Limping Kittens

[cheeriofreak6259]

I am fostering two 4 month old kittens and all of a sudden last night one stopped walking, and won't put weight on his front left paw. We put him in a confined space and gave him everything he could need until we could take him to the vet later today. This morning I go to check on them and the other one is limping on his front right paw. The second one is eating and drinking normally. But we noticed that the first one didn't eat anything last night but I do think he is drinking because he has urinated. Does anyone recognize these as signs of anything? At first we thought maybe the one had hurt his paw from jumping off of something, but now that they are both limping I don't think that is it. The vet appointment is in 3 hours, I just feel so bad for them in the meantime.

[Traci]

Do you KNOW if they fell off something? Do you have anything in the home you know they are jumping on?

Did they get into anything? Toxic plants? Human meds? Chemicals?

Unfortunately, this could be due to nearly anything, only a vet can examine and determine.....don't know what time it is in your area, but you should probably call and get them in ASAP, since you also need to rule out potential viral or bacterial infections. Have they been getting their vaccination boosters in a timely manner? Are they allowed outdoors? (Indoors ONLY please)

[cheeriofreak6259]

They are Indoors Only. They have there own room in my basement which has central heat/air. There isn't anything that they could have gotten in to chemical wise and there aren't any plants in there. It is however climbing and jumping heaven. I don't know if that is what happened and I thought it was unlikely for them to both do the same thing and they have been sleeping soo much I was thinking it was more along the lines of some sort of infection. Two and a half hours from now is the soonest they could squeeze them in and since I am a foster parent we can only go to certain animal hospitals because they are willing to give us huge discounts.

[Traci]

Are they current on their boosters?

[cheeriofreak6259]

yes they have everything and its all on there paperwork, otherwise they wouldn't be able to be in our foster program

[Traci]

Well, it's not good that both are exhibiting the same problem. Are they eating/drinking normally? No lethargy??

[cheeriofreak6259]

one is eating and drinking and limping around, the other one who had symptoms first hasn't eaten and I haven't seen him drink, but he is urinating. both of them used to be very playful but now they just lay in their beds all day. so yes they are lethargic. could it be distemper? they aren't vomiting and they don't have loose stools

[Traci]

It could be anything, young kittens are so susceptible to anything. Get them tested for FELV/FIV and a CBC done...also discuss the diet you're feeding, make sure it is of quality, formulated properly, NOT generic, adult or raw etc. They may also need to be dewormed, a fecal would help the vet determine if there is a parasitic burden. However, if they are ill, deworming may need to be withheld until they are healed from any infection, etc.

[cheeriofreak6259]

They have been tested for both of those in the past does it need to be done again? They were dewormed two weeks ago and they don't really have "wormy" bellies. I would take a fecal in if they had a bowel movement. The one that is worse isn't eating, just drinking. The better one has eaten over half of the feed bowl all by himself! We are just waiting for it to come back out About there diet, they are given Nutro NaturalChoice Indoor Kitten Formula.

[Traci]

It depends at what age they were when tested. At 12 weeks of age is preferrable, and if the test is somehow off or inconclusive, then retesting 4-6 weeks later. Testing before 12 weeks of age, does not provide accurate results due to maternal antibodies.

If you're fostering, then you're aware of environmental risks. If you frequently have fosters in the home, then any one of them or more could harbor viruses, even though not clinically infected. FELV and FIV viruses generally don't live long outside of the host, but the risks are when cats share food/water dishes, litterboxes, are kept in close quarters with one another, have prior exposure, or the premises are not disinfected properly. Distemper on the other hand, lives for months to years on the premises and is transmitted extremely easily and quickly, so please make sure that between fosters, ALL porous surfaces are disinfected with a solution of bleach and water (1 part bleach to 32 parts water), that cat carriers/cages are disinfected, rinsed and allowed to air dry, that toys are tossed away and new ones purchased, litterboxes are kept clean/disinfected/rinsed on a daily basis (old litterboxes should be discarded and replaced with new ones).

The sleeping more than usual and combined with anorexia are concerning, dehydration may be present and in young kittens, this can be detrimental to organ function etc. They may also have fever activity you're not aware of, only rectal temps will determine this. Again, get a CBC done, have vet check for bites, even insect bites, and retest for FELV/FIV if anything on the CBC is unusual.