one more sick kitty - advice needed

[ronit]

Hi, I take care of many strays in my "feeding station" from the animal welfare in the island...
This cat, about 2 yrs old
she had a cat flu (or so i think now) about 2 months ago, i took her in my house and gave her antibiotics and she became well so i let her out again
about 1 week ago i noticed she was sick again so i took her to the vet and he gave her an antibiotic injection that lasts for 14 days
she was doing well (or so i though) untill the day before yesterday, she ate with all the others
yesterday i did not see her
today i found her very weak, and in bad condition in general. i took her to the vet and because she had the injection he said he cannot give her anyting else
She also had like dried blood in her ears (vet cleaned them)
so he said i should keep her warm and give her felovite (this was at 14:00 now the time is 20:00)
i gave her again felovite and about 3 ml milk with a syringe (she wont eat/drink alone, neither reacts to the smell of smelly canned food)
she is still superweak, and sleeps
I am worried because she is so lovely and in general i worry so much because this year i had such a bad year with cats... i am a little histerical.
I called the vet and he said nothing more, i asked him if we shall give her fluids but he said no.
Does anybody have any other suggestions?
she takes deep breaths and you can hear her breathing is not clear
As i've might have mention in other posts it is a rural area and there are not many resources in the vet's office for doing tests or good x-rays

Any advice will be highly appreciated.

Ronit

 

[zoethor2]

*hugs*

I'm no cat medical expert, to be certain, so others may have more useful advice, and also more up to date, but if her breathing is not clear, it may be that other than the antibiotics, the best you can do is try to keep feeding her and keeping her warm and safe, and let her body try to take care of itself. I remember one of our cats had pneumonia (or the cat version of it at least) when I was younger, and our vet gave us antibiotics to give her and basically let us know that she might pull through, or might not, but that was all in the way of reasonable treatment that he could suggest.

We also went to a large-animal vet, and I know that my mom had very definite lines about what she considered reasonable treatment for a pet, which our vet agreed with. It may be that there are further treatments out there that were rejected because of expense or difficulty, or that have been developed since then (this must have been around 10-15 years ago).

To give a little hope, our kitty not only pulled through just fine and lived a lengthy life afterwards, but also successfully brought the pregnancy she was in the middle of to term and delivered a bunch of healthy kittens, which the vet had said she would almost certainly lose. She was a bit of a medical miracle, but I'm sending you all her good vibes, and hope your kitty recovers too.

 

[ronit]

Thank you Zoethor2 for your thoughts, i would have go somewhere else but i live in an island (greece) and to get to athens takes me 6 hrs on a ferry and is not only travel expenses (about 100 usd back and forth) then is how much would i pay for a vet there and would she make it? here the vet does not take me money for the strays i pick, he only takes money for medicine he gives me for them
I've taken care of many sick stray kitties, lets say i've had 50% success.... with the little resources available here...
but this one i've know for such a long time and is just not fair, she is been so sick and since i've known her she has one blurry eye (no sight in that one, like crystal eye) and that makes me feel more sorry for her.
Ronit

 

[opilot]

Thank you for your care for that lovely cat. Peace, warmth, and sleep are good.

I recommend Gerbers no. 2 babyfood turkey or chicken (no additives like onion powder or garlic) slightly warmed up with a little bit of the canned cat milk for senior cats or some Kitten Milk Replacement (that stuff comes powdered), fed by a siringe if the cat will not consume food otherwise. about 30 ccs is needed -

Pedialyte unflavored for children can also be used to hydrate the cat - mix it with the baby food and use the syringe to feed it. About 15 cc of that is okay.

Also you can try the more expensive Science Hills Diet AD food - for cats recovering from surgeries - get that from your vet.

If the vet will tell you what the cat has or he/she thinks the cat has, you will know if anti bios may help. If so, you can try to use FISH antibiotics (this is in the US only, don't know about overseases.). Fish anti bios are a last resort - but I posted somewhere earlier about this - and how to use and dose for feral cats when the vet can't or will not prescribe for the cat.

Fishflex would be my drug of choice for pneumonia... IF you know that's what he/she has. Otherwise, the vet may tell you to ride it out. Often, cats DO recover with supportive care.

Your cat may or maynot have something that is terminal, but you CAN make a difference in keeping the cat warm, quiet and fed ...

For warmth - a sock full of rice heated in the microwave wrapped in a towel can be used - or if you have a hotwater bottle one of those, wrapped in a towel.

Prayers and vibes for you both.

 

[ronit]

Thanks opilot, if she passes the night I will go tomorrow and get some baby food.
Now is 23:30 and I have to get some sleep.
Just a few minutes ago she went to the litter box and tried to poo. she pooed a white/clear mucus. that is definetely not normal, i have never seen that.
any ideas ? i tried searching in TCS but I only find brown mucus or bloody mucus
She aparently is sicker than I thought.
I hope to see her tomorrow, my hubby wakes up at 3 and will check on her.
Good night and cross your fingers !
Ronit

 

[zoethor2]

I'm sending lots of good thoughts your way -- I hope she pulls through -- feral/strays are tough little things, I bet she has a good shot. She is somewhere safe, warm, happy, with food and water and a litterbox, and nice people taking care of her and loving her. They've shown that people get better more quickly, and "more better", when they're surrounded by love and such, and I would have to guess it would work the same in a kitty!

If she's even trying to get up and use the litterbox, even with somewhat odd results, that's a very good sign. Over the years I've found that one very good barometer of kitty health is whether they bother making it over to the litterbox in order to do their business.

and

!

 

[ronit]

Hi Well, during the night she peed 3 times (i can see 3 spots in the clothes i put to warm her. And now she needs fluids urgently, when i picked her from her neck the hair and skin just stayed there... i knew she needed them but i do not understand why the vet did not want to give her yesterday, now is almost 8 am and he opens in 2 hrs..
how i wish to live in a city when i can take cats to clinics 24/7 and that they have all equipment there... here is just for basics and spaying/neutering... nothing more....
Wish us luck later !

 

[taterbug]

Sending many good luck for your special kitty.

 

[zoethor2]

Best of luck!

Keep us updated -- I'm really pulling for this little kitty!

 

[ronit]

Well, She is now an angel and painless.... her body could not handle it.
RIP Little girl, you are free now.

 

[jimmylegs]

so sorry to hear about this. you did a very good thing though, helping her like you did.

 

[zoethor2]

Poor little darling -- I'm sure that it made it easier for her being somewhere safe and warm, being looked after. What a good thing you did taking care of her!

 

[ronit]

Hello everybody !

I went to my feeding station this morning and found other sick kitty. He is about 1 yr old never been sick before, looked really bad like the other girl that died a few days ago, took him to the vet and gave him antibiotics shot.
I am really affraid that is not a cat flu or something similar, I am affraid it is something more serious and in that case there are about 20 kitties in the same place and I am affraid they all get infected and die !!!

With your experiences, is there any that looks like sever cat flu and is something worse?

Please please let me know if there is something
I can do before I loose them all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!