Kitten Won't Eat

How's he doing? Is he still fighting or has he passed on?

I was visiting him yesterday, and he was really vocal. And he was doing a lot better then I visited the first time, where he was just curled up and refused to get up.

His 3rd blood report came back this morning, and his white blood cell went back up to a normal level. I am really happy right now, but I still got a couple of things that I am concerned about. He's eyes are still hazy (both of them now), and the vet said she never saw a cat with hazy eyes and panleukopenia. The vet also noticed some blood in his eyes as well, but she said it was a lot better then before already. She also said if the condition continued, Shirou might have to see an eye specialist. But in the end, his life right now is not in any immediate danger, and it seems like he did mostly recover from the panleukopenia.

The doctor said she would try to have him off IV, and feed him normally and see if he can keep his food down. His vomitting has gone down quite a bit, but still has diarrhea. But, if everything goes well, the vet said she could be out of the hospital by tommorow, and let my local vet resolve the rest of the problems.

We would just want to thank you people for giving me and Shirou information, and support throughout this couple of days. It meant a lot to us. Thanks.

That's pretty amazing, that he's recovering so well! That vet must be pretty good. I am sure your visiting him helps give him the will to fight the disease.
I don't know anything about panleukopenia or the eye problems. What does it mean, the eyes are hazy, and there is blood in the eyes? Might he have permanent problems from that? Whatever happens, I will remember this kitty in my thoughts. Good for you, to keep trying so hard for your little loved one.

Thats good to hear and I think he might make it (although don't want to jinx it!) Kittens have an amazing ability to recover. When you do bring him home make sure the vet gives you fluids to take home and give him yourself. He'll need lots of loving and close attention, which I'm sure you'll give him plenty of Glad to hear he's doing better!

Thank you for sharing the great news!

Good news! Continuing to send healing vibes and prayers.

Wow! I just saw this thread, and am so happy to see the kitty is doing better! You are both in my thoughts!

I have just read this thread. I am so happy that your kitten is improving!

I wanted to share with you that my Garfield had distemper as a kitten. His brother Odie died of it, and Garfield needed extensive treatment to survive. Their Mom, Tigger, was given a blood transfusion because she was so ill from distemper, but she also survived.

When Garfield came home, he had diarrhea for quite a while, and a terrible smell to his waste. It seemed to take weeks if not months to totally clear up. Luckily Festie and her litter had several distemper vaccinations, so they got a very mild case only, and cleared up at home with oral antibiotics.

I am still so surprised, from the original posts your kitten was clearly critically ill. I am so happy that he is recovering. I hope he can come home soon, poor little kitty.

I just read this thread now. What an amazing recovery! Good for you for being there and doing all that you could for poor Shirou. He's both lucky to have survived and to have such a caring, dedicated human.

Thank you to all those who've replied.

Although he had recovered from the serious illness, he is still refusing to eat some of the food for some reason, and he also vomitted again this morning. He also seem to be loosing his voice too. As a result, I might take him to the vet again to see if he has come down with a fever or something, and also do another blood test.

You may want to get a thermometer and just check his temp yourself so that you can do it sooner. Are you feeding him the same food from when he was sick? He may be associating throwing up with the taste of the food. I would try getting something new or maybe even feeding him some light human food.

Well, just an update.

He finally started gobbling up his food, and the vomitting seems to have stopped too. Still has diarrhea, so hopefully that will get resolved too.

and here he is, in my bed:
http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/1539/img18431qh.jpg

Oh he is sweet, and thankfully a survivor too. If you have some plain yogurt try and give him that if it has active cultures. You can also cook up some hamburger and drain it really well, then cook up some rice. Mix the hamburger and the rice together and just give him a tiny bit at a time, it will help to bind up his stool. Make sure he is getting enough water. You can also boil up some rice, and right before it is almost cooked, drain off the water and give him that liquid cooled.

He sounds a little fighter. I'm glad to hear good news. Sending good wishes that he continues to improve.

i'm glad that he's recovering!!!!! and he's sooo cute!!



hm...you may wanna have second thought about ur local vet tho, as he/she did not diagnose ur kitten have panleukopania.

Great news!!!

The diarrhea/loose stool will probably last quite a while. My survivors took a few months to be totally back to normal in that regard. He'll also be more susceptible to other intestinal infections like giardia and camphylobacter for a while. Panleuk really messes up the intestines and they take a pretty long time to heal. I did have really good luck with Carafate (a prescription medicine) to help bind the stool, you may want to ask your vet about that.

I would say be prepared to take him to the vet every 2 weeks or so for the next couple of months. That's what I ended up needing to do, just to keep tabs on recovery and deal with any complications as soon as they cropped up.

Overall, though, I think he's made a remarkable recovery and he will have an absolutely normal life in the long term.

He is beautiful!