Hi Traci,havent been here in a long time.I have a very sick 7 week old feral kitten with a viral infection.I took her to the vets yesterday and again this morning.She's on amoxi drops and Im forcing fluids,mostly chicken broth.
Her temp was 105.5 this morning and seems higher now.She is very weak and cannot walk.The vet ruled out calici because she doesn't have mouth ulcers,although her pallet is very inflamed.He also ruled out distemper.
How can I get her fever down? What is a good amount of fluid to support a kitten?
Kitten with high fever
Re: Kitten with high fever
Hi Ann....I know Traci will reply...but when i was hand raising my kittens (search for messages about Gremlin) the one as very sickly and almost died a few times, but bounced back every time...
At one point she was extremely dehydrated from having runny stools and then not drinking water...he said to get unflavoured pedalyte and using a 1cc syringe, try to get at least 2-3 of them into her every 2 hours, or at least 12cc in a 24 hour period. Plus about that much water if possible. Every hour I was in the bathroom giving her 3cc of water one time, and 2cc pedalyte the next.
Pedalyte has to be used or tossed within 48 hours of opening, so try to either get smaller bottles, or freeze it and thaw a cube at a time, be sure to warm the cube...or maybe in your case...put the cube in a dish and see if she will lick on it?!
I also put pedalyte drops on her canned A/D food I got from him...
Even after she was better, she would not drink from a dish, but would lick water from my toes after a bath...so I got a sponge, washed it good and microwaved it...then cut it into 1" squares and put one in the water dish...she would lick at the sponge, and eventually began to drink from thr dish again...
Prayers that your baby make it...I know how tough it is to raise these feral babies...I started with 6 in May, and ended up having 2 survivors go to a new home about 3 weeks ago, at the age of 3 months...persistence, love, and LOTS of prayers!!
At one point she was extremely dehydrated from having runny stools and then not drinking water...he said to get unflavoured pedalyte and using a 1cc syringe, try to get at least 2-3 of them into her every 2 hours, or at least 12cc in a 24 hour period. Plus about that much water if possible. Every hour I was in the bathroom giving her 3cc of water one time, and 2cc pedalyte the next.
Pedalyte has to be used or tossed within 48 hours of opening, so try to either get smaller bottles, or freeze it and thaw a cube at a time, be sure to warm the cube...or maybe in your case...put the cube in a dish and see if she will lick on it?!
I also put pedalyte drops on her canned A/D food I got from him...
Even after she was better, she would not drink from a dish, but would lick water from my toes after a bath...so I got a sponge, washed it good and microwaved it...then cut it into 1" squares and put one in the water dish...she would lick at the sponge, and eventually began to drink from thr dish again...
Prayers that your baby make it...I know how tough it is to raise these feral babies...I started with 6 in May, and ended up having 2 survivors go to a new home about 3 weeks ago, at the age of 3 months...persistence, love, and LOTS of prayers!!
Ann, as a precaution, I always suggest a urinalysis as well when trying to identify virals or bacterials in young kittens. From experiences with my Cody as a young kitten, he had relentless fevers until one of his vets and I decided to run a urinalysis and wouldn't you know, all the fevers contributed to a bacterial in the bladder (trauma-induced, caused by a little bit of rough-housing by one of his older siblings).
As for reducing the fever, if it is excessively high, you can try placing a dampened wet towel around kitten's body, so that the fur becomes cool and slightly damp. When doing this, it's important to monitor the temp every 15 min to a half hour so you don't risk hypothermia as opposed to hyperthermia. Young kitten's internal core temperatures can fluctuate fast. Another method of cooling is to apply a cottonball-soaked with rubbing alcohol to all four paw pads, this will instantly cool the skin.
Ask your vet for Hill's Rx A/D to help keep kitten's nutrition optimal until the viral has passed. Also give unflavored pedialyte if you can, your vet should have packets you can simply mix with water, or, you can get children's pedialyte at any grocery/drug store.
If the fever is unrelentless, persists past 24 hours despite the above attempts to cool the body, get kitten back to your vet immediately or an ER vet and ask about an injection of low-dose dipyrone, it's not commonly used much anymore, but may be one option to reduce the fever. Make sure the vet has differentiated this between a bacterial infection somewhere vs viral infection. Your vet may need to change the antibiotic to a stronger one.
I'm concerned about the inflammed palate.....for this reason, possibly further testing may be needed to find out the cause of the inflammation, such as a complete swab cytology to rule out other inflammatory conditions, herpes, etc.
Caution: Monitor the temp frequently, if it rises above 105, do not hesitate, call and get to an ER vet immediately for fluid support.
As for reducing the fever, if it is excessively high, you can try placing a dampened wet towel around kitten's body, so that the fur becomes cool and slightly damp. When doing this, it's important to monitor the temp every 15 min to a half hour so you don't risk hypothermia as opposed to hyperthermia. Young kitten's internal core temperatures can fluctuate fast. Another method of cooling is to apply a cottonball-soaked with rubbing alcohol to all four paw pads, this will instantly cool the skin.
Ask your vet for Hill's Rx A/D to help keep kitten's nutrition optimal until the viral has passed. Also give unflavored pedialyte if you can, your vet should have packets you can simply mix with water, or, you can get children's pedialyte at any grocery/drug store.
If the fever is unrelentless, persists past 24 hours despite the above attempts to cool the body, get kitten back to your vet immediately or an ER vet and ask about an injection of low-dose dipyrone, it's not commonly used much anymore, but may be one option to reduce the fever. Make sure the vet has differentiated this between a bacterial infection somewhere vs viral infection. Your vet may need to change the antibiotic to a stronger one.
I'm concerned about the inflammed palate.....for this reason, possibly further testing may be needed to find out the cause of the inflammation, such as a complete swab cytology to rule out other inflammatory conditions, herpes, etc.
Caution: Monitor the temp frequently, if it rises above 105, do not hesitate, call and get to an ER vet immediately for fluid support.
..........Traci
Thanks Traci.Do you think it would be ok to put her on a cloth on a cool tile floor? Shes isolated in the bathroom and it has a ceramic tile floor. I got the pedialyte and have already started her on it.Shes so weak now that she cant hold her head up.There are 5 kittens in this litter and so far,the other 4 are ok.The vet started them on amoxi as a precautionary measure.
Re: Kitten with high fever
Ann, it would be ok, but do make sure there is a warm blanket she can get to in the event the fever reduces and she seeks warmth.
It's so critical to monitor her temp right now. Do you have a digitial thermometer on hand? It can take some time for the antibiotics to kick in, and it may not be specific to amoxi only....for this reason, if that fever rises above 105, don't wait another minute, this could require emergency treatment (i.e., sub-q fluids, antiinflammatories, possibly an injection of Pen-G or Baytril, etc). Her weakness is concerning, and high fevers can certainly contribute, but you truly need to monitor her temp and get it regulated ASAP. Don't be afraid to harass your vet, or an ER vet, that's their job. Fevers are very serious, and can put a young kitten at sever risk very quickly.
It's so critical to monitor her temp right now. Do you have a digitial thermometer on hand? It can take some time for the antibiotics to kick in, and it may not be specific to amoxi only....for this reason, if that fever rises above 105, don't wait another minute, this could require emergency treatment (i.e., sub-q fluids, antiinflammatories, possibly an injection of Pen-G or Baytril, etc). Her weakness is concerning, and high fevers can certainly contribute, but you truly need to monitor her temp and get it regulated ASAP. Don't be afraid to harass your vet, or an ER vet, that's their job. Fevers are very serious, and can put a young kitten at sever risk very quickly.
..........Traci
Re: Kitten with high fever
I was just able to get 5 cc of pedialyte in her.I believe the fever has finally broken.She can sit up a little now too.After the fluids,I stimulated her to urinate and she really seemed to enjoy it.I hope and pray that she will keep improving.Thank you for all of your help.BTW,I still have most of my cats and they're all over 5 yo and doing well.Im also still trapping ferals kittens/cats year around.You may not remember but all of my cats were feral or stray.
Re: Kitten with high fever
Ann, I remember 
Please keep a constant watch on your baby....that fever could fluctuate at any time, it sounds like a nasty one. Keep pushing the pedialyte/water, try getting her to eat (would be ideal if you could get a can of A/D from your vet)...and monitor her temp as often as you can.
Please keep a constant watch on your baby....that fever could fluctuate at any time, it sounds like a nasty one. Keep pushing the pedialyte/water, try getting her to eat (would be ideal if you could get a can of A/D from your vet)...and monitor her temp as often as you can.
..........Traci