kitten health/help

[jacksmom]

Well, first of all, I am so glad I found this board. I desperately need someone to talk to sometimes about my kitties and no one here at home cares enough to help. I am the sole cat lover in my family and they all think something is wrong with me for loving my cats as much as I love people. They simply do not understand it. Anyway..... my dilema is this: (PS- my vet is out of town this week or I would bother him as I usually do) I have a 13 week old female kitten. On Dec. 22 she was "bumped" by a automobile (my family hates my cats and forces me to put them outside). The kitten went into shock, had a broken jaw, bashed up eye. Stayed at the vet for a few days, was sent home with Amoxil drops, told me to watch for pneumonia. I have kept the kitten inside hidden from my family since it is cold outside. Now the kitten seemed to be getting better, started eating, continued the medication, started acting normal again, etc. Now she has a runny nose, very, very congested, watery eyes, not eating, will let me give her the meds and take a syringe of water, and sneezing. Cries for me to hold her constantly AND now her sister is producing a watery eye discharge but otherwise seems fine. Is this pneumonia or maybe just a cold? Can a cat give another cat pneumonia? My heart is just broken from watching the poor baby suffer like this. I don't know what I should do. I would take her to another vet nearby but I have no money and my family told me they would NOT give me money for a "stupid cat" (and I am not asking for any hand outs either, I can come up with the money myself by next week). I have cried my eyes out over this and don't know where to turn or what to do. If I had something I could do to make her more comfortable I would love to know what to do. Do colds in cats get them so congested. She can breathe through her mouth and I am keeping her nose cleared as much as I can. Just not sure what to do at this point. I don't know much about pneumonia or if this is even that at all. Temperature seems to be okay from touching her ears. Any other ways to check things out.

Thank you so much for your help in advance.

[Traci]

First, thanks for caring so much....

Now, the most important thing to do is get her seen by a vet immediately. Since she was hit by a car, you have no way of knowing what internal injuries were caused, this is why your vet advised you to watch for pneumonia. In accidents such as this, the lungs and chest cavity are very very fragile, and if an x-ray was never taken after the accident, you truly need to be concerned with pneumonia and hemorrhage.

As for the runny eyes, sneezing, etc, this COULD be a secondary upper respiratory infection, common in young kittens (and yes, can be passed between siblings, but pneumoia can't be passed, unless the siblings are suffering from the same viral and are not given proper veterinary care and meds)

Since we can't know for certain if this is an upper respiratory infection or if it is indeed the development of pneumonia, the proper thing to do is get kitty to the nearest vet immediately for treatment. The antibiotics your vet gave should help if this is a respiratory infection, but since it seems to be sudden, severe and persistent, you CANNOT risk this being pneumonia, in which critical veterinary care is needed NOW.

Assuming your vet never repaired the fractured jaw, your kitten could also be having some serious pain issues when eating, which may be contributing to her anorexia. Your vet can prescribe a low-dose pain med suspension to be given orally every 6-8 hours, he will instruct you on this accordingly. IF this is an upper respiratory infection, she can't smell her food, so try warming it up a bit, offer baby food (no onion or onion salt, onion is toxic to cats), or ask your vet for a couple cans of Hill's prescription A/D. She needs vital nutrition and hydration right now before more problems escalate.

Please, try hard to find a way to get your kitten back to your vet immediately.....ask a friend to help with money, car to get you there if necessary etc. Your kitten really needs veterinary attention and you need to make sure this isn't pneumonia, because pneumonia can fast lead to complications and even death.

[jason]

cant offer any advice other than to second all of Traci's reply...thanks again for caring for this kitty...assuming his name is jack, i sure hope jack gets though this really soon.

vets can accept down payments to be paid in full later if need be.

[jacksmom]

Thank you all so much for the advice. All internal injuries/head injuries were ruled out at the initial visit to the vet. The jaw was reset and that was taken care of. I imagine the lack of eating is due to not smelling. I have been giving syringes of chicken broth and tuna water. She was eating pretty good last week when she seemed to be getting back to normal. I really hope this is just a little cold. I have been real consistent in giving the antibiotics, so hopefully an infection hasn't set in. I will just try and get her and her sister into a vet somehow, since my vet is out of town.

And Jack is my male cat. He is about a year old. He is doing great, rolling around at my feet and being sweet. The little girls are Prissy and Precious. They look like twins, part maine coon, beautiful fluffy, gray kittens.....just adorable. They are kittens from an abandoned pregnant cat that I took in. Getting her spayed next month when I can afford it. I have had to move back home with my twin daughters to my parents home (long story- involves a bad husband) and when we were out on our own we took in all the stray kitties in the neighborhood. Now that I have moved back home, the parents aren't at all receptive to my little angels. The family gets so upset with me for feeding stray animals. One day they will all learn, I guess!

Thanks for the help guys, and sorry I got so long winded earlier. I was really, really upset and feeling helpless. You all are so kind. Thank you.

[Traci]

Jacksmom, I'm actually relieved to hear the vet has already repared the jaw, this will reduce her recovery time considerably. (I assume there is a small wire or screw that needs removed? This is usally removed 10-14 days post-op, be sure you know whether or not a metal device attached needs to be removed)

As for the respiratory signs, I can't stress it enough.....even upper respiratory infections can mimic the signs of pneumonia, and given kitten's original condition, I wouldn't take chances. Congestion is one of the first signs of pneumonia, coupled with difficulty in breathing (in cats, this appears as open-mouthed breathing). While it's entirely possible that your kitten developed a common upper respiratory infection and your other one is developing one as well, it could also be a coinicidence. The priority is ensuring it is not pneumonia as a result of a punctured lung, etc.

You can still pick up the Rx A/D at any vet.....or you can pick up a few jars of baby food at the store (chicken or lamb is what I would suggest). The concern is that you can't let her go more than a day (2 at most) without sufficient nutrition and water intake. If that occurs, then serious dehydration occurs, and this effects major liver and kidney function, they can fail quite rapidly in cats.

I know you're trying....and it is a pity your folks don't have a better understanding of how beautiful your cats are to you. You're amoung cat lovers here, so we do understand......again, keep working on getting kitten seen ASAP.....it's always best to play it safe and you'll also have peace of mind. As Jason said, many vets will take a down-payment, post-dated checks, etc. if you're willing to work out a payment arrangement. Did your primary vet leave an alternate vet for referral in his absense?

[jacksmom515]

I am glad to report that the kitten has made a complete recovery. The vet said upper respiratory infection. Continued the medications and a few other things and now everything is back to normal. Thank you all for your help.