Hi, Farah. Glad to meet another Buffy fan; another TDKer, my friend Kate, who also lives in NZ (on the Kapiti coast) had a boy cat called Spike after Spike the vampire too! Cat people obviously have great taste! You are more than welcome to use Nuffy for a future cat, it would be great to know the name lives on. She was a lovely girl.
I wish I could help about the flu. Is it cat flu? If so, I’m afraid, if the mums and the kittens are unvaccinated, then it does take a toll on kittens. They can sometimes come through it if they have had enough to eat and are warm enough and their immune systems are up to it but otherwise, it is often a killer and I’m afraid the only solution is for the mother cats (and the kittens too, when they become old enough) to get their vaccinations regularly. But it could also be upper respiratory infections due to chronic viruses or just to being too cold. Very young kittens are not able to regulate their body temperatures until they are about six weeks or if they are older but sick, and they die of hypothermia very easily (they can also die of overheating). That’s why litters cuddle together with each other and their mums. They could also have bacterial infections that are causing the illness and need antibiotics. So it is almost impossible to give you a blanket answer on how to help the cats since there might be many different causes, physical and viral and bacterial, for their sickness. All I can say is that good food and shelter, if you are able in any way to help with that, and possibly lysine on their food, will help every cat to fight infection. (There are heaps of instructions on how to build simple shelters for feral cats on the internet, if that is ever something you could help with, just google it or come back here and we will find the links for you).
You probably know much better than me what you need in your cats’ first aid kit, it sounds like you have made a good start. Nutrical is always useful for sick cats and kittens, it is a high calorie paste that you can put on their mouth and they will lick it off even if they are not eating, it will keep them getting the food they need to survive. However, it probably has an expiry date on it once it’s opened, so you might not want to order that until you need it. Neosporin is an antibiotic ointment that seems to help a lot of cats and kittens in the US, I don’t have personal experience with it but it might be very useful. Perhaps you could talk to your friend’s father again about what you might need, but perhaps the best way is to buy things as you need them.
I wish I could help with the terrible sickness but I have no idea. Are you talking about indoor cats and kittens you live with or about cats who live outside and come to you for food? It is obviously something horrible and infectious, unless it
was maybe something poisonous or corrosive that they all ate. Were any of them able to get to a vet? Again I would ask your friend’s father but without being able to examine an animal and test for various problems, it would be almost impossible to say. I hope it never happens again, it sounds horrific.
You will never annoy us by coming here and asking for help with cats; we love them and we love people who try to help them. Unfortnately, we are not vets, just experienced cat owners, so there are loads of things we don’t know but if we can help, we will. Never be afraid to ask questions on here. And please take great care of yourself and don’t take any unnecessary risks ever, the cats of your area need you.