PLEASE HELP!! KITTEN CAN BARELY BREATHE

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  • #52644
    tooAlive
    Participant

    It’s 4:19 AM, and I just woke up to find our month old kitten awake, and struggling to breathe.

    We found her at about a week old on the street, and have been raising her since. She’s been doing great until now – never showed any signs of having any problems, and was always very playful.

    Now she appears to be shivering, and opens her little mouth to gasp for air. Her eyes are also watery, so I think she’s crying. Just a few hours ago she was completely fine and playful.

    The vet isn’t close by my house, and we’re also having pretty bad weather here in Florida due to the approaching hurricane.

    What can I do for her now???

    She also vomited today, but I assumed it was because we were playing with her too much after eating, and didn’t think too much of it.

    Please help. It hurts to watch her like this. What can I do???

    #746018
    jcat
    Participant

    Emergency vet. There should be emergency vet help available, or an emergency clinic, 24/7. It’s expensive but without more details, we can’t help you and even then we probably couldn’t. If you don’t know where the emergency clinic is in your area, ring your normal vet and hopefully the answering machine should tell you where you can get help.

    I’m going to give you some first aid links links but they are no substitute for vet care:

    Are you sure she isn’t choking on something? If you think she might be, look at the instructions for how to deal with a choking cat. Could she have eaten something poisonous? It could be some kind of blockage. She needs vet help.

    #746019
    jcat
    Participant
    #746020
    Moonshadow_NZ
    Moderator

    Sending Positive Vibes for your kitten.

    #746021
    tooAlive
    Participant

    Thank you all for the SUPER quick replies! I really do appreciate it.

    The closest 24-hour animal hospital is about 40 miles away. And with the horrible weather (approaching hurricane), I don’t know when we’d be able to make it out there.

    From what I’ve read, she appears to have a kitty cold? Or a URI?

    Now that I think about it, she sneezed once or twice before I went to sleep.

    I’m making her some homemade pedialyte (recipe found on here), and keeping her as warm as possible.

    Are there any other homemade remedies for a URI? Seeing as the vet isn’t an option right now.

    Thanks again for all your help, I’ve been reading many of the posts here since we found her a month ago.

    #746022
    tooAlive
    Participant

    I have her wrapped in a heating pad, and she’s stopped shivering. Thank god.

    She’s still breathing through her mouth, and looks to be pretty tired. She’s sleeping for now, and didn’t want too much Pedialyte.

    Thanks again guys, I’ll keep you all posted.

    #746023
    jcat
    Participant

    Thank goodness, if it’s only a URI. Keep her wee eyes and nose gently clean. You can wipe her eyes gently with a cotton ball dipped in cold tea (without milk), it’s soothing and antiseptic. If she seems to be having trouble breathing, run a hot shower and take her into the bathroom to breathe the steam. You may have trouble getting her to eat as URI’s mean they can’t smell their food, so try to make it extra appetising and appealing by warming it in the microwave and choosing smelly foods such as tuna. Try to get something called Nutrical from the pet store, it is a high-calory paste full of nutrients that you can smear on her mouth if she won’t eat (no big blobs, nothing she could choke on) and that will keep her going if she refuses to eat. Until you can get Nutrical, a smear of Karo corn syrup, or honey or maple syrup will help give her a burst of energy. The pedialyte is good, if she won’t accept food, check her often with the tent test and keep her going with the pedialyte. Also click on the pink tag ‘URI’ — top left hand — for lots more advice on URIs.

    #746024
    jcat
    Participant

    Sorry, double post.

    #746025
    tooAlive
    Participant

    Thank you so much, that honey tip practically rejuvenated her!

    Haha, her eyes opened up and she started licking it off my finger. She doesn’t feel the same way about the pedialyte though, so I’ll continue to pour it gently in her mouth with an eye dropper.

    Just finished giving her a steam bath as well, and she seems to have started breathing more through her nose.

    Thank god I found you guys; you may not known it, but all your tips helped save her when she was found a month ago as well. 🙂

    #746026
    Moonshadow_NZ
    Moderator

    That is great that the honey has helped TA. I hope she keeps on getting stronger and fights off the URI. It’s never easy when they are sick like this. My Shadz in my avatar was extremely ill with cat flu just after we got her but she pulled through with heaps of care and love. Do take your kitty to the vet as soon as you are able to even if she is responding well.

    #746027
    jcat
    Participant

    That IS great news. MS is right, your little one still needs a vet. She may need antibiotics or other treatment. I hope she manages to start eating something soon.

    #793020
    zophiel
    Participant

    Thanks a lottttttttttttttttttttt. Even my kitten was sick last night and wasn’t responding well. Allhamdulillah she is doing fine. ‘Too Alive’ dude thanks for explaining the problem so clearly and ‘jcat’ thanks a lottttttt for your suggestions. Thank you very much people..

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