New kittens, vomiting and coccidia

[GenCat]

LiLi has been bouncing off the walls. She now screms for food while climbing the play pen walls ALL the time We increased her meals to 45 grams today and spread the food out in little dollops all over the plate which makes her confused enough that she nibbles on each one a bit instead of trying to consume it all at once, leading to no vomiting in I think 48 hours now.

Peeing and pooping tons, but poos are a bit soft bordering upon diarrhea. She is done with all medications, but she may regret that because now I have time to start getting her used to grooming and other things


Forgot to post this earlier and now I have updates. We have diarrhea now, TMI she sneezed in the litter box and made a mess but she ate nearly 225 grams of food today and actually managed to get full enough she didn't finish the food on her plate! That's definitely her needed calories and then some which I am super thankful for because she has not gained weight properly at all.

I weighed her brother today and he is 2200g...she is 1100g...how is my baby girl so small? I get that males tend to be bigger but she must be the runt as well.

 

[Kwik]

LiLi has been bouncing off the walls. She now screms for food while climbing the play pen walls ALL the time We increased her meals to 45 grams today and spread the food out in little dollops all over the plate which makes her confused enough that she nibbles on each one a bit instead of trying to consume it all at once, leading to no vomiting in I think 48 hours now.

Peeing and pooping tons, but poos are a bit soft bordering upon diarrhea. She is done with all medications, but she may regret that because now I have time to start getting her used to grooming and other things


Forgot to post this earlier and now I have updates. We have diarrhea now, TMI she sneezed in the litter box and made a mess but she ate nearly 225 grams of food today and actually managed to get full enough she didn't finish the food on her plate! That's definitely her needed calories and then some which I am super thankful for because she has not gained weight properly at all.

I weighed her brother today and he is 2200g...she is 1100g...how is my baby girl so small? I get that males tend to be bigger but she must be the runt as well.

Oh she's so teeny- my little Bella must've been the runt,only she & one of her siblings survived from a litter of 5- they were left on the step on my Vets office in a shoe box ( maybe a week old!)Bella was like your little girl although she's not one that eats much- she's not even 7pounds at age 5 but very healthy,just tiny little thing!

Sounds good with your little dollops around the dish,maybe a food Puzzle or slow feeder dish might be beneficial ,ever try them?

 

[GenCat]

Oh she's so teeny- my little Bella must've been the runt,only she & one of her siblings survived from a litter of 5- they were left on the step on my Vets office in a shoe box ( maybe a week old!)Bella was like your little girl although she's not one that eats much- she's not even 7pounds at age 5 but very healthy,just tiny little thing!

Sounds good with your little dollops around the dish,maybe a food Puzzle or slow feeder dish might be beneficial ,ever try them?

I hope it's just that she is super petite especially since she is a shoulder baby, my other shoulder baby is too big for that at 15 pounds They only found two kittens as well, so her and Bella sound just alike

I tried a puzzle mat with wet food but she has a hard time getting all the food out (even my big cats do) so it was a huge waste of food since it would also dry out faster then no one wanted it. Also made it difficult to know just how much she was eating since half was abandoned.

She got worse again yesterday, threw up three different times and not really immediately after eating so it wasn't the speed of consumption. I ordered EZComplete and started researching which meats I can use as well as dragging my instantpot out from the cabinet. So she will be on homemade food soon. I may switch to Alnutrin later on but was a bit concerned about reports of stomach issues due to the egg shell (that's for calcium).

What pushed me to this as well is doing more research into canned/carton food and my boy, XiaoXiao, being so picky. He will only reliably eat KOHA but as people have pointed out in other threads the flaxseed is fairly concerning and I'm unsure how to go about proving to myself that it is safe.

If I absolutely have to I will be considering raw as well once she's full grown, but that is a last resort since I have various concerns about meat safety and where to acquire the meat.

 

[Kwik]

I hope it's just that she is super petite especially since she is a shoulder baby, my other shoulder baby is too big for that at 15 pounds They only found two kittens as well, so her and Bella sound just alike

I tried a puzzle mat with wet food but she has a hard time getting all the food out (even my big cats do) so it was a huge waste of food since it would also dry out faster then no one wanted it. Also made it difficult to know just how much she was eating since half was abandoned.

She got worse again yesterday, threw up three different times and not really immediately after eating so it wasn't the speed of consumption. I ordered EZComplete and started researching which meats I can use as well as dragging my instantpot out from the cabinet. So she will be on homemade food soon. I may switch to Alnutrin later on but was a bit concerned about reports of stomach issues due to the egg shell (that's for calcium).

What pushed me to this as well is doing more research into canned/carton food and my boy, XiaoXiao, being so picky. He will only reliably eat KOHA but as people have pointed out in other threads the flaxseed is fairly concerning and I'm unsure how to go about proving to myself that it is safe.

If I absolutely have to I will be considering raw as well once she's full grown, but that is a last resort since I have various concerns about meat safety and where to acquire the meat.

I would say " trust your gut" and don't try to convince yourself to use something you don't feel good about,for whatever the reasons....Being old as I am( lol) I've come to learn a long time ago that if something simply rubs me the wrong way then trust that little angel on my shoulder!

You can be 100% sure of what you are putting together with homemade foods- stomach and digestion issues are very difficult to diagnose,,in most cases it's a trial and error thing and a process of eliminating,starting with the most basic foods and gradually adding to it-working closely with your Veterinarian as you've been doing

Hopefully this little one will outgrow these issues as she gets bigger,stronger and better tolerance.....A dear friend of mine had a little Itty bitty very sickly runt many years ago that threw up everything -all he ended up holding down well was a dry kibble I'd never have considered but she tried everything and gave up on all the meats and wet foods - he ate that cheap dry food and lived to be a very healthy boy up until he was 22! Go figure?!

 

[GenCat]

Well we have had (I think) a breakthrough! I was getting frustrated and scheduled an appointment to go to my personal vet, but while waiting I was looking around at food lists and noticed...The Honest Kitchen is REALLY high in carbs. I don't know why I didn't consciously notice it until now but from the start I had wondered if she was having trouble digesting them (since the food the shelter had contained some, the kitten food I first gave her had a lot AND the digestive food that made her so ill was absolutely overflowing with them)

I started switching her over and noticed she no longer seems ravenous constantly, the more I give her the other food the less she absolutely has to finish every bit of it to feel full. When I pick her up she doesn't go ULP and start licking her lips either

I would say " trust your gut" and don't try to convince yourself to use something you don't feel good about,for whatever the reasons....Being old as I am( lol) I've come to learn a long time ago that if something simply rubs me the wrong way then trust that little angel on my shoulder!

You can be 100% sure of what you are putting together with homemade foods- stomach and digestion issues are very difficult to diagnose,,in most cases it's a trial and error thing and a process of eliminating,starting with the most basic foods and gradually adding to it-working closely with your Veterinarian as you've been doing

Hopefully this little one will outgrow these issues as she gets bigger,stronger and better tolerance.....A dear friend of mine had a little Itty bitty very sickly runt many years ago that threw up everything -all he ended up holding down well was a dry kibble I'd never have considered but she tried everything and gave up on all the meats and wet foods - he ate that cheap dry food and lived to be a very healthy boy up until he was 22! Go figure?!

I'm trying to trust my kitten too, cause if she doesn't want it there is some reason, she's not a picky girl so I'm like hmm.

Yep, I'm definitely still considering homemade food but the experiments so far have resulted in all the cats turning up their noses except the "dumpster cat" that will eat anything

Definitely agree! All my cats growing up were dry food fed and it's not like they ever had any huge problems until we got a male. All lived to be old ladies of nearly 20 years and may have lived longer if they were indoor cats (we had coyotes in the area and brought them in at night, but they were bad tree climbers...)

 

[Kwik]

Well we have had (I think) a breakthrough! I was getting frustrated and scheduled an appointment to go to my personal vet, but while waiting I was looking around at food lists and noticed...The Honest Kitchen is REALLY high in carbs. I don't know why I didn't consciously notice it until now but from the start I had wondered if she was having trouble digesting them (since the food the shelter had contained some, the kitten food I first gave her had a lot AND the digestive food that made her so ill was absolutely overflowing with them)

I started switching her over and noticed she no longer seems ravenous constantly, the more I give her the other food the less she absolutely has to finish every bit of it to feel full. When I pick her up she doesn't go ULP and start licking her lips either



I'm trying to trust my kitten too, cause if she doesn't want it there is some reason, she's not a picky girl so I'm like hmm.

Yep, I'm definitely still considering homemade food but the experiments so far have resulted in all the cats turning up their noses except the "dumpster cat" that will eat anything

Definitely agree! All my cats growing up were dry food fed and it's not like they ever had any huge problems until we got a male. All lived to be old ladies of nearly 20 years and may have lived longer if they were indoor cats (we had coyotes in the area and brought them in at night, but they were bad tree climbers...)

Honestly GenCat I don't even know why ,after a half CENTURY I got on this wet food kick,I've always supplemented with wet moisture treat types and broths but I'm kinda sorry I ever started with my present clowder---- I suppose because my 19yr old boy was so ill and had to resort to force feeding( big regret thst I just couldn't let go) and my first I adopted at the time was already on a wet diet......I never any problems before it-I dunno,I think I just may go back to my old ways

 

[GenCat]

Honestly GenCat I don't even know why ,after a half CENTURY I got on this wet food kick,I've always supplemented with wet moisture treat types and broths but I'm kinda sorry I ever started with my present clowder---- I suppose because my 19yr old boy was so ill and had to resort to force feeding( big regret thst I just couldn't let go) and my first I adopted at the time was already on a wet diet......I never any problems before it-I dunno,I think I just may go back to my old ways

Well LiLi is back to vomiting all over my house, but we made a different breakthrough. They LOVE grass fed beef with beef liver. XiaoXiao the pickiest cat I have ever known started meowing half an hour after dinner because he wanted more. He has always eaten way less than a cat his size so I was happy to give second dinner lol.

I think the only reason they didn't like the lamb is the way I cooked it. This time I had the ground meat on low for a really long time, broke it up a lot, used a bit less water and added a gelatin packet. The texture is exactly like the best pate I've bought.

 

[Kwik]

Well LiLi is back to vomiting all over my house, but we made a different breakthrough. They LOVE grass fed beef with beef liver. XiaoXiao the pickiest cat I have ever known started meowing half an hour after dinner because he wanted more. He has always eaten way less than a cat his size so I was happy to give second dinner lol.

I think the only reason they didn't like the lamb is the way I cooked it. This time I had the ground meat on low for a really long time, broke it up a lot, used a bit less water and added a gelatin packet. The texture is exactly like the best pate I've bought.

And LiLi is keeping it down? Thsts fantastic!

 

[GenCat]

And LiLi is keeping it down? Thsts fantastic!

She went a whole day then threw up all over the place

 

[GenCat]

Back to the Diary of LiLi Took her to my vet today because I can't handle seeing her miserable and not growing well. They thought she was 10 weeks old based on weight...I had to tell them I had her for 8 weeks already so if she's 10 weeks then she barely had her eyes open when we adopted her. I explained the whole long odyssey of chaos, how her brother is 5lbs and they were very understanding (even though they did note "IF she is ACTUALLY this age" when discussing her weight ahaha). Even though it is true that they could be younger than we thought and her brother is just massive, either way she hasn't put on much weight at all since the middle/end of November.

The vet told me the laundry list of tests we may have to do and costs. They were just planning to do basics and go from there but I told them she has been sick for far too long and I don't care if it's expensive just do everything necessary now.

First they did a FIV/FIP test because we weren't sure if she had one or not. She tested negative (weeks of worry that could have been solved easily early on, but I digress). Then they did blood work and she looked good despite being massively underweight at 2.5lbs while her brother is 5lbs going on Lion sized. She said no signs of anything concerning so far, just a bit low on electrolytes and dehydrated which is to be expected. They gave her Cerenia and tablets for the next 4 days (a single one, to be split into 4...) then warned me to bring her back ASAP if she manages to vomit even with appropriate doses of Cerenia.

If nothing improves next is an x-ray to determine if it's something more physical.

We went ahead and put her on Hill's Science Diet vet for digestive issues, just to narrow down the suspects causing issues and she took to it far better than the other two we tried. Once she's 8+ months I'll work on transitioning her to homemade (and drag my, mildly unwilling, vet along on the journey with me. No offense meant if they somehow see this lol I just find it amusing since I'm trying to find a vet that approves of homemade but no matter what I do I can't find one).

 

[GenCat]

Very long day…decided to wake up early just to make sure that she hasn’t vomited since I have work in the afternoons and I would only be able to take her to the vet if I left immediately in the morning. She was fine a 9AM so I went back to bed but when I woke at 11AM she was acting weird. Not begging for food and hadn’t eaten last night. Didn’t want to move around and gagged a bit anytime I tried to move or pick her up.

Took her to the vet but the tech I spoke with wasn’t familiar with her case and her advice was basically take her to the emergency vet if things got any worse because there wasn’t much more they could do since a specialist was the next step. I asked if we could go ahead and do an X-ray just to have more information and narrow down that it’s not a physical issue (and I have had a nagging feeling from the start that she ate something before I even took her home and it’s been jangling around in her itty bitty kitty intestine somewhere). She acts like she reaches this point where she can‘t help but throw up at least once a day And the Cerenia preventing that made her a very unhappy little kitty.

Well the vet came back with the results and there is definitely something odd, but between the two vets at this clinic they weren’t sure what they were seeing. Apparently her intestines are kind of smushed over weirdly and her spleen or something around there may be enlarged. They almost had that “doctor seeing a new and rare case” look and were like can we please send this to a radiologist for their insight. Me over here…have you seen me toss money around to get this baby better just send it out now.

So now we are trying to keep her stable until we know more about this and if it gives us another clue as to why she is the vomiting queen.

I also had a bit of a breakdown this evening. Due to my own health issues and my LOA at work being a huge pain, I could lose my job. Then LiLi got very lethargic and sick a couple hours ago and I just started bawling cause I was so worried we were going to lose her. She’s doing A bit better now and my husband is staying up to keep an eye on her…

Honestly sometimes I wish work would fire me just so I can be available for something else and maybe finally get a WFH job that suits my legendary list of health conditions.

 

[Kwik]

Very long day…decided to wake up early just to make sure that she hasn’t vomited since I have work in the afternoons and I would only be able to take her to the vet if I left immediately in the morning. She was fine a 9AM so I went back to bed but when I woke at 11AM she was acting weird. Not begging for food and hadn’t eaten last night. Didn’t want to move around and gagged a bit anytime I tried to move or pick her up.

Took her to the vet but the tech I spoke with wasn’t familiar with her case and her advice was basically take her to the emergency vet if things got any worse because there wasn’t much more they could do since a specialist was the next step. I asked if we could go ahead and do an X-ray just to have more information and narrow down that it’s not a physical issue (and I have had a nagging feeling from the start that she ate something before I even took her home and it’s been jangling around in her itty bitty kitty intestine somewhere). She acts like she reaches this point where she can‘t help but throw up at least once a day And the Cerenia preventing that made her a very unhappy little kitty.

Well the vet came back with the results and there is definitely something odd, but between the two vets at this clinic they weren’t sure what they were seeing. Apparently her intestines are kind of smushed over weirdly and her spleen or something around there may be enlarged. They almost had that “doctor seeing a new and rare case” look and were like can we please send this to a radiologist for their insight. Me over here…have you seen me toss money around to get this baby better just send it out now.

So now we are trying to keep her stable until we know more about this and if it gives us another clue as to why she is the vomiting queen.

I also had a bit of a breakdown this evening. Due to my own health issues and my LOA at work being a huge pain, I could lose my job. Then LiLi got very lethargic and sick a couple hours ago and I just started bawling cause I was so worried we were going to lose her. She’s doing A bit better now and my husband is staying up to keep an eye on her…

Honestly sometimes I wish work would fire me just so I can be available for something else and maybe finally get a WFH job that suits my legendary list of health conditions.

Just really feel like giving you a big hug- Im sorry for what you've got on your plate,truly I am

You know I've been having the coughing issue with Graycie,I certainly understand the financial strain when you try everything under the sun and it's just not working,all along trying not to spend the expensive " send to radiology specialist" but probably should have from the get go so I'm glad you've opted to do so now rather than after spending more money on what will inevitably lead to sending them out regardless,uhhhh

If you can afford to leave your job perhaps you might give it some serious thought- so often we remain in an awful position for fear of the unknown,don't we? Making yourself available for what is probably bigger,better and will alleviate stress from your life might be the best move,step out in Faith and surly you won't miss the opportunity that awaits you.

You're in my prayers friend,for all good things,for 2024 to close doors behind you and open ones before you that lead to a much better quality of life- for you,your hubby and precious little LiLi

I hate to know you've shed even one year but do you know what they say?"Tears are the windows in which you see Heaven"---wipe your tears,tomorrow is a new day,this too shall pass

 

[GenCat]

Turns out LiLi had an upper respiratory infection (again) most likely she aspirated during the chaos. She got another round of her favorite Clavamox, it's the only medicine that she goes straight to eat afterwards to try to get the taste out of her mouth lol. B12 shot and subcutaneous fluids helped too.

She has perked up a lot now, but still not 100%. While she was eating only KMR she didn't throw up even once, but still had nausea. Gained a decent bit of weight. She ate a good bit of solid food for the first time in days then an hour later gave it back to me on the couch

Radiologist got back to my vet and let them know that her organs all look normal to them. So next up is an hour drive to an internal specialist. In the end it could still be that she has Been Through A Lot and just needs time to recover.

Just really feel like giving you a big hug- Im sorry for what you've got on your plate,truly I am

You know I've been having the coughing issue with Graycie,I certainly understand the financial strain when you try everything under the sun and it's just not working,all along trying not to spend the expensive " send to radiology specialist" but probably should have from the get go so I'm glad you've opted to do so now rather than after spending more money on what will inevitably lead to sending them out regardless,uhhhh

If you can afford to leave your job perhaps you might give it some serious thought- so often we remain in an awful position for fear of the unknown,don't we? Making yourself available for what is probably bigger,better and will alleviate stress from your life might be the best move,step out in Faith and surly you won't miss the opportunity that awaits you.

You're in my prayers friend,for all good things,for 2024 to close doors behind you and open ones before you that lead to a much better quality of life- for you,your hubby and precious little LiLi

Thank you so much for this. I haven't had time to come back and say how much I appreciate your replies. It has been absolute chaos since then.

I hate to know you've shed even one year but do you know what they say?"Tears are the windows in which you see Heaven"---wipe your tears,tomorrow is a new day,this too shall pass

You reminded me of my favorite song Blessings by Laura Story and her book What if your Blessings Come Through Raindrops (Oops wrong title, the actual book is When God Doesn't Fix It). You should give it a read with a huge cup of warm tea and a whole box of tissues...

 

[Sarthur2]

Feed LiLi tiny amounts at a time to see if she can hold it down.

I have one cat out of 7 who vomits a lot, is allergic to seemingly everything, yet is “healthy.” He just has a sensitive system and gets nervous easily. It’s a pain, but I hope he outgrows some of this eventually. He’s 3 now. Hopefully your cat will get better with maturity.

 

[Kwik]

Turns out LiLi had an upper respiratory infection (again) most likely she aspirated during the chaos. She got another round of her favorite Clavamox, it's the only medicine that she goes straight to eat afterwards to try to get the taste out of her mouth lol. B12 shot and subcutaneous fluids helped too.

She has perked up a lot now, but still not 100%. While she was eating only KMR she didn't throw up even once, but still had nausea. Gained a decent bit of weight. She ate a good bit of solid food for the first time in days then an hour later gave it back to me on the couch

Radiologist got back to my vet and let them know that her organs all look normal to them. So next up is an hour drive to an internal specialist. In the end it could still be that she has Been Through A Lot and just needs time to recover.



Thank you so much for this. I haven't had time to come back and say how much I appreciate your replies. It has been absolute chaos since then.



You reminded me of my favorite song Blessings by Laura Story and her book What if your Blessings Come Through Raindrops (Oops wrong title, the actual book is When God Doesn't Fix It). You should give it a read with a huge cup of warm tea and a whole box of tissues...

That means alot to me to know that you find some Comfort " through" me- It is a Blessing and not " from" me- thst is what I truly Believe. I know the song( beautiful) but didn't know about the book-Ill have to see about getting it,I've got 3books sitting here ( can't get motivated lately)

I'm really glad to hear the good radiologist report,it is very good news even though her condition has yet to be defined -it's like a process of elimination,isn't it?

So to give you a little update: Graycie hasn't coughed in 3days,,since the steroid injection..... I'm thrilled BUT very unsure of what's next,I don't like the idea of prolonged use of steroids'- we shall see

So back to darling LiLi- did you make the appt with the specialist yet? Your Vet sounds like mine,a real good one that goes the extra mile -he referred the specialist to you? Will he send over his notes as well ?

 

[GenCat]

That means alot to me to know that you find some Comfort " through" me- It is a Blessing and not " from" me- thst is what I truly Believe. I know the song( beautiful) but didn't know about the book-Ill have to see about getting it,I've got 3books sitting here ( can't get motivated lately)

Definitely understand the motivation issue. I started 3 different novels and got a few chapters in before getting distracted lol

So to give you a little update: Graycie hasn't coughed in 3days,,since the steroid injection..... I'm thrilled BUT very unsure of what's next,I don't like the idea of prolonged use of steroids'- we shall see

Aw, glad to hear Graycie escaped the cough for now at least. I agree on the steroid usage, been debating that for LiLi as well if it ends up being IBD. I remember the first day I got a steroid shot and being pain free for the first time in years. It wore off after two hours and I was like nope not worth the shock of remembering something I obviously can't have anymore

I'm really glad to hear the good radiologist report,it is very good news even though her condition has yet to be defined -it's like a process of elimination,isn't it?

So back to darling LiLi- did you make the appt with the specialist yet? Your Vet sounds like mine,a real good one that goes the extra mile -he referred the specialist to you? Will he send over his notes as well ?

Definitely a process of elimination. It's so different than treating your own medical condition since you only have tests and their body language to really go off of.

They were supposed to send LiLi's records over to the specialist and once they review them they'll give me a call for the appointment.

 

[Kwik]

Perfect- that's the easiest way and great when they already have the patients history, test results etc....even for myself I stick with the same physician group for all my Drs so everyone is on the same page

 

[GenCat]

LiLi is back to throwing up now that she’s eating more solid foods, diarrhea too. Tried little bits of Hounds and Gatos duck to see if by some chance it was more appetizing/less vomit inducing but neither turned out true. I just got my order of RAWZ in and now I’m glad I got rabbit and pumpkin. Since she’s basically been on a KMR fast due to not wanting to eat solid foods I’m going to just give her little bits of RAWZ in-between milk feedings and see how it goes.

So far first impression wise RAWZ is one of the best textured foods I’ve seen, soft and moist in a way no one else manages. LiLi must have noticed too because she gobbled down her small serving. I also went ahead and gave her a tiny dose of baby Simethicone because she got really bloated and I was wondering if it might help since “burping“ her on my shoulder does tend to help but we don’t always have the time.

 

[Sarthur2]

I hope the new food and simethicone both help. Has she ever been treated for parasites and bacterial infection with metronidazole?

 

[GenCat]

I hope the new food and simethicone both help. Has she ever been treated for parasites and bacterial infection with metronidazole?

Yes to both, they did Panacur and Pyrantel Pamoate as well as metronidazole. She seems much more comfortable already. Not as much hunched nausea position and was actively playing with the big cats.