Need advice - Several ???'s - Sick kitten

[pooshlet]

Hello!

Instead of eating leftovers Friday, I gave in to my husband's desire for Papa Murphy's pizza and sent him down to pick them up.

He returned home with a tiny "free" kitten a couple of little girls had in a box outside the store.

This kitten had both eyes almost completely swollen shut - red with TONS of "goop", yellow liquid-filled blisters on his tongue, funky patches all over it's body, and old poops hanging under his tail. (My husband is a major sucker for abused animals)

Needless to say, we called a vet and took it down immediately. $106.88 later (Good Grief, civilian vets are outrageous!!), we were informed that our "free" kitten was:

1. a male
2. maybe 7 weeks old
3. had conjunctivitis
4. had major ringworm
5. possible URI (blisters were indicative to this conclusion)

My questions are:

a. The vet gave an oral fungicide that was supposed to clear up the ringworm within 2 weeks. He said it was similar to Diflucan for people. The receipt lists it only as "Program Fel 0-10# dose" - not much help!! Anyway, my question is this - Has anyone heard of such a treatment, does it work, and is it gentle enough for his system? (I know he already had it, I just wanted to know if it was the right course of action) - He also sent home some Miconazole Shampoo.

b. Exactly how contagious is ringworm? The vet did not seem too concerned about it. He said we could just put the kitten in a playpen for two weeks, and all would be well. We went out and picked up a refrigerator box and laid it on it's side and made him a "play pen" - we haven't put him in it yet. He is in a x-large dog kennel, locked in the second bathroom kind of in quarantine until I am comfortable with him being out in the living room. I have been showering and changing my clothes after every visit (this is killing my hair!) - is this necessary? What are your experiences with this? I really do not want it to spread to the rest of our family or pets, so I do not mind the temporary inconvenience if it is necessary.

c. Clavamox Drops - this is the oral antibiotic we were given for any and all infections. What are your opinions on this as an antibiotic for such a young kitten with so many problems? Good, bad, indifferent ...???

d. Food related question! What should I feed him? I am feeding Innova to Peekaboo (my older cat), and I went to my feed store to pick up Innova kitten food, but they said they had never heard of Innova for kittens. I searched naturapet.com and they do not list kitten food, but claim their cat food is "For all the stages of your cat's life" I checked the bag I have and the weight/food portions start at 4 lbs (he only weighs 1.5 lbs!) I had bought a few cans of AvoDerm kitten food based on the feed store's recommendations and then they tried to sell us some "EaglePac" kitten food - has anyone heard of this? They said it is similar to Innova - I am just trying to get unbiased opinions

I am only using the canned food until his blisters are healed - should I then feed the Innova or ??? Whatever I feed will be eaten by both cats as we feed free choice out of one dish.

We have antibiotic ointment for his eyes, antibiotic drops, a dewormer, anti-fungal shampoo, oral antifungal, canned kitten food - any other suggestions - maybe a nutritional supplement ... ??

Any advice????

 

[angelzoo]

I personally have never delt with ring worm. But I know people who have, one of my friends cats recently had it, and spred it to her owner, and all around her house.

Keep the cat off of carpets!!! lol
I've heard that it is spread by touch, so quarateening her until it's cleared up is a good idea. And keeping her in a spot that is easily cleaned too! I do the same thing, any new 'strays' or ferals that come in, get put in my bathroom, until they are up to date on shots and I feel comfortable with their temperment. You can also wear gloves and just pet her and pick her up (no cuddling) until the ring worm is cleared up, so you wont have to bath yourself a million times per day.

One of my cats has had conjuctivitis. But he was not given clavamox for it. Something else. I don't remember the name of it, but it was somethind applied directly to the eye, a liquid drop form. Made it worse, and we switched to an eye cream which cleared it up!

I haven't personally had any bad experience with clavamox with cats of any age, but I have an an occasion where it did not work, repeatedly.


I have heard of Eagle Pack, I have a friend who uses it, and a human society I used to volunteer at used it. It's a good food, but I personally would stick to the Innova. Innova is good for all ages, this is true.
I wouldn't add any 'supliments' with out talking to your vet first. But a daily vitamin would probably be good. Sense the kitten is so young, just feed him pretty much as much wet food as he will eat!
At 7 weeks they should be close to making a final transistion into dry food. I normally just feed them both, that young.
At least you are feeding them a high quality food, that will certainly help the healing process.
And make sure the kitten is drinking enough water. If he's not mix some in with his wet food.

 

[dragonlady]

Ringworm is a fungus and is very contagious. I have it currently at my house and have been fighting it for over 2 months. I have given them program and bathing twice a week. Multiply this with ten cats and you can see I've been very busy. You should bleach out the kennel twice a week to kill the spores that are there as well as the rest of the bathroom. Wash your hands after handling the kitten every time. I would get a tray you can place a small hand towel into and add bleach water to to step into before leaving the bathroom. I would add 1/2c bleach to one gallon of water. Pour just enough to get the towel wet. Have a mat on the carpet in the hall to keep it from being bleached from the damp shoes.
I have had very good luck with clavamox in curing eye and sinus problems.

Does he have a name yet?
Only $106.88 Wow, my last vet visit was $288.00

Vets do cost a lot!
Hope this helps!

 

[hissy]

Welcome to the board. I am sorry you have to deal with such a situation though as an introduction to us all.

Ringworm is not a worm at all (some people think it is) It is a fungus and it spreads fast, is hard to get rid of and is one of the few transmitable infections that humans can get from their cat. If there are small children and other pets in the area, you want to keep them away from this kitten. There is a vaccine available that will speed up the process of healing, but your kitten may be to sick to risk it right now.

I am not familiar with the medication you listed abve. I had an orphaned litter a few years ago of 4 kittens. Three had ringworm. The vet prescribed grisefuiven. As I rescue ferals, ringworm is common in colonies. I was also told to give the kittens baths three times a day every other day. The best way to do this is to bathe the kitten inside a small bucket. Make sure the water is warm and not hot. Lather the kitten and then wrap it in a towel (warmed in your dryer) and cuddle it close while the shampoo sits on the skin. Then quickly rinse kitty with warm water and again use warmed towels, towel it dry. Keep it wrapped in towels hugged close to you until the trembling stops. I was also told to clip the hair around the lesion carefully as the ringworm actually attacks hair follicles to spread. No matter how careful I was- rubber gloves, rubber aprons, both hubby and I got ringworm too! Keep your towels separate from your other towels and don't have any sentimental attachment to them. Simply drop them into a bucket of bleach and water after you use them, and let them soak. They will be ruined for your use, but fine for kitty. Wash kitty's bowls out daily as well.

The clavamox should be fine, it is an antibotic and the kitten needs it for the infection. Don't adminster it quickly or the kitty may choke. Normally they prescribe amoxy drops, so your kitten probably has more than one infection to fight. You can help boost its immune system by buying some liver and boiling it up, then chopping it fine and feed to him. Dribble the broth over the kibble.

I would right now because this kitty is compromised health wise feed him Royal Canin's BabyCat 34. You will see that RC is a sponser of our forums- but they make a great product and I have seen amazing results from compromised kittens feeding on this.

Invest in some rubber gloves and I am sure under your TLC this kitty will be just fine!

 

[angelzoo]

Dragon Lady: Ahhh good ol' bleach. Works VERY well.

Gloves? I've got about 100 of those lol.

 

[pooshlet]

WOW!! I really appreciate all of your advice and suggestions. I can see this is going to be an interesting process to get through!

First, we have named him Beau (French for "handsome" if I remember my high school French correctly!) because when all is said and done, I am sure his outer self will match his inner cuteness.

He does seem to be feeling better. His eyes are really clearing up and he runs around chasing paper balls etc while I am cleaning his cage. I feel bad that he has to be isolated from everyone at such a young age and try to spend a couple of hours each day with him.

After reading all the advice and following the links, I am even more cautious when leaving him. We have an 8 year old cat, 2 dogs, 8 chinchillas and 6 children. If this is gets started on the rest of the household - I do not even want to think about it

I am also a bit concerned as we are moving around the 20th of this month (we were supposed to have done this a month ago ....) anyway, I would not be happy if I left a "surprise" of ringworm for the new owners. I am really going to have to be on my toes!

Again, thank you so much!

ps - this is an awesome and helpful site!

 

[angelzoo]

Glad to hear he's doing better, and playing. That's always a good sign.

I know it's hard and unfortunate that the kitten can not be as exposed to as many kiss's and hugs as he diserves, specially at that age!
But I've raised many cats starting when they were older and they have turned out just fine. I'm sure the kitten will grow and apprechiate all the things you have done for him.

Post a picture if you can!