So nervous about sick kitten & mystery illness

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  • #812712
    NewKittenMommy
    Participant

    Hi. I’m new to the board. I’ve read some posts & this looks like such a nice place. I hope you don’t mind my venting, but I am so worried about our new kitten.
    I’ll try not to make this too long.

    On June 20th, my daughter and I found the cutest black crying kitten in our yard near the road late at night. I estimate he was 6-7 wks. He came right to us when he saw us & wanted to cuddle. He was clean, and had no fleas. I don’t live in a neighborhood where there are strays. My neighbors across the street have a black cat & I thought he might be the kitten of her, so I took him inside for the night, assuming he was lost.

    When I finally got in touch with the neighbors two days later, I found out he wasn’t there’s. I went door to door asking. I put an ad on Craigslist for a lost kitten, stating that if I hadn’t found his owner in a week, I’d give him to an excellent home.

    He appeared healthy, happy, and loved to play. I could not afford a vet trip for a full check up, but I did get them to prescribe a dewormer for him, because I knew kittens needed to have one. And boy, did he have worms. (I’ll spare the details, but it was pretty bad – tapeworms, as confirmed by a pic I took).

    After that, he stopped eating and drinking. I literally had to force feed him pedialyte. He was lethargic, and barely moved. A couple of days later, he perked up. He still wasn’t eating, but I’d gotten him to drink some Step 2 kitten milk. I noticed a sore on his neck. I treated it with triple antibiotic ointment, as recommended when I called the vet. He continued to refuse food (but he was barely weaned in the first place, so food was new to him). He started getting a runny nose, sneezing all the time, and crusty eyes. I have run a humidifier most of the time for him, and was taking care of him round the clock. (I work from home, so I’m literally with him all day).
    I called the vet. They wanted to do a feline leukemia test, which, just with a test an office visit alone was $140. There was no way I could afford that. I felt helpless, and guilty, but also in a bad predicament – I never intended on adopting this kitten, but I couldn’t very well give him away being so sick. So what was I to do?

    One night, he started foaming at the mouth and was having a tough time breathing. I decided I’d rush him to the vet first thing in the morning, and beg and plead with them to work out payments with me, if he made it through the night.

    Well, he made it through the night alright and I woke up to find him being the energetic and playful kitten he was the week before.
    His nose continued to run just a little bit, and he has been stuck on the kitten milk, but for the past few days, he’s been a perfectly behaved playful kitten. He still had the sore on his neck, which seemed to have gotten bigger. I cleaned the area and most of his fur in that place fell off to expose a small hole. His fur was sort of matted over it because of my putting medicine on it, so I didn’t notice how big it was until then. I continued to treat it. He sure didn’t appear to be affected by it.

    Yesterday he even started eating food again! I was so happy! Finally, after taking care of this sick kitten day in and day out for almost 3 weeks, things seemed to be looking up.

    This afternoon, I noticed he wasn’t as energetic. When I went to clean his neck, fur fell out in clumps all the way around the underside of his neck from one ear to the other. He has 3 huge gaping holes (about the size of a pencil eraser) with brown stuff oozing out and is obviously in pain.

    I decided I’d do whatever it took to come up with the money, and am bringing him to the vet in the morning.
    I’m so worried for him. The holes look as if he’s been attacked and punctured by something. (He hasn’t. He’s been inside with me the entire time I’ve had him). And we don’t have fleas, by the way. So that’s ruled out. I check him religiously for fleas.

    I cannot imagine what has caused these sores and holes on his neck, but they look awful. I hope and pray they don’t have to put him to sleep. So now, all there is to do is care for him, and wait until morning. And write this to vent, I suppose.

    If anyone is still reading this, please do not fuss at me for not taking him to the vet sooner. I’ve done the best I could do in the situation I’m in. I’m a struggling single mom. Sometimes there’s just not extra money.
    As I said before, I never intended on having a kitten – Upon taking him in that first night, I just thought I’d found someone’s lost pet and would keep him safe for the night.

    I’ve taken care of this kitten like a newborn. I have only had maybe one full night’s sleep in weeks. He’s never out of mine or my daughter’s sight. If anyone is reading this, please send good thoughts/vibes his way.
    I’m praying for a good outcome, but I know he is seriously ill, because it’s been one thing after another. The holes on his neck are by far, the biggest mystery/worry.
    Thanks for reading.

    #812730
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Oh NKM, I’m so sorry you are having trouble with this little baby! Nobody here would fuss at you for what you have or haven’t done…that you took him in is what’s important, and we have ALL BEEN IN YOUR SHOES. I tend to think that maybe the mother when she was moving him may have puntured his skin with her teeth. I had a cat do that when she was moving her babies. Unfortunately, he probably needs antibiotics for it and will have to see a vet and believe me, I know how expensive that can be. It sounds like he may have feline herpes, which is not a death sentence by any means. Most cats and kittens have it and it only crops up when they are stressed. L lysine in their food helps to control their symptoms and make life easier for them. Remember that even if he should test positive for feline leukemia, many cats go on to live long lives. Let us know how your kitten is doing and sending white light and healing prayers to you and sweet kitten!

    #812734
    jcat
    Participant

    Hi, NKM, welcome to TDK. Kittyzee has given you some excellent advice and she is right, we have all been there when circumstances mean we can’t afford the vet, no matter how much we want to. Have you looked into the Care Credit card, it is a way to afford emergency veterinary care, I will try to find the link for you. If you are able to keep this little one, I would also think about pet insurance, maybe just for emergency surgeries. Cats are most expensive in vet terms at the kitten stage (especially if they are rescues, as your little one is) and towards the end of their lives. Also ask if your vet can let you pay off payments in stages.
    I suspect the first downturn in his condition was due to the wormer and it having the desired effect, which can be pretty hard on a little kitten’s system (but so necessary). You did the right thing getting the vet to prescribe as otc dewormers are not good news for very young kittens.
    It also sounds like he has a URI and you are doing all the right things for that. Whether it is a side effect of him having feline herpes or whether it will settle down, we;ll just have to see. Bear in mind that if his mother was a stray or missed her shots, and she picked up infections, most of them can be passed to her kittens in the womb so anything he has, he probably was born with or picked up before you got him.
    The sores could be anything. I imagine they are most likely abcesses from being attacked from another cat or, as Kittyzee says, maybe his mum accidentally punctured him. These take a while to show up and usually need antibiotics, but once kitty gets them (my Max was a terrible fighter, despite being neutered, and just about financed our vet’s renovations) it’s usually fine. The strange thing about cats is that they heal TOO fast — often with abscesses, the skin closes over the wound before it’s healed properly and infection keeps brewing underneath until it bursts. This might be what has happened here. What you can do for kitten is to clean the wounds gently as often as he will let you to get the pus out, that’s the important thing. Warm salt water on a cotton swab is always good. There is definitely a yuck factor but getting the pus out is the important thing, that and antibiotics.
    However, they could be lesions from a virus like feline leukaemia, or rodent ulcers. So unfortunately he does need a vet but hopefully the outcome will be good and easily treated. A good tip for building up stray little ones is goats milk (from the baking aisle at Walmart), it’s very good for them and usually they love it. Best of luck for tomorrow.

    #812735
    jcat
    Participant

    Adding tags for links: if you click on the pink tags, you’ll find heaps of previous threads and some good advice on these topics.

    Financial help for Pets’ Vet Emergencies


    this link may help with emergency vet care.

    #812842
    NewKittenMommy
    Participant

    Thank you for being so kind jcat and kittyzee. It really made me feel a lot better. And thanks for the advice. It’s great to be in a place where people not only understand what it’s like, but have so much insight.

    I never considered a puncture wound or abscess, but both are very good assumptions (and comforting to me right now).
    Today, the area on the right side of his neck looks much better, but the left area is literally about 3 inches wide and long. There is a thick piece of skin that is loose and there is pus all in it. I’ve been keeping it clean. It’s almost as if he was brutally attacked and an animal tried to rip a chunk out of his skin but didn’t succeed. The theory about it healing fast and then bursting makes a LOT of sense.

    Your info has been sooooo helpful, and I’ll keep you updated.

    On the subject of Care Credit (thank you for bringing that up, by the way), we ended up NOT going to the vet this morning because I remembered my mother has care credit, and tried to get in touch with her so I could use it and make payments. Fortunately, she’s going to let me so I’ll have an update for you tomorrow.

    P.S. I tried to make my avatar a picture of him (his name is Moses), but it cropped everything out except the corner of the blanket. HA. It’s late, so I’ll resize it tomorrow.

    Thanks again. You both made me feel a lot better

    #812863
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Yes, please keep us posted on his progress. I too tried to change my avatar and it cropped it to where only an ear showed, so I went back to my original photo. I tried to resize but it still did the same thing…oh well. Sending healing vibes to little Moses and hugs to you as well…

    #813163
    NewKittenMommy
    Participant

    Well, you guys were definitely right regarding the quick healing and abscessing, because that’s exactly what happened.

    It wasn’t an attack though. You both may be familiar with this (I certainly wasn’t) but it was a larvae! My vet said weeks ago (before I found him) a fly had laid an egg inside a small cut. It healed over, and a larvae grew and caused the huge abscess!
    Actually, late at night right after I last posted (the morning before the vet) I’d laid him on a clean towel. A couple hours later, I picked him up and there was something really weird looking on the towel. It was like a very short, fat worm. I’d never seen anything like it. I couldn’t tell if it was from the animal kingdom or the plant kingdom! I put it in a bag and brought it to the vet with me, but she’d already diagnosed him without me having to show it to her.
    She said the largest tear/whole in his neck was from the larvae making its way out!
    That’s what has caused him to be so sick.

    He’s on antibiotics and it’s already looking so much better. I couldn’t afford the feline leukemia and parasite tests this time, so that’s next week. I’m really praying he’s healthy other than this, but we won’t know until next week. This issue, however, is so much better, so he’s perky and playful again.

    Are either of you familiar with that larvae thing?

    I lived in the country when I was younger and we had 4 female cats – one “mother” and her 3 female kittens who grew up and had kittens. Although they lived outdoors/and in garage I spent lots of my childhood days taking care of their kittens. (at one point, we had 23 kittens all born in the same 2 week period). But, I’d never witnessed anything like this, or ever heard of it until now.

    #813185
    jcat
    Participant

    Oh, poor little one. I have not heard of it happening in cats but I am in New Zealand, we are an agricultural country and so I have heard of it happening often in sheep and lambs, it’s called fly strike here, but I imagine we all have different types of flies with different hosts. I am so glad the antibiotics are making him feel better. Antibiotics can also upset little tummies though so you might like to try to find some goats’ milk (in the baking aisle at Walmart or liquid in the chiller section) or goats’ milk yoghurt (from a health store) or some fortiflora to replace the good bacteria in his tum.

    #813187
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Yes, NKM, I live on a farm. It’s flies that lay their eggs on the wound and the maggots that look like worms. I know it sounds gross, but it happens A LOT! We who live on farms see lots of things the regular person never has seen or heard of. He should be fine once the infection is taken care of. Like Jcat says, some good goat’s milk or it’s yogurt would be so good for him after a round of antibiotics, since they kill off the good bugs along with the bad. Don’t be surprised if he should have some diarrhea from the meds, but the goat milk should help with that. Keep us posted again of his progress, and I love how you stepped in and saved the little thing. You are his now — he knew where to come for help!

    #813190
    NewKittenMommy
    Participant

    Oh, I forgot to mention they wouldn’t allow me to use my mother’s CareCredit since she wasn’t with me and doesn’t live in this city. That’s why I didn’t get the tests.

    jcat & kittyzee thanks for the advice! He also had to have his second round of dewormer last night. I was expecting him to have diarrhea, but I think it may be the opposite. He has been eating but hasn’t pooped in… maybe 24 hours give or take. He looks so fat right now. ha. At the vet Wed. he only weighed 1 pound, 4 ounces. I’d love to know what he weighs at this moment.

    Kittyzee – If you don’t mind me asking, do you live in the southern US? (I do. )And my grandma had heard of them.
    And thank you for saying that. My grandmother said “Did you name him Moses because he made it to the Promise Land (my house)?” haha I didn’t think of that when naming him.

    By the way, what type of tests are most pertinent for him to get? I know there are so many. I do worry he has feline leukemia, but I’ll cross that bridge when the time comes.
    So, feline leukemia test, parasite test…. are those the only necessities for right now?

    #813201
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    NKM, your vet is the best one to ask about vaccinations, especially your area of the world or U.S. I am aware of the CVR because I have a kitten who just had his first vet visit and it was the only one he said he was old enough for. I copied and pasted this for you:

    Kitten Vaccination
    Vaccinations are normally started at 9 weeks of age
    1st Vaccination – Versifel CVR (& Leukocell 2)
    2nd Vaccination – Versifel CVR (& Leukocell 2)

    What does the Vaccine Protect Against?
    Versifel CVR
    Feline Herpes Virus & Feline Calicivirus – these are the two major “cat flu”
    viruses and can affect any age of cat. They are transmitted through contact with
    infected cats and cause sneezing, runny nose and eyes, high temperatures and
    can lead to pneumonia. Cat flu can be fatal in kittens and old cats.
    Feline Panleucopenia – can affect any age of cat but kittens are at a higher
    risk. This virus is highly contagious and spreads rapidly, carried on shoes,
    clothing, food bowls and litter trays. Panleucopenia causes tiredness, fever, lack
    of appetite, vomiting and a severe bloody diarrhoea. The virus is fatal in 10% of
    unvaccinated cats.
    Leukocell 2
    Feline Leukaemia Virus – can affect any age of cat although kittens are at a
    higher risk. The virus is transmitted by close contact with infected cats and also
    from queen to kitten before birth. FeLV causes leukaemia but more commonly,
    the growth of tumours and the suppression of the immune system making the cat
    more susceptible to other infections. Some cats can be carriers and although
    they appear healthy, they pass the virus on to others. Vaccination for FeLV is
    optional but we strongly recommend it as there is no treatment for this
    virus.

    Booster Vaccination
    The first booster vaccination is given 1 year after the primary course and every year thereafter.

    I don’t know if you need to test for parasites especially if he’s not exhibiting any symptoms such as watery diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy. Most all kittens have worms, but the other parasites that are not affected by the wormer are the ones that cause the symptoms above. I have told my vet it doesn’t matter to me if my cats/kittens test positive for leukemia, I won’t have them put down. None have ever tested positive, BUT it’s not actually the virus itself that can kill a cat, but the secondary infection that can in a cat with leukemia because of the weakened immune system. There are a lot of things that can be done for a cat to boost the immune system, and L-lysine sprinkled on their food is a big plus, especially if they have feline herpes, which my cats have. They sneeze sometimes but never come down with a full blown case of it. They are kept indoors and that limits exposure to any outside cats or strays who may have other undesirable viruses. (Okay, I’m not promoting inside or outside cats here: just saying what I do to limit infectious disease) :=)

    I actually live in the Mid West, Ohio to be exact. West Central Ohio, about mid way between the capital of Columbus and the city of Dayton. We have a farm where we raise cattle, soy beans, corn, wheat and hay. I love the name of Moses and YES, he did find the promised land!!!

    #813207
    NewKittenMommy
    Participant

    Thank you for that info, Kittyzee!

    My stepfather is from Columbus. Not a farm, though. 🙂
    I’m in Alabama by the way.

    My vet is…. I don’t want to complain about her because she’s a great vet and we’ve used her all the way back from when I lived in the country with all the kittens. (So 1990).
    She’s super nice, but she constantly seems in a huge cheerful hurry and not great at explaining things (as in, what she says goes over your head and she talks really fast) Everytime I’m there (I have a dog I take there) I feel like she’s inching towards the door to walk out of the room and I keep going “um, hey, one more thing ummm”.

    That’s why I asked about the vaccines/tests here, because the more knowledge I have walking in there, the less chance of me getting confused by her. HA.
    (She is the best vet here, though. I’ve tried others – not as friendly)

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