Maybe an impossible question to answer

[kermit812]

Hi..I`ll try not to turn this question into a novel. My wife had always wanted a Siamese cat as she grew up with one so we had the chance to get one. The kitten was small but seemed fine. We went to bed that night and by morning the kitten was in real distress and we took him to the vet right away but sadly it was to late. We did not know the cause. The vet only said it may have been some disease passed on by the mother. We let the people who we got the kitten from know about it and they we sadden but didn`t say much else about it. We recently got a call from the same people saying they had another kitten available and felt bad about the other kitten and offered us a free kitten. They also now mentioned that all but one of the previous littler were sick and had died. I think they didn`t mention it before in fear of us asking for our money back. Anyway on to the new kitten. He seemed fine the first few days but now is not eating or drinking much and has diarrhea. We took him to the ER vet once yesterday morning and the put some water under his skin to hydrate him and also gave us some meds for worms. He didn`t seem much better by the evening so we took him back and the vet brought out some of their kitten food and he ate that up right away. They send us home with some cat food and some antibiotics and we felt encouraged. Today however he`s back to not eating and not drinking. We called our regular vet who just suggested taking him back to the ER vet if things got worse. He later called back and suggested some kitten recovery food which we went and got and sure enough the kitten ate regularly. So again we`re encouraged. Now my question is at what point do you rush of to the ER vet. At this point we`re both so stressed out and at a loss as what to do as this seems to be an up and down situation from hour to hour. Any advice and prayers would be greatly appreciated . I`m sorry for the long post. Thanks Randy

[kermit812]

Hi opus88
Funny you should mention Lysine. A friend of my daughters just gave us some. I think she said her friends sister is a vet as this says it's sold exclusively through veterinarians.  I do live in Ontario Canada. This product is a gel under the name Pro Concepts  Says manufactured for Nor Vet Sales Inc. 1485 Lakeshore Road East, Unit 910 Mississauga Ontario L5E 3G2. It's directions are 1.25mL(1/4 teaspoon) contains 250mg of I-Lysine twice a day for cats over 6 months and 0.65mL(1/8 teaspoon) given orally twice daily for kittens less than 6 months. Hopefully should you ever need some this address will help. We haven't tried it yet as we just got it yesterday and wasn't sure what to make of it. I sure don't want to make matters worse. So I'm glad you mentioned it. Makes me feel more confident giving it to him.  I'll let you know how it works out. Thus far he still isn't playing or even purring much and seems a little thin so hopefully this will help. I think the people we got him from must have fed him nothing but table scraps because he's pretty fussy eater. If he smells chicken he goes crazy and is more than willing to eat his fill. Not sure I should allow this but if it comes down to him eating nothing or chicken, I guess chicken it is. He's turned out to be quite a stubborn little handful. I'm glad our other 2 cats and dog seem to have welcomed him into the family as they don't seem to mind him being around and occasionally lick him. Thanks so much for your help. We  have always had pets but have never had any problems until the first Siamese kitten we got died. Oh he's Siamese if I didn't mention that before.  Anyway thanks again, your help is very much appreciated.
Randy

[opus88]

well I am glad that the diarrhea has finally stopped, and he is eating and drinking normally now..thats a great start...way to go Casper!!!

I too would be concerned over a lack of activity in a kitten, the Vet could be right an its just going to take awhile for the meds to clear his system, they are pretty harsh on a little one...lets wait awhile and see and try not to panic

if after a couple weeks and he's still not picked up than you may want to investigate further with some blood work ....does he have any trouble breathing? are his gums a normal pink color...not blueish (lack of oxygen)

the watery eye does concern me a bit....this could mean an upper respiratory virus..otherwise known as cat flu.
symptoms are similar to those of us human critters, discharge from nose or eyes...sneezing, inflammation of the lining of the eyes, loss of appetite mostly from a diminished sense of smell, sometimes mouth and eye ulcers, fever, malaise...
OR
Calici and Herpes Virus....with similar symptoms..
*could be through out the cattery*

most healthy cats and kittens with a healthy immune system can get over this in a few days...but cats/kittens with a weak system it could develop into a upper respiratory infection URI and require antibiotics...

there is no treatment for this in the early stages other than too support his immune system to help him get stronger and fight off the virus..I can give you some recommendations

L-lysine an amino acid. this is VERY GOOD. you can buy supplements usually from your Vet clinic, or in a more pure and stronger form from a human vitamin supply chain...but you need to get brands that are FREE of sugar, salt, preservatives, corn, soy and wheat to be safe for a cat. a very good brand is from Carlson Labs...I would strongly suggest you order this!!!
normally for a cat the dose is 1/4 teaspoon(1/2 scoop) that is 500mg. mixed into their wet food or via dropper for one week than cut that into half for maintenance. for a small kitten I would suggest you start with half that amount, 1/8 teas.(1/4 scoop...250mg) and see that he tolerates ok

this is a very good company to order from, their shipping charges for the US are only $4. are you in the US? I order internationally b/c I am in Canada so the shipping charges are higher but still reasonable. remember the dosages given on this site are for human use so thats why it differs for use with cats.

http://www.iherb.com/Carlson-Labs-L-Lysine-Amino-Acid-Powder-100-g/13608

but I wouldn't wait days for an order to come in....unless you can get it real quick, if your Vet clinic has some of the pet brand than while waiting for your order I would use it...b/c this is very important you start using real soon!!!

good luck little Casper, we all wish you the best so you can grow to be strong and healthy...keep us posted♥

[kermit812]

Hi opus88
Just thought I'd give you a quick update on the kitten(Casper). He seems to be eating and drinking fine and his stool seems to have firmed up too. The only thing that still concerns us a little is his lack of activity. He doesn't play like a kitten normally would. The vet said it may take a couple of weeks after all meds have stopped before he is back to normal. We also had to get him some meds for his one eye that was kind of watery looking. Poor little guy has been through a lot the last couple of weeks. Hoping nothing else comes up and he can finally get on with being a normal kitten. Thanks so much for your and everyone else's support and interest.

[opus88]

That's great!! If you've given him the worm meds that can bring on diarrhea...or the worms themselves can too(if you haven't used the pills) either way he has to get rid of these parasites before his system is going to be normal....keep us posted

[kermit812]

HI CML
So far so good. He has been eating and drinking. I just wish his diarrhea would clear up. I'm hoping it's just from all the different foods we tried. Thanks for your post. Take care

[CML2014]

Hi Kermit,

Just to let you know----I think we all panic when it comes to our pets.   They probably look at us and wonder what all the fuss is about..... and if they would just tell us we would not have to be such stressed out humans.   Really!!

Keep us posted we are all stressed out pet parents!

CML

[opus88]

Ok....that's good news if he's eating and drinking..keep finding food he's interested in, cats on canned food drink very little so as long as he is getting canned food don't over worry the drinking.

Yes it sure would be hard not to panic......I do hope this little guy is on a permanent upward swing

[kermit812]

Thanks so much for your reply. The worm issue was identified visually as there were some present on his rectum. At the moment he seems to be getting a little better. He has eaten and drank again since I posted and has been running around the house. Just seems like such a rollercoaster with him being active and eating and than not eating or drinking. Hoping and praying that he is on the mend now and doesn't take another turn for the worse. It's so hard not to panic after the experience with the first kitten. So far no blood work or stool samples have been done. That was to be the next step if he doesn't improve. Thanks again for your reply.
Randy

[opus88]

There could well be some virus running in this particular cattery...would be in best interests for these poor kittens to test and identify if that's an issue....sure hope not

[opus88]

Your right it's pretty hard for us on a forum to advise you....did they do any tests while at either ER visits?
Did you take a stool sample in that was tested positive for worms BEFORE using  a dewormer? If this med isn't necessary I really hate giving something that harsh to an ailing kitty, have a check done first if it wasn't already
The diarrhea could be a result of introducing different foods

How does he seem other than not wanting to eat? What were you giving him? Have you tried canned food and different brands to perk his interests up?

Start with a stool sample to identify IF indeed there are worms present, than with proper identification you can give a dewormer for the type of parasite he has.  IF he has, but not until you know what you are treating, never give a med of any kind until it's justified

Do that as well as trying diff brands/& flavors of canned food....but do expect some diarrhea when switching an trying various foods

Hope this has helped somewhat

If kitty still won't eat...than it will mean more extensive tests....a cat cannot go over a day or two without food or organs start to fail

Best of luck, post anytime if we can be of any help at all