Sick kitty (non-bunny related)

[ScooterandAnnette]

We’ve got 7 pets in the house – 4 bunnies and 3 cats.  The youngest of our cats we got in September.  We actually found him as a stray, just a wee little thing of 3 months or so wandering the streets, and we took him to the animal control office because we could not believe that such a little kitten wouldn’t have someone looking for him.  Well no one claimed him and they let us take him home with us and add him to our family.  He’s been just an adorable, sweet little thing.  We did have some anxious times when he developed an interest in the bunny enclosure and tried to jump in there a few times, but now he just looks at them and pretty much stays out of their way.

Except now he’s sick .  He’s not eating or drinking on his own, we have to forcefeed him.  We took him to the vet on Saturday and they ran his bloodwork which all came back normal, and he didn’t have a fever, so they were a little stumped.   I’ll be taking him back there in the morning because he’s still not eating on his own.  Poor thing.  Hopefully we can get some answers soon.

– Annette

[Lisa_43]

Did they look at feline influenza or aids? I am guessing that was all part of the blood tests.

I have a wild kitten I found while my hubby and I were living in the Australian outback, unfortunately there are a lot of things they could already have when they don’t come from a home.

Hope your kitty is ok.

[JK]

Poor little guy.  It’s just so awful when they can’t figure out what’s wrong, isn’t it?  We still don’t know why Edson drinks so much dang water and we have had every test know to man!  I’ve just let that go because he appears so healthy.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you that they figure this out.  Has he had all his shots? In the U.S  we need to immunize against several things including rabies.  Not sure if you have the same thing in Canada.

[babybunsmum]

oh the poor kitty!  how frustrating when you can’t identify the problem.  i hope they can figure something out for him & that he comes around soon.

[skunklionshow]

I’m assuming that w/ the blood tests, they were looking for an infection.  Some cats stop eating and drinking from the common cold.  Colds can cause sores on the tongue &/or lips, so you might want to consider that.  For force feeding cats I recommend chicken or turkey baby food.  Its the perfect consistency and will give them all the vitamins & aminos they need.  You would get the baby food that is just chicken or turkey, not w/ any veggies or rice mixed in.  Keep us posted!

If you haven’t done any testing for FIV or FeLuk, it may be a good idea to do this?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

*Vibes for Kitty* Let us know how things go!!

[Mindy]

HI! I feel you pain. One of my kitties got very sick like 5 years ago and she refused to eat at all and I had to force feed her for like two weeks before she started eating on her own again. My cat had a blood parasite from a flea or mosquito bite. I don’t understand how it happened because she’s an indoor cat, but my vet said all it takes is one single bite. Anyway, the parasite was destroying her red blood cells so she got lethargic and weak and stopped eating. We caught it just in time to save her. I’m sure your vet checked for every known parasite to man, but just in case, you can pass my story onto him. I hope your kitty gets better soon!!

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[ScooterandAnnette]

Well we’re not going in to the vet this afternoon after all. Shortly after making the arrangements with them this morning he decided he was going to drink some water, which is a vast improvement over the weekend when he wasn’t drinking any water voluntarily at all. Not quite back at his "oooooh water!" norm yet. And he’s been trying to eat, although he does end up dropping most of it. But 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave for the vet suddenly I hear frantic scratching in the litter, and there he is pooping.

The vet’s recommended just keeping him at home and monitoring him to see if he continues making improvements. All of this is a vast improvement from the weekend, even if it’s not back at normal yet. The other 2 cats go in for their shots tomorrow morning, and if he hasn’t shown any more improvement by then I’m to bring him in at the same time.

Gosh, that’d be fun… 3 cats at the vet…

Here’s a picture of him snuggled up with one of our other cats (he’s the one on top)

– Annette

[babybunsmum]

cute cuddle puddle   glad he’s improving!

[Mindy]

I’m so glad to hear he is doing better!! He’s a beautiful cat and that’s great that your cats actually sleep in their bed!! As you could see from my picture, my cat prefers to sleep on my stove!! Anyway, I hope he continues to do better and start eating more. Maybe he just had the kitty flu and didn’t feel like eating!

[Lisa_43]

What a gorgeous picture!

[LittlePuffyTail]

I had a similar problem with my 1 year old cat just before Christmas. She just stopped eating, no fever. Eventually after a huge vet bill, being put on an iv and a week of force feeding she got better. We have no idea what happened. The mystery kitten illness.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Poor little fella! I was going to say it sounds like a parasite, has he been wormed?  One very common thing every stray needs is deworming (tapeworms & roundworms).  I am so very glad he’s improved, it could just be the stress of adjusting to a luxurious life. How long have you had him for now?  Will he eat canned food?

[ScooterandAnnette]

We’ve had him since the end of September. Today he’s decided that he’ll try and eat They normally get a tin of food every other day or so, but I’ve beed forcefeeding a pureed mixture of canned food and water (this batch has pedialyte instead) and getting that into him every 2-3 hours. He must be feeling a ltitle better because he ate a few little pieces of chicken from my lunch. To be honest I’m not sure about worming, but to be certain the vet gave us meds for him – he gets the followup ones next week. Hopefully he’ll get completely better soon – I need the sleep!

PuffyTail, how strange that you went through the same thing recently!

[Scarlet_Rose]

At least he ate a bit or two of your chicken, it sounds like he is feeling better. I can’t beleive he is having to be force fed tinned food. Wow, he is sick. Poor thing (((((healing vibes for poor kitty))))). Have they checked for lyme disease? I know it sounds silly but ticks are nasty carriers of that stuff.
Scooter&Annette, I think you are doing a wonderful thing by taking the time to help him, I know it can’t be easy not getting sleep but this guy is counting on you. I’m sure he’ll thank you in some way when he is better.

[Gravehearted]

aww, what a sweet looking kitty. I sure hope he’ll feel much better soon, glad he’s interesting in eating again and hope he’ll continue to improve.

[ScooterandAnnette]

Scarlet_Rose – as far as I know they didn’t check for Lyme disease, but he hasn’t been outside since the end of September. From what I’ve been reading (’cause you know I have to look up everything that an illness might possibly be!) the first symptoms of Lyme disease should appear within a few weeks of infection, and include fever. He’s been inside for 4 months now and has no fever.

We’d like to thank everyone for the kind words and well-wishes. Ringo (that’s the cat) is now getting pretty close to back to normal, although he’s still resting more than usual. We’re very relieved! And our bank account is VERY thankful not to have needed more visits to the vet and testing done!
– Annette

[skunklionshow]

I was thinking about the parasites…in order to check they would need a fresh fecal sample.  When I got my Phoebe, she was pregnant and could not be wormed, though she was given a low dose dewormer.  She had her kittens & weaned them.  We thought all was good and no worms.  She was wormed several more times and had a really bad case of lung worms.  We had to give a Panacure, a horse dewormer, for a long time. 

Most intestinal worms will be obvious (i.e. rice like thingys in the poop or behind), but other worms can be hard to locate unless they come out/up.  The lung worms looked like teeny tiny rubberbands.  I think I thought for the longest they were tiny rubberbands b/c they were just wet not pukey!

You can monitor hydration in a cat 2 ways….

1.  grab the nape of the neck and twist. if it snaps back slowly kitty is dehydrated.

2. Feel the gums.  if tacky, kitty is dehydrated.

I’m not sure were you’re located, but if baby food doesn’t work, another tried and true from the animal hospital…"Fancy Feast Savory Salmon".  No really, my ex was a tech and they swore by this!

[Scarlet_Rose]

That’s great you look up everything! I just thought a shot in the dark that might be a possibility but am glad for the kitty and your bank account that things are improving!

[ScooterandAnnette]

Didn’t try feeling his gums, but I did try the skin on the back of the neck thing. And you could just tell from the way he looked, he was pathetic.

Strangely enough the canned food we currently have in the house is Fancy Feast. When he was sick he didn’t do very well with the grilled chicken, and he had no interest in the whitefish/tuna (or real tuna, or tunajuice), so I ended up using the Salmon feast. The first night I was able to get him to take a little bit of it from my finger, and then he ate a tiny bit from the dish, and that was it. So it’s the salmon feast that I ended up pureeing with water or pedialyte and then forcefeeding him. I did find that it was easier to get him to take it when it was slightly warmed.

Now if he’d just stop licking my face while I’m trying to type, it would be so much easier! But I’ll take the licking over the lethargy any day.
– Annette

[Scarlet_Rose]

Awe he’s just thanking you for helping him. : ) What a sweet kitty!

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