Rescued Bottle Babies, Blindness & Uri

[Leha]

Good afternoon everyone, I am at my wits end, so I've come to you for some possible guidance. My first thing is.. please don't bash the rescue I work with. We're overwhelmed with bottle babies this year and I know this is mostly stress on the owners behalf.

Some background on me, I've been doing rescue for 20 years. About 10 years ago, I was dubbed the kitten whisperer, because they would send me babies that had little to no chance of survival and I would save most of them.

This time around, I received three ~8 day old kittens that had URI's. I did everything I could for them, and still lost one. I did a 10 day clavamox treatment which has cleared up the URI, save for the occasional sneeze. However, at 13 days old, I noticed that the runt (a beautiful little tortie) wasn't opening one of her eyes. I hadn't really noticed due to her coloring. I immediately cleaned her eye and kept on it, then contacted my rescue about possibly going to the vet. I was told to just be vigilant with the cleaning. When puss began to come out, I contacted her again and she told me she would get me some neomycin and gentamicin to treat with. This helped, but you could see the huge cataract on her eye. Then, the other eye started. So I began treating both. In the meantime, she was eating, but not enough to make me happy. She grew, but remained within .2ozs of her original weight. (6.5oz)

Her brother, a big old orange tabby was doing great! Fluffy ball of vibrant energy and gaining weight at the perfect rate. Then one morning both of his eyes were crusted shut and my heart flopped. I immediately began treating his eyes and washing them regularly. Again I asked to let me take them to the vet, again I wasn't answered, but told that there's kittens at her house with the same thing. I got the hidden "no" from that text.

Squirt, the tortie, no longer needs drops, but she appears to be partially blind in both eyes. Squeak, the tabby, has the worst looking red rims and I have to rinse/wipe his eyes at almost every feeding, just so they will open. I put the neomycin on 3-4x a day and I try to do the gentamicin at least once a day. (it itches, and I am afraid that they will claw their little eyes)

Now, on to my newest problem. (yeah, all of that wasn't even the problem!) Squirt has always been hard to feed, sometimes she suckles, sometimes she doesn't.. I found that the milk has to be the perfect temperature and if it's a little too warm or gets too cold during the feeding, she fights to get away from it. Squeak has always gobbled down his portion, but now he's doing the same as Squirt, fighting the nipple while frantically sniffing around to find it. I have syringe fed Squirt in the past, but she's gained weight (1 whole ounce!) and consistently eats the same amount, so I've just struggled along. However, Squeak has always been a hearty eater.. so this turn of events has me really concerned. I know I will be blown off if I ask to go to the vet again, so I'm coming to the other old timers for advice. Over 300+ kittens have gone through my home over the years.. and this situation is a first for me!

I have tried baby food, pate, raw, etc. anything with a strong scent and they act as if they can't smell it. I have checked their noses, both nostrils are clear on both kittens. They've just begun to play and groom themselves/each other, so I know they're aging appropriately, but the eating has become a nightmare.

I've considered asking my friends to donate a few dollars each so I can take these guys to the vet, but I don't know if that would be a smart idea, since I am working with a rescue. I don't want to be yelled at for overstepping myself. I just don't know what to do.

Thanks for reading this far and thanks in advance for any advice or ideas.

 

[Sarthur2]

I think you have the right idea to go to a private vet. You wouldn't need to tell the rescue, would you?

When an eye infection is not treated properly, blindness can result. Green pus is always a bad sign.

Now that they are not eating well, it indicates that they are not feeling well.

I think you are right to be concerned.

How old are the kittens now?

 

[Leha]

I think you have the right idea to go to a private vet. You wouldn't need to tell the rescue, would you?

I dunno how I couldn't. Especially if they need medicine.

When an eye infection is not treated properly, blindness can result. Green pus is always a bad sign.

No green pus, thank goodness. Creamy white, with a tinge of yellow. Thankfully, no one has any puss anymore.

Now that they are not eating well, it indicates that they are not feeling well.

I think you are right to be concerned.

How old are the kittens now?

I would think that too, except that they're playing and grooming like normal. They're ~25days old.

 

[Sarthur2]

I don't know what else to suggest beyond a vet visit since you've tried all the usual suggestions.

 

[Leha]

That's what I was afraid of. *sigh* Thank you. I guess I really needed to have someone else confirm that I'm not missing anything.

 

[kashmir64]

I've considered asking my friends to donate a few dollars each so I can take these guys to the vet, but I don't know if that would be a smart idea, since I am working with a rescue. I don't want to be yelled at for overstepping myself. I just don't know what to do.

Could you even do that? When you originally signed up to foster, you should have signed something that said you must follow their rules/guidelines or you could be taken to court and will be required to pay all court costs.
I would talk to them and see if it's ok to do this. If they say 'yes', then run, don't walk to your vet.

 

[Leha]

I have been working with this person for years. We both worked with CC4C, and now she's chosen to split off since they're focused on the east bay, and we're located in the west bay. So no signed paperwork. It's more of a respect thing, but my gut is telling me something else. I'll ask.. worst case, she says no and I'm in the same position of being concerned.