My new kitty is sick

stephanie ann

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Hello! May of you probably saw my post about my new cat and litter box habbits. Her name is Molly, she's 2 years old and I got her from the Humane Society exactly a week ago.

When I got her she seemed completely happy and healthy. Then on Thursday she started sneezing. She sneezes a lot and blasts you with a hearty mist when she does if you're holding her. I took her to the vet on Saturday. They didn't tell me what she has, but told me that she had a fever and they put her on Amoxi-drop (antibiotic). First off, it is so so hard to get her to take the medicine. I feel terrible because she is already clearly feeling sick and then I force her with quite a fight to take this liquid she HATES. I always give her a treat after she finally takes it. I am worried because at least 3 of her doses have now either been spit up or accidentally squirted on her face. That means that she won't get as much as she should. Also, now she has started shaking her head which I know means her ears are bothering her, and she's had a slight amount of discharge from her eye. My husband said he cleaned up some snot from the coffee table this morning.

Should I be very worried about this? It's only been a week and I've already fallen in love with her. She's very much my new baby. I really don't want her to be so sick, and I'm VERY scared that maybe she could eventually die from this. She acts just like you or I would if we were sick with a fever. She just lays around and sleeps, and when she's awake she just sits all curled up like she's not feeling good. It makes me so sad.

Any advice or similar experience shared would be greatly appreciated.
 

rblaude

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Sounds like she has a terrible respiratory infection or something. I suggest running your concerns by your vet. A good vet (or vet's receptionist) will listen and either tell you you're doing the medicine right and that will take care of it, or will advise that you bring her back in.

You could also get a second opinion. I've done that before and it makes me feel much better either way. I know vets are expensive, but if you can manage the sick vet bill, that is a good way to go. I worry a lot too and sometimes that DOES pick up on something the first vet didn't see.

Oh are you giving the liquid from a syringe? Did your vet tell you to put the syring just behind her back teeth, then squirt? We did that with Spirit and never really had a mess. The liquid went so far back so quick that his throat has no choice but to swallow. Good luck!
 

dr. doolittle

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She probably has an upper respiratory infection. There are many viruses and bacteria that cause these infections. It is very common for shelter cats to contract this and they usually get over it in a couple of weeks. The important thing to do is to give her her meds on schedule, keep her eating and drinking (good quality wet food) and keep her relatively stress free.

If she seems stuffed up you can take her into the bathroom a couple of times per day and run the shower with hot water. The steam bath will help with the congestion.

If she now has eye discharge you may need to take her back to the vet and get some eye ointment.

Have you had her tested for FIV and Feline Leukemia?? Not necessarily related but this would also be a good idea.

Try wrapping her "burrito" style in a towel with just her head sticking out to give her medication.
 

catloverin_ks

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Aww, poor thing! I took one of my dogs to the vet Saturday and thats what she has(upper resp infection). They gave her 2 shots while we were there, and sent home 2 diff meds(pills), that one of them she takes 3x a day and the other just once. I know how it feels to try and give liquid to a cat! I think I would call the vet back and ask them how to handle that and maybe they can give her a round of shots or something to get the meds going? Please keep us posted on how shes doing!! *hugs*
 

stephanietx

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Been there, done that! We adopted a kitty at the end of November and she came with an URI. It took her about 6 weeks to get over it completely enough to be socialized with our other kitty. After only 1 night with us, I had to take her to the vet where she ended up spending 5 days so they could give her sub-q fluids because she was soooo sick and congested. I would visit her every day!

Anyway, when she was well enough to come home, she laid around A LOT! Her little body was trying to fight off the infection. I put her in a spare bedroom with a vaporizor, a nice snuggly bed, food, water, and a litter box. It was a great way for her to become familiar with the sounds of our house as well as recuperate. She was on antibiotics for 6 weeks, Lysine goop, and eye drops. Now she's fat and sassy and ruling the roost!!

If you need to, wrap her up snuggly in a towel, stick the dropper in the back of her gumline and squeeze. My Hannah has such a small mouth that I usually had to do the dose in halves. Give half the dose, let it go down, then finish the other half.

To help with her congestion, you can get some eucalyptus oil, put a few drops on a wash cloth and put it where she can smell it, but not get to it as eucalyptus is very dangerous to kitties. (My vet recommended we do this. He also recommended putting just a little dab of vicks on the end/top of her nose to help clear her up.)

I would recommend that if you have any doubts about whether or not she's getting better, take her back to the vet. My vet wanted me to keep her at home, but I had to insist on her staying.

Stephanie
 
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stephanie ann

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She has been tested for FIV and lukemia, and given all of her shots and wormed. She had only been at the humane society for a week when I adopted her, and then with us for almost a week when she started to get sick. I've gotten used to giving her the antibiotics, thank goodness. I hold her on the dining room table and my husband puts the meds in her mouth. I am really afraid that she will start to really hate me for doing this because she will just associate me picking her up with being forced some nasty meds.

She has gotten worse since I posted. I called the vet today and told them about how I have accidentally lost some doses (spitting it up, squirting it out before it was in her mouth, etc) and I am stopping in tommorrow to get some more. They offered pills, but I think I have the liquid down now. When I go in I will be asking about her condition worsening. Do you guys think she will be okay and get better? I am so worried about her. She sounds so gurgley and her little eyes look like she is crying. I just got done putting her in the bathroom with a steamy shower running.

Is it typical for a sick cat to not really be interested in being petted and loved on? Maybe that is a silly question, but she just seems to want me to leave her be. I hope it's just because she isn't feeling well, and not because she is permanently scared of the big mean nasty liquid squirting lady. Right now she is sitting under my computer chair so she must not be too scared of me.

Thanks for all of your advice. I am so glad that you guys are here for me. I want my kitty to be happy and healthy, and I want to be a good kitty momma.
 

charmed654321

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I'm so sorry your kitty is sick. I hope they can get the infection under control. With antibiotics, and at her age, I am hoping she'll be fine. Please let us know what the vet says.

If you are concerned she might begin to associate you with the medicine, once it's over and you dont' have to do it anymore, she'll get over it, most likely. But there are a few lkittle things you can do that might make it easier.

Recently I had to give my kitty those liquid meds (I much prefer the pills -- if you know how to do it, you can give a cat a pill in no time, but it takes practice). Anyway, the cat isn't afraid of me, but if she sees me with that bottle...lol So make the bottle very visible.

Another thing you can do is take a sweater or old shirt or something, one for you and your husband, and put that on before you give her the medication, and take it off right after. She'll associate the shirt with the medicine, not you, because you'll only be giving her meds when you're wearing the shirt, when you pick her up other times, you won't.

If she seems really congested, while you're waiting for the meds to kick in, run a very, very hot shower until the room steams up really well, and take her into there and stay with her in there for a while. The steam will help the congestion a little bit.

Keep us informed.
 

stephanietx

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Poor thing! Your kitty is just not feeling well and so she doesn't want to play or be handled. I know when I don't feel well, I don't want anyone bothering me! LOL If you can, put her in a bedroom by herself with a vaporizer and all the necessities she'll need, food, water, litterbox, cushy sleep spot, a nice soft towel, and a shirt or something that smells like you. Just go into the room every hour or so and sit with her or lay near her on the floor. Read to her or work on a crossword puzzle or something just so she'll know you're there. The stress of a new place in a short period of time (leaving her home then the shelter, then your house) can aggravate the infection, so keep the place as stress-free as possible.

The most important thing your cat needs is to continue eating and drinking water. If either of these changes, you must get her back to the vet. If you notice that she's not eating, get some chicken baby food, stage 1 or 2 without onion, heat it up a little bit and give it to her to eat. Also, if she eats canned food, warm up some of that so that she can smell it. If she's congested, she'll not want to eat because she can't smell anything. Your vet can give you medicine to stimulate her appetite, too.

If you're that concerned about her, take her back to the vet. When my little girl was so sick (after she came home from the vet's), it seems like I took her in a couple of times a week and/or called them because she wasn't getting better. I even had my DH take her in one time because I couldn't leave work. I emailed DH an extensive list of questions to ask the vet because dad's sometimes are just not as detailed oriented as us moms!!


Also, remember, it's going to take a little bit of time, BUT if you're not satisfied with her condition, go to the vet's. You know her better than your vet, eventho you've only had her for a week. This time of confinement will be a good time of bonding for the two of you, too!

Keep us posted!

Stephanie
 
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