Two sick little kittens :/

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  • #814441
    Meenakshi Madhavan
    Participant

    Hello all, joined this forum so I’d have a place to obsess about my cats (three) and not annoy my Facebook friends further.

    I have three cats: a 6 yr old (TC, ginger tabby), a 3 month old (Bruno, grey & white tabby) & a 40 day old (Agni, all black.) We live in New Delhi, India with access to pet food (mostly Whiskas & Pedigree) and vets. Now, Bruno was from a litter with a cared for mother cat, but Agni who we got only a few weeks later, was from the shelter. In the beginning, everything was kinda awesome. The kittens would jump and run around and play, and leave my older cat alone (which was why we got the second one in the first place.)

    Then, Agni fell sick. Lots of diarrhoea, very weak, high temperature. She hadn’t been vaccinated yet, because we had just dewormed her. We had to rush her to the local shelter open late at night where she got a saline drip to bring her temperature down and a dose of drugs (called Monocef here, not sure what the generic name is.) A few days later, Bruno fell sick, and we gave him the same drugs. Agni got better, Bruno got worse. Agni got worse, Bruno got better. So on & so forth, UNTIL two days ago. Both kittens have stopped eating to the extent that they’ve lost all the weight I was so happy to see they had put on. They’re drinking water, but in small amounts.

    We went back to the vet today who suggested we try force feeding before he gave us an appetite stimulator (so that the kittens don’t get hooked to it), but poor little Agni seems to be fading away. She’s very limp when you pick her up, sits in one place flopped over barely breathing, and even lost control of her bowels on a sofa, instead of going to the litter box. We’re still feeding her (chicken broth, soaking dry kitten food in water and squeezing it into her mouth with a syringe) and giving her some probiotics, but I’m not sure she’s going to make the weekend. Bruno, being bigger, and more healthy is slightly better, but also very lethargic.

    I miss my active little kittens. It’s so sad to think that I might be going from my newly three cat house to a one cat house again. Has anyone been through this? Do they pull through? How long does it take to see results? And could this be a direct reaction to the antibiotics? (FWIW, Agni’s last shot was 4 days ago, and Bruno’s was 3.)

    Thank you all, for your help and support. 🙂 I look forward to being an active participant with tales of THREE cats. *sigh*

    #814442
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Wow, you have surely had your hands full! I hope others have recommendations for you, since you’ve been to the vet and had them treated. I would try this however, buy some pasteurized goat’s milk and feed them through a syringe or bottle. It’s full of good gut flora that may have been killed off when they had their round of antibiotics. I have raised a 12 week old kitten entirely on goat’s milk, it’s good for them, unlike cow’s milk since most cats are lactose intolerant. Please keep us posted on their progress!

    #814447

    Sat Sri akal bhenji….mere naam nirmal (mainu kuri)….welcome!

    It’s so nice to see another desi kuri with pyaar Vich uske dil for catties….

    I agree try to get her to drink bakhri dudh try to get her some l lysene and keep her comfortable. Keep try to feed her every couple hours. You can add a little jaggery to the dudh mixture. 😉

    #814448

    I had cats n kittens who fell sick seemingly suddenly and sadly did not pull through. One of them did, however. I’m honestly not sure what they had as I could not rush them to a vet at the time n I regret it.

    #814468
    Jeankit
    Participant

    Welcome to TDK MM/we abbreviate here/purry acceptance into family/LOL! Never bore us with kitty/cat chat!
    Here is a chat/link with helpful links for you:

    Links for kitten-raising sites, eg Messybeast


    Hoping it helps.
    Feel free to post updates & join in on chats.
    Many members from all over – time zones so usually doesn’t take too long to get response/interaction!

    #814469
    Jeankit
    Participant

    Adding one for diarrhea help:

    Kitten has diarrhea. HELP!

    You can also type in word on upper right box/hit GO to search for other similar topics 😀

    #814470
    katzenjammer
    Participant

    Welcome MM,
    No advice to give as other TDKer’s know way more about taking care of kitties. Me, I’m just owned by one. So just saying hi from Canada and at TDK it’s not “obsessing” it’s “loving” as never too much to say about our kits as we’re all confirmed cat peeps. 🙂

    #814498
    jcat
    Participant

    Meenakshi, welcome to TDK. You’ve been given some great advice above, especially about the goats milk, but I think you need to talk to the vet again about the appetite stimulator for wee Agni — better hooked on it than not here at all. I would add that there’s a special supplement for sick or malnourished cats and kittens called Nutrical paste — you can order it off the web from a good website like amazon or entirelypets.com if you can’t find it in a local pet store, and they will send it to you in India — you mix a little into their food or smear a little on their mouth so they have to lick it off and it will provide everything they need when they’re reluctant to eat. But of course that will take more time.

    #814503
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi, Meenakshi,
    I am also new. My kitten isn’t sick but she was not getting any food because of her siblings. She is just a few days younger than Agni. I can certainly relate when you go to lift them up and their little backbone is so hard against your skin. Their little limp bodies wont even try to resist being held. I wish I could give you some helpful advice. I know the best thing I did for my kitten (Butternut) was just forcing her to drink every hour on the hour at least by giving her KMR via a pipette. It keeps her hydrated and at least puts something into her tummy. I also use Nutri-Cal which is amazing!!! I hope your kittens feel better soon. Good luck.

    #814505
    indie.tea
    Participant

    Hi Meenaskhi!

    I don’t have much advice to add – but to answer your question, yes I went through something similar with a cat of mine. She was sick for several days, the vet thought there was very little hope as she losing control of her bowels everywhere, very very weak, etc. – and she pulled through.

    Can you find any chicken or turkey based baby food (pureed, WITHOUT ONION OR GARLIC)? I watered that down and force-fed that to my cat with a medicine-dropper. It helped her regain her strength.

    [p.s. Meenaskhi and Sikander Nirmal – my background is also Indian and I speak Hindi too, but I grew up in the U.S..]

    #814511
    Meenakshi Madhavan
    Participant

    Thank you all! So nice to see so much love! (And hello fellow desis!)

    An update: Agni got super sick last night (pooping blood and generally incontinent, and she’s very particular about her litter, so this was alarming), so we rushed her back to the vet, where she was put on a drip and about four different kinds of meds. “If she lives through the night,” the vet said, “We might have a chance.” Her body temperature had also dropped to about 94 degrees, and I believe normal cat temp is about 100-102? So, we stuck her in front of a really warm lamp, and my partner syringe dropped water and nutrients into her mouth till about 4 am.

    This morning she was MUCH better. She’s still super weak, can barely move, but managed to stagger to her water bowl this morning, and is lapping up some chicken broth I made, as well as drinking the recommended milk replacement the vet gave us. We’re also giving her probiotics so her entire system isn’t completely shot by the drugs. It’s a bit touch and go at the moment, but she’s a fighter, so we’re just willing her to live.

    Her playmate Bruno, who also had a version of this virus, is also better, but still a bit lethargic. He’s eating some though–we also were told to get some special dry cat food for digestion, which he ate about two handfuls of–which is always good news, and we’re force feeding him some probiotics as well. Do you think I should still get the appetite stimulants or rely on our syringe method?

    Thank you so much for the links, and for the virtual handholding, it’s comforting to know that so many of you have been in the same place as we are, and all hope is not lost. 🙂

    #814514
    jcat
    Participant

    If they are both willing to eat, that’s the important thing, I’d stick with what you’re doing. Cats who stop eating can develop a type of anorexia where they don’t want to eat any more and that’s a vicious cycle which needs to be broken, but it sounds like your two are doing their best to eat. I hope so much they improve, poor little ones.

    #814517
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    So glad to hear she has made it this far. Like Jcat above says, I’d stick to what you are doing. Once they get well they will get their appetite back. As long as some kind of nutrition is getting into their bodies, they will hopefully have the strength to fight off whatever bug is attacking their systems. Keep us posted!

    #814533

    Sat Sri akal bhenji, Bahut vadiya! Mere dil bole hadippa…..

    Just keep up the great work and do stick around yaar! We would love if u were a regular! U have honestly found the best place on the web. 😉

    #814534

    Btw to the rest of the gang – Agni means fire so let’s hope lil Agni n her gang will have the fire in their heart to survive!

    #814566
    Meenakshi Madhavan
    Participant

    Little Agni died this morning. We’re not sure what caused it, she seemed to be improving. We’re so sad. 🙁

    In the hope that Bruno doesn’t go the same way, taking him back to the vet today. He’s now constipated. Still eating a little bit, but very low energy. I’m hoping a blood test will shed some light on what’s going on. Do you think it could have been fading kitten syndrome?

    #814572
    katzenjammer
    Participant

    So very, very sorry for your loss of little Agni! 🙁 I do agree that it’s wise to take Bruno to the vet and to insist on getting the answers that you need and concrete advice as to his care. Please keep us updated and know that you did your very best for Agni, and that in her all-too short life she only knew love.

    #814576
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Oh so very sorry for your loss of Agni. It’s so hard to say what could have caused her death, when everything else has been ruled out, it’s usually fading kitten syndrome, it’s very common and for me is a phrase that means ’cause of death unknown’. You did all you could for her, and like KJ said, she knew only love in her little short life.

    #814597

    Maf karo yaar….mere dil apna ke lie nuksan dard hai…

    Kittyzee is right. There could b a myriad of things, including but not limited to congenital defects, poisoning prior to you having her, other diseases and more. She could have also faced malnutrition and other factors prior to u getting her which could have done something. Sadly, I have faced fading cat and kitten syndrome too many times myself. It made me feel extra helpless because there was nothing I could do except wait the inevitable, and I faced backlash from some ignorant people. I had a landlady who felt I had purposely killed my cats desire my efforts to plead my case. She was really a rotten messed up being and others knew it. Anyway, don’t let this stop you from having more cats. Let it be a lesson to make you stronger from. 😉 jhappi thon nirmal bhenji n remember we here know u r doing ur best. Ur a good person with good intent and you are doing what u can. That will not go unnoticed…..

    #814717
    Meenakshi Madhavan
    Participant

    Hello all, I thought I’d give you an update on Bruno: he’s been diagnosed with a bacterial infection, which is affecting his kidneys and liver. He’s too small to draw more blood to figure out exactly WHAT bacteria, but he’s on general antibiotics and is slowly returning to his pre-illness self. 🙂 Very likely he caught it from Agni, and very likely that’s why she died. At least we have some answers now. So off to the vet again for Bruno, and in three days, we’re going to try and take some more blood so we can kill the nasty bugs. Argh.

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