be fatal...

Honestly I think I am grasping at straws...

The hardest part about the potential of it being distemper is that I was waiting for their neuter appt. to get them vaccinated... I have had animals all my life and always make sure to get their vaccinations... some I have done as early as 8 weeks and others I have waited, but never have I had a problem...

So, learning the very hard way

Even if its not distemper, the WORRY is really hard and stressful... In hindsight I should have taken them in sooner...

anyways, It wont do any good to beat myself up over it... Just trying to stay hopeful for my Bindy and keep praying praying praying praying...................................

I know your worry and I really hope Bindy gets better. It sounds as if you are seeing improvement though, and to be safe, I would remove the aloe vera!

Yes! I removed the aloe vera immediately... I didnt notice any bite marks or anything but no chances!

Bindy came out in the living room with me... I was playing with his brother (Merlin) and Bindy was watching and even swatted at it once... He hasnt thrown up again, but he does have icky black diarrhea... I assume the medicine will make it this color...

I have been feeding him BEEF baby food... This might not help the diarrhea either.. I was just trying to find something I could put into a syringe... He's eaten about 1/2 a jar so far...

Do you or ANYONE have any suggestions on what to feed to stop the diarrhea??????

His lil bottom must hurt... I washed it with a warm cloth... I think he appreciated it because he cuddled up to me and purred when I was done...

He normally eats Nutro dry kitten food with the nutro wet kitten food as a treat... He's obviously not ready for dry food and he's not eating the wet cat food...

hmmm... only time will tell... but suggestions on the diarrhea would be SOOOOOOOOOO appreciated...

thanks ahead of time.. also for the wonderfull support....

He's eating on his own!!!! and drinking... (crosses fingers he holds it down)

He woke me up in his usual manner..>> kneading my face... LOL

He looks SOOOOOOOOO much better! go Bindy GO!

I'll send pictures later...



of course, I dont think he's out of the woods yet, but there is clear strong improvement!

Wonderful !

Bindy ran from me today when I went to give him his medicine...goooooooo Bindy! heheh

he is also eating on his own (nutro soft cat food) and drinking... the 3rd eyelid is still showing on both kitties... I wonder how long it takes to go back to normal... for instance, one kitty seems totally back to normal but his inner lids are still showing...

both kitties look very pink on their gums and such....

I am keeping a close eye on my other cats... They are pretty separated, but live in a small house... My adult cats pretty much stay outside in the garden area or under the house... but still keeping an eye on them for any ill symptoms... exposure is unavoidable... whatever they are being exposed to... I did a thorough walk through and do not find anything dangerous to them...

Bindy's diarrhea is abit better but still there... I guess that is to be expected... again, any ideas on helping him with that???

WooHoo Spirit !

Honest to goodness, you'd swear this board can do miracles ! It's amazing what well-wishes from everyone can do !

(now if everyone could kindly wish that I win several million dollars please...)

Go Bindi ! Keep on eating !
Julie

Bindy is better.. phewwwwwwwwww

He just got done chasing bugs! My only fear is that he will contract the URI that 2 of my other cats have... Impossible to totally separate them... I am hoping the amoxy will protect him... also giving him a dose of Nancys yogurt with acidophilis with every dose of anti-biotics...

anyways, yes the support is nice... It seems that some more well known people get much more support, but I suppose that is to be expected... I am VERYYYYYYYY appreciative for those of you who sent good wishes and checked back in to see how he was... I was sooooooooo scared I was gonna lose him..

but anyways, MUCH BETTER! Not eating as much as I would like, but enough and he is looking much more healthy, running, cuddling, drinking, eating on his own (even his hard food)...

anyways, thanks again!