need advice on sick cats

jcribbs

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Hello,

I have a problem. Is there such a thing as kitty-flu?

About a month ago, Kissy, started sneezing and coughing, had fever and a stopped up nose. I took her to the vet and he put her on antibiotics. She was better in two days and is perfectly fine now. She took 7 days worth of amoxicillin. Two doses a day. Vet told me that her lungs were congested and he suspected she had pnumonia. He said if the antibiotics helped then that was her problem. He did not do any blood work on her.

And now, 6 more of my cats have the same symptoms. I believe a couple of them even have fever like Kissy did when she was ill last month. I haven't been with them much for the last 24 hrs because my husband was in the hospital. Today, when I got home, they were much worse and I am so worried about them. I left them inside while I was gone because I didn't want them in the chill outside. I do not believe it is allergies as fever is involved in this. Can a cat pnumonia germ stay around even when the infected cat was treated?

Both Yellow's eyes are nearly swollen shut and they are as red as blood. Mama has one swollen eye as does Dovey. Turtle has both eyes swollen. Star has one eye swollen. Cleo has one eye swollen. There is a clear liquid running from their eyes. This morning I had to wash their eyes so they could open them. They all looked horrible when I got home this morning. All their noses are running and they are sneezing and coughing like crazy. This is not the herpes virus that cats can get. I have one cat that is on permanent treatment for this and this is not not not the same thing. This is like some sort of illness they are passing back and forth and it appears [to me] to be some sort of bacterial infection but I am only saying that because of the fever involved in this illness. My house is clean so it is not something in there causing this that I am aware of. I keep it aired out. All the cats that are sick have had their shots and they are current with the exception of Turtle and he is going on the 28th to get them along with another cat who is getting fixed. And she is not ill. I just don't understand what is going on with them. It's like two days ago, they were only sneezing a little and 48 hrs later they are really ill. They are not vomiting and they are all still eating and drinking.

I am calling the vet tomorrow to hopefully he will get them some antibiotics without me having to take them all in. Several are having trouble breathing through their noses and their faces look swollen from the cheek bones up. Expecially around the eyes and the temple area. I am running a vaporizer tonight for them. I have used a baby syringe to try and get snot out of their noses to give them some relief which they absolutely hate.

Has anyone experienced this and how did the vet treat it? Or has anyone ever heard of this type of thing? I have a feeling all of them have pnumonia. I sure hope not but that's what I am suspecting.

This is new to me. I can tell they feel bad as they are just laying down sleeping in a corner alone and don't want to be bothered. Usually they are very playful. And until two days ago they were playing. They are listless now.

Thanks in advance for any imput because I am very worried about them
I will probably have called the vet before there is any response to this. I will post on update on what the vet says tomorrow. I am calling him first thing in the morning.

, Jenn
 

sar

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I'm sorry I can't offer the advice that you crave! I haven't come across this before!


I would say that it would be best if it were possible for you to take all of your cats for the vet to see. They will be able to assess them and find out what the problem is so that they can give you something to help them to all get better!

I understand that it may be difficult with so many cats, so would it be possible - as most are ill - to get the vet to do a home visit? They may also discover something in your home that could be a possible factor? (I'm not saying you have a dirty home or anything, there could just be something we'd all miss!)

I hope you're able to find out what is wrong very soon and your poorly kitties get better quickly!


Please do let us know how things go!
 

stephenq

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I'm familiar with your cats' problems and i see URI's like this all the time in our cat shelter. Not only do they need antibiotics, but they need eye cream to prevent blindness or partial blindness from scar tissue developing from untreated eye infections which are a part of the URI. They are listless because they are some combination of dehydrated, feverish, feeling sick, or not having enough food in their body's. If they've lost their appetite then they may need force feeding.

They must NOT be vaccinated while they are sick. There is no such thing as cat flu - that term is floating around the forum right now like some sort of mantra, but there are viral and bacterial upper respiratory infections that cats catch from each other.
 
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jcribbs

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Well, the vet has not answered his phone yet this morning. I think they open at 10am. I will try again in 7 minutes.

I have decided to take the worst cat in [Yellow] so the vet can see one and I will tell him about the others and see if he will treat them all.

This has all happened so sudden. And Stephenq, I have been using eye cream on them already. It is an antibiotic cream but it is not working. The vet gave it to me when I lived in Arkansas.

Something that has crossed my mind about this is poison. This house we live in is a lease house. The landlord triple sprayed poison in the area and in the house before we moved here as he was worried about ticks from the previous people who lived here. I did not find out how much poison he sprayed until just recently.

I am going to go and try and call the doctor again.......
 
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jcribbs

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Still no answer.......... Crap.

This vet is about 10 miles from us. The next closest vet is about 45 minutes away. Sometimes it sucks being remotely located.
 
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jcribbs

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I am fixing to drive to the vet and see if the phone is working. The vet is an elderly gentleman who works alone. No office people. When I dial the number, it is now saying "Please enter your security code".

Hopefully he will be there and I can come back and get Yellow.
 
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jcribbs

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I HOPE the vet is in tomorrow. He has been gone and I have not been able to see anyone yet. The office has been closed and no one has been there. I have been by there several times and called many times. Yellow seems to feel slightly better but in spite of that. after we close on our new house tomorrow morning, I am going to get him in some vets office so they can evaluate him. I might have to go to a different vet.

The other cats seem to be a little better too. I bought some baby wipes to keep their eyes wiped out and to keep their noses wiped clean. I have eye medication that I am putting in Yellow's eyes.

I caught Yellow and Patty playing today which I hope means he is feeling a little better. Yellow and Patty are very bonded. That is the only cat that Yellow really likes. They sleep together and love each other very much. Patty Cake really grooms him. He won't let the other cats groom him. It makes him mad if they try.

I posted some pictures of all the cats. I just bought a digital camera and have been playing with it.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jcribb...zl7dEBtzbbYuYz

Our appointment to close is at 10am in the morning. I should have definate vet news when I get back home.
 
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jcribbs

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I finally caught the vet in his office. I bought 10 bottles of antibiotics so each cat can have their own bottle. All the cats are taking medicine now except Toe and Angie. Those two kitties have no symptoms. The other thing they have in common is they both go outside to poop. They do not like a litter box at all, so I am thinking this might have been passed via the litter box. If a sick cat poops and then the next cat poops in the same litter box and then washes their face, the germ might be spread.... That might not be it, but it's a thought.

I was so pleased that he sold me the antibiotics without me having to take 10 cats in to see him. As it was the meds cost only 14.95 per bottle so that wasn't too bad.
It's called Clavamox and they each take two doses per day for 7 days. I wrote their names on each individual bottle and made a medicine chart. I have never medicated this many animals at one time and this way I won't get confused.

I hope my babies get well soon. They just keep passing this back and forth so this should fix the problem. I can't wait for little Yellow-Man to get well and feel better!! When Kissy had this problem, this is the same med that she took and within two day she felt like a new cat. Eyes and nose and breathing difficulty all cleared and fever never returned. I am putting her on it again because she was coughing this morning so it is being spread back to her. This will nip it in the bud before it gets bad.

Thanks for all the support fellow cat lovers.!! The vet, by the way, went to Texas. That's why his office was closed.....
 
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