Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Purrs

1. 

   I just recently adopted a kitten, Sasha, from a shelter in my town. I filled out adoption papers and was able to pick her up the next day. Well, when I went in to pick her up, they said she was sneezing some, but they gave he a pill and said she could come home with me. Things went downhill from there. She was sneezing and you could hear the congestion in her lungs not two days later. She was sleeping 23 hours of the day and you could just tell my little one wasn't feeling good. I took her to the vet and he gave her some antibiotics for an URI, Clavamox and Temaril. Let me tell you, she did NOT want to take those meds!

   After about four days on the meds, she still wasn't showing any improvement, so we took another trip to the vet. Turns out, she was dehydrated, but could see nothing else wrong. He have me some drops for her eyes and nose and gave Sasha some fluids to hydrate her again. After that, things started looking up! She got her appetite back and was having regular BMs. When the meds ended, she was still a little sneezy (with green mucus), so the vet gave me another dose of the Clavamox and Temaril.

   To sum this up, she has her personality back, eats regularly, has regular BMs, is no longer congested, but she is still sneezing! I don't know what to think of this. Could it be kitty allergies? I live in an apartment with two other dogs, but they do not come into my room nor does she leave my room. How do I know if her sneezes are a cold or if they are allergies? Any advice would be great =)

   Do you have any background with either of these antibiotics?

   Posted 2 years ago by Lindsay #

2. 

   Hi, Lindsay. Welcome to the Daily Kitten! I love your avatar--Sasha I presume? :)

   I have not had to use antibiotics with my three kits. It sounds like Sasha is doing great except for the sneezing. If she no longer has a runny nose and everything else is good, I imagine you could just do some "watchful waiting" to make sure she is on the mend. Your vet would probably answer your questions over the phone since you've already been in recently.

   Looking forward to hearing more about Sasha and gettin to know you. You might want to create a webpage on Catster.com and post some photos of Sasha there. It is free and easy to do. Click on my avatar to see pics of my three kits, Digit, Furl and Boots. :)

   Posted 2 years ago by Kitten Whisperer #

3. 

   Your story sounds so familiar. We adopted a kitty from the SPCA 8 years ago and a few days later she started sneezing and wheezing. Off to the vet and antibiotica,eye ointment etc were prescribed and she was diagnosed with cat flu. We had a very long and nervous 2 weeks, we carried her around in our arms for almost the entire time. She recovered but has one eye that weeps whenever she becomes stressed for any reason and she still sneezed lots but that has eased over the years.
   I can't help you about the sneezing possibly allergies but there is the possibility the sneezes are just hanging on from Sasha's URI.
   Someone on here has mentioned L-lysine in conjunction with URI but I can't remember who or what they said. I hope they read this and tell us again.
   Oh, Welcome to TDK Lindsay.

   Posted 2 years ago by Moonshadow_NZ #

4. 

   You might want to click on the pink tag "URI" at the top of this page. There are lots of discussions about URIs and treatment of them on other threads.

   Posted 2 years ago by Kitten Whisperer #

5. 

   Yes, that is my Sasha.

   She is still currently on her second dose of meds, but I am SUCH a worrywart. I grew up with cats my whole life, but I have recently moved out and gone to college and this is the first time I have raised a cat by myself! My mom constantly gets calls from me with questions about Sasha's behavior x).
   I will definitely check out that Catster website, Kitten Whisperer.
   I'm glad your kitty recovered well, Moonshadow, and glad her sneezing is better.

   Thank you for the welcome! :)

   Posted 2 years ago by Lindsay #

6. 

   Lindsay, it might help you to understand more about uri's. it caused by a strain of herpes, and it stays in the kitties system forever. After the initial illness, which is always the worst, it's normal for them to have a few flare-ups throughout the year. L-lysine helps their bodies to fight the symptoms of the virus, but unfortunately its never going to go away. It also helps to try and lower the viral load in the kitty's environment - that means everything that kitty comes into contact with has to be cleaned regularly. I keep a spray bottle with a strong bleach solution, and I spray down all the food bowls and litter boxes with it, and then rinse them off again every time I clean their stuff. I wash their bedding every week. You can get lysine at any pharmacy in capsule form, and just sprinkle it in her food. Good luck!

   Posted 2 years ago by Skyron #

7. 

   That's interesting Skyron, didn't know that.

   Welcome to TDK Lindsay! I haven't anything useful to add, just wanted to say hi and I absolutely LOVE the picture of Sasha!! ou should consider submitting it to Kittenmaster, I'd say she more than qualifies on cuteness alone to be a front page star!

   Posted 2 years ago by MadcatwomanintheUK #

8. 

   Skyron, is that animal or human grade lysine and what dosage is recommended? I would love to know. I have only found lysine in health food stores here in NZ.

   Posted 2 years ago by Moonshadow_NZ #

9. 

   Human grade, I think. I always give my cats 1/2 a capsule, twice a day. My vet said anything that the cats body doesnt use just gets excreted out with all the other bodily waste, so there is no harm in giving it to them.

   Posted 2 years ago by Skyron #

10. 

    Thanks Skyron, I'm taking Shadz to the vet today for her annual vaccinations and I'll ask him about lysine. You never know, maybe I'll educate him.

    Posted 2 years ago by Moonshadow_NZ #

11. 

    MS, I crush a 500mg tablet of Lysine (human grade) and put it into the wet food from my crew. All the lysine does is help build up the immune system, and like Skyron said their body gets rid of what they don't use.

    Posted 2 years ago by AZDEBRA 5/27 & crew #

12. 

    Woohoo, I'll give it a try then. Thanks for the info.

    Posted 2 years ago by Moonshadow_NZ #

13. 

    Back from the vets and had a chat about L-lysine, he's lukewarm on it and says there's not any one thing that will help boost an immune system, just keep her on a good diet. I still think I might give it a try and see how she does.

    Posted 2 years ago by Moonshadow_NZ #

14. 

    Thanks for the information about URIs. I knew they were a strain of Herpes, but I wasn't aware that it stayed with the kittens forever. And thank you for the L-lysine info =).
    I was trying to look for useful ways to give her the meds, so I tried to mix it up in some wet catfood. Unfortunately, it upset her little tummy (at least, i'm hoping it was the wet food) and she now has diarrhea. If this is the case, how long should this last? Everything with her is normal (as normal as it can) except her bowel movements. She has gone about five times.

    Posted 2 years ago by Lindsay #

15. 

    Hello Linday, Im sorry I dont know much about this type of illness and have no advice on the subject,but I wanted to say hi and say that is one of the cutest baby kittens I've ever seen. I hope she is well soon and you have many happy years with your precious furbaby Sasha. Blessings:)

    Posted 2 years ago by rossy #

16. 

    Welcome to TDK Linday! What an adorable kitten Sasha is!!! I love her markings! How is she feeling today?

    Posted 2 years ago by 2bpurring #

17. 

    Welcome to TDK, Lindsay! Your Sasha is SO adorable, such unusual and pretty markings! I have no words of wisdom, but look forward to more posts and pics! Wishing you the best with your furrball! :) My avatar is Gizmo and I am in WI.

    Posted 2 years ago by katthays #

18. 

    Thank you for the kind welcomes!

    It was a little weird, Sasha slept through the whole night with me when she normally plays around and wakes me up several times by walking on my face. She seems a little.. tired. I was hoping she didn't have any more diarrhea, but not five minutes ago she used the potty and there it was. I didn't know kittens could have so much poop in them!

    If this was, in fact, the food that upset her stomach, how long would the diarrhea have lasted? It lasted all yesterday and , looks like, now today.

    Posted 2 years ago by Lindsay #

19. 

    I'm not sure about how long it might last. I do know it's very important to make sure she does not dehydrate. Make sure she drinks enough water even if you have to give it to her with an eyedropper. You could also try and give her Pedilyte. You can find it at most any grocery store in the baby food isle.

    Posted 2 years ago by 2bpurring #

20. 

    Thank you, 2B, and yes she is eating and drinking water regularly. I just checked and she is not dehydrated. She is running around the room playing now, hopefully making up for the energy not burned last night! I'm just concerned, because if it's not from the food, there would be another problem and that means back to the vet.

    Does anyone know if the antibiotics are known to give diarrhea? Temaril and Clavamox. It didn't give her problems last time.. so I don't know if that would be the problem.

    Posted 2 years ago by Lindsay #

21. 

    Anyone have any advice?

    Posted 2 years ago by Lindsay #

22. 

    bumping. Sorry I don't know this one Lindsay, but we do have many knowlegable members, just keep this thread bumped up till they get here.

    Posted 2 years ago by 2bpurring #

23. 

    I have no advice for you... sorry... but wanted to welcome you and chime in on the beauty and striking markings of Sasha! Her picture definitely made me Awwwww out loud ! LOL Yep - I'd say submit that to Kittenmaster for sure !

    Posted 2 years ago by 2 Popoki #

24. 

    I have never given lysine to a young kitten. I know royal canin's kitten range, and some brands of kmr are supplemented with it, so I dont think its supposed to cause a problem. Stop giving it to her, see if she gets better. If she does get better, wait a few days and try it again. If she gets diarrhea again, you'll know its the lysine that causes the problem. Also, if she doent get better, take her back to the vet. Sometimes URI's can spread to the intestines, which is not good news :(

    Posted 2 years ago by Skyron #

25. 

    Welcome to TDK Lindsay and Sasha...truly a cutie patootie with special markings....TLC for a complete recovery for your little kit!

    Posted 2 years ago by jeankit #

26. 

    Hi Lindsay and welcome!! I just wanted to say that Sasha is so pretty! And yes antibiotics can upset kitties stomachs sometimes giving them diarrhea. Some here give their kitties plain yogurt to supplement for the good bugs that the antibiotics kill when they work. It's also found in probiotics.

    Posted 2 years ago by Buttercup #

27. 

    Sasha is so beautiful! Welcome to TDK. I think the yoghurt is a great idea!

    Posted 2 years ago by jcat #

28. 

    Thank you everyone for their comments and welcomes!

    Skyron, I have not tried the L-lysine yet because I have no idea where to get it, so that is not the problem.

    Buttercup, thank you for the yogurt idea, I think I will stop by the store on the way home to get some. =)

    Needless to say, if the problem persists for another 24 hours, a call to the vet is inevitable. =(

    Posted 2 years ago by Lindsay #

29. 

    How is Sasha this morning?

    Posted 2 years ago by 2bpurring #

30. 

    *also wonders how Sasha is doing*

    Posted 2 years ago by Skyron #

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