10-week-old Kitten, High Fever, Won't Eat

[lisnya]

I'm back with another sick kitten. This time it's a kitten I rescued from a car engine about a month ago. She was in a foster home until last night when they brought her back with some amoxicillin. Apparently, she had a cough since day one and their vet kept telling them that it was from the fumes in the car but then she gave them the antibiotics because they kept asking. She only had a very slight cough, though. Last night she was completely fine, she barely coughed and she was in a great mood. I gave her her syrup with a syringe and it surprised her and she sputtered a lot and this morning she woke up unwell and refusing to eat. I made an appointment with my vet and let her rest. She also ate a bit during the day and seemed in a better mood for a while. Then we went to the vet, where he found that she had almost no congestion but she did have a fever of 104 and he gave her a shot. Now she's worse off than she was this morning, she doesn't feel like eating at the slightest. I'm keeping her in a cool room and she's curled up in a ball and breathing fast. She won't even purr, she just seems tired. She is alert, though.

I was worried that she inhaled some of the syrup last night and that's why her behavior changed so abruptly. She's perfectly fine otherwise, no other symptoms, no runny nose or eyes, just the fever. Could that be it? Is there anything I can do to cool her down?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Did you call the Vet back and tell them what is happening? That's what I would do, right away. Also, are you continuing to monitor his fever to make sure it doesn't get worse? If it continues to rise, you may need to go back, or go to an Emergency Vet depending on what time it is where you are. If it gets over 106 you should probably go back in. Putting him in a cool room, preferable one with tile floors is the best option.

Fever can cause the lethargy and loss of appetite, as can Convenia, which may have been the shot they gave him.

 

[lisnya]

I'm not in the US. By the time I started to worry, he was already closed and he'd just tell me to go back in the morning, which I will do. There are no emergency vets here, either, so all I can do is wait until the morning. She does seem a bit better now, though. She got up and drank water and then climbed on the bed and she's laying there. She's awake and I even managed to get her interested in a string. I'm home alone and I wasn't able to take her temperature but seeing as she's awake and drinking, I guess she's doing better. Still no interest in food, though...

Edit: I just managed to take her temperature. It's just under 103. I can only hope she'll be better in the morning...

 

[lisnya]

Update: I just woke up to find that she is now limping and refusing water. She is more alert, she's grooming but she won't even look at food and she's not drinking. I gave her some water with a syringe and we're going back to the vet as soon as they open in 3 hours. Google tells me that she has a calicivirus. I have another foster that hasn't been vaccinated yet and they spent all day yesterday and the day before together. What do I do?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

OK, by now you've been back to the Vet. What did they say? Yes, it does sound like Calcivirus, and since your other foster hasn't been vaccinated, chances are good that that one will get it. Does the Vet concur?

Hopefully they now have your little girl on some anti-inflammatories for her limping, possibly an appetite stimulant for her appetite, and who knows what else. Does she have congestion? Some times they do and sometimes they don't.

 

[lisnya]

Hi, thanks for asking. I called the vet this morning to see if I could take her in and he said that there were no anti-inflammatories for such a young kitten but I could take her in for an appetite stimulant if she wouldn't eat. She is better today, though. She's way less lethargic, she moves around better and she ate plenty of my grilled chicken breast all by herself. I also fed her almost a can of wet kitten food, mixed with water and a little bit of honey, with a syringe. She didn't try to avoid it at all, she seemed eager to eat. She's also been grooming and using the litter box and spending a lot more time awake. She tried to play but her paws hurt, so I had her watch videos of birds and mice on youtube, which she enjoyed. I just gave her her syrup and tried to feed her again, with less success. She's been awake all day, though, and I've been pestering her and she must be exhausted, so I'm going to just let her rest. Do you have any idea as to how much I should try to force-feed her? She weighs about 3 pounds.

Here's a (bad) picture of her watching videos on youtube earlier today:


Edit: she took a nap and now she's eating what was left of the wet food/water/honey mixture all by herself. She also ate more chicken breast, too. And her fever has gone down a bit, so good news all around. Hope she's even better tomorrow!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm so glad she's doing better. As far as how much she should eat, if you have to force feed her, try to get in as much as she would normally eat, simply because she is so young and needs all the nourishment she can get. Of course, you'll have to thin it down to get in the syringe, so maybe you can use KMR vs water, to give her extra calories, which means you could cut down a little on the amount of food.

 

[lisnya]

KMR was what I wanted to get her, too, but the vet was out. I was worried I'd have to force her (she generally doesn't like cat food, I'm pretty sure she ate leftovers before I found her) but she lapped it up herself. I just thought that a can is way too little but then I noticed that she ate like half a chicken breast, too, and this morning I fed her out of another can, so that's another 1/4 can of wet food. She'd normally get two cans, so I'd say it's a good amount. She might have also made up a bit for yesterday's lack of food.

Oh, and I wanted to ask: when I first found her, other than the slight cough I mentioned, she also had some accumulated green tears. At the time, I thought that she was sick but the vet said that it was due to her inhaling car fumes and it seemed to make sense. But I guess she already had the calcivirus then? So, this would be day 26 of the virus at the very least? How much longer can the poor baby stay sick? And how come she went downhill the moment I started treating her? I do hope she's approaching the end, though.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

She could have had it all along, probably did, but even now she hasn't actually been diagnosed, correct? And it's impossible to say how long it will be before she is well. Every cat "heals" at a different pace, just like humans.

 

[lisnya]

She hasn't been diagnosed yet, no. She has to go back tomorrow to get another shot and the vet thought that since there was no other reason to rush her in today and she got so stressed yesterday, it would be better if waited to confirm it during the appointment. But he also said it's calicivirus as soon as I mentioned the limping and what else can it be, really?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Well,yes, it probably IS. What are the shots she's getting? I originally assumed it was Convenia, but that's only an every two week antibiotic, so guess that's not it

 

[lisnya]

I actually have no idea, I didn't catch the name. All I know is that he was planning on giving her something else but then he saw how little she is and he opted for this one because it would be easier for her to handle. I'll ask him tomorrow.

Edit: I just noticed that her breathing is better, too. Deeper and slower than yesterday. I'm so glad for her!

 

[lisnya]

We confirmed it today. She does have calicivirus and now so does the foster kitten, yay. He seems to be having a slightly better time with it, maybe because he's a little older. I have three more cats who are vaccinated but I read that they can get it, too? I'm especially worried about Earl Gray, who has chronic diarrhea, and Cardo, who is 11.

Meanwhile, Callie (she's a calico who has calicivirus, so I thought her name had to start with Cali, haha) is still getting better. She ate half a can of wet food for breakfast, then she ate another half a can after a little coaxing for lunch and she also had a sardine. She's barely limping and she doesn't cry for me to put her back on the bed once she's done with the litter box. I haven't taken her temperature today because it got under 102 yesterday and I can tell it hasn't gone up.
Plus, she has a little pal to watch birds on youtube with now, that has to be fun. Except for the fact that he's feeling worse and I baby him more, which evidently makes her jealous. Hahaha, if I only pet him, she protests.

Rojillo is a little angel, I've never seen a nicer kitten. He didn't even protest when the vet took his temperature. His fever is lower than Callie's was the first day and he's in a better mood and more alert overall but he's in pain and tired and I do hate to see him like that. I hope he'll recover as fast as Callie seems to be recovering.

 

[white shadow]

Just a quick note on using these two drugs together....Convenia and any non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID)....they should NEVER be used together/concurrently....and, because Convenia remains in the body for 2 months+, no NSAIDS should be given during that period of time.

(Now, it's also possible that she didn't receive Convenia, but another antibiotic....and, a point on that is that it's best to always ask what's being given. I always request a copy of the medical file for each visit.)

Convenia is a drug many people simply refuse for their cats....more here from a reputable source: Convenia- long term antibiotic: Is it worth the risk?

It's fortunate she didn't aspirate that syrup a few days ago...aspiration pneumonia is most often fatal in cats.
.

 

[lisnya]

She didn't get Convenia and she's not on any NSAIDS, either. I'm not familiar with Convenia, nor do I know if we have it in Greece but I will look it up just to be sure, thank you.

Thank God she didn't aspirate. She went downhill really fast and right after I administered it, so I thought for sure I'd killed her but she's fine!

Rojillo woke me up asking for food this morning. Callie was limping a little earlier, her hind left leg hurt but all in all she's doing better, too. They've been playing by themselves today and they barely seem to be in pain. They move around better and they don't mind me picking them up. Their fever is also gone. The only problem is that they seem to have gotten hooked on the KMR, haha. They turn up their noses at their regular wet food. I had to puree it and mix it with electrolytes and give it to them in a syringe to get them to even try it, lol.

And a question: I've disinfected the entire house and quarantined the sick kittens in my room. My vet said that there's no point to it, since Callie has already had more than enough time to infect the others. Is there any point to keeping them separate? I'd still rather keep it like that, at least while they're taking antibiotics, but as they keep recovering, it'll become harder.