Thanks Kelly. I kind of knew that going in (that there's no real way to isolate and URIs are super contagious)- and I have a shot-gun house. I just kind of had to go on the fact that Izzee is healthy as a horse now. She was tiny, skinny and flea-ridden when I first got her (a month ago). Now she's put on a weight and tons of muscle (she gets Wellness Core- she's a bodybuilder now!) and Wellness wet at night- with Colostrum and L-Lysine and Brewers Yeast. I give her all this even though she is healty because I want to make her Super-Cat and apparently, it's working. I just hoped her immune system would be super-duper since she's done nothing for a month but bulk up. Plus, she was already exposed to probably every URI-causing virus when the poor thing spent 72 hours in Metro. I mean, at that time, she'd been a 10 mth old, declawed cat living in a single cat household and then she ends up Metro? I'm surprised that didn't actually kill or make her super sick (I could just kill her "old family" for surrendering her to Metro!).
I guess what we have to do is give them all 7 days on Amoxy and then go from there. The agency I am working with does have vets who work for them at a discount and they have tons of funds- I know that- they just had their biggest fundraiser of the year and raked it in. But at this point, I can't just take them in myself whenever I want. I fear I would have to get it approved from the very lady (the head volunteer- who also sits on the board) who had these kittens running around her house untreated and sick and with ears that looked like the pit of hell (aw, irony). And I hear she is "frugal" and already thinks a bunch of her foster parents "overreact" and want to rush cats off to the vet "too much." Ha- she hasn't seen anything yet! I may overreact on occasion, but my mom is ten times worse- she thinks any cat that sneezes is "dying"! I love locking-horns with people who suck tho, so I am up for the challenge! But you see the dilemma I face here. It's a very tight rope I am walking on.
But I have a strong personality and I will NEVER hesitate to take a sick cat to a vet, even if I have to pay full-price myself, and then work the system later to get reimbursement.
Thanks.
Caroline
From: "Kelley Saveika" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: OT: update on sick kittens, questions about URIs, etc
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 12:57:10 -0500
>They could certainly need another antibiotic. Sometimes amoxy just
>doesn't wipe it out. Clavamox is just amoxy with one other added
>ingredient. Our low cost spay/neuter clinic vet often prescribes
>cepahlexin if amoxy does not work. Zithromax is the antibiotic of
>last resort, but it will kill most stuff.
>
>I can't really tell you when it is time to see the vet. Since mine
>sees my guys for free, I probably take them in sooner than other
>people might.
>
>I have no idea how to tell which virus is causing the symptoms. I'm
>sure my vet could tell, but it would probably require testing of some
>expensive kind.
>
>I know this won't make you feel much better, but since URI is
>airborne, there's no way to REALLY isolate cats with URI inside an
>average home. My vet can isolate them because he has an isolation
>room with seperate airflow, but if you have a heating or a/c system or
>the room in which you are holding them isn't airtight, the virus is
>everywhere no matter what you do. I've had litters in seperate
>bathrooms on different floors and they both got uri because it was
>passing back and forth through the a/c system.
>
>Vaccinations protect against some of the worst virii -
>rhinotracheitis, calici, panleukopenia - there are hundreds of other
>things that cause URI.
>Most of them not serious.
>
>On 9/7/07, Caroline Kaufmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > Well, I still have 4 kittens in crates at my (tiny) house, and then my one
> > year old Foster cat Izzee. One of the kittens, a grey and white male, was
> > supposed to leave last night to go "on display" at the store, but d*mned if
> > he didn't come down the sneezing, running nose, water eyes! Urgh. I wish I
> > could have isolated him when he first came to my, but by then, he'd already
> > been mingled with the other kittens already suffering URIs and already
> > completely exposed. Plus he'd been at this volunteer's house running loose
> > with all the other kittens and adult cats with chronic URIs so there was
> > probably nothing I could do....still, I feel bad. So now I have 4 kittens
> > all on Amoxy and getting a triple antibiotic in their eyes (which I am
> > almost out of so I ordered some tubes of artificial tear rinse and
> > Terramycin online).
> >
> > My little Yoda (the first on I got last Sat.) is so much better, but
> > yesterday he seemed to have a set back. He's really snotty. And it gets
> > worse when I let him out to play with Izzee because he gets out of breath,
> > so I limit his time.
> >
> > Everyone is eating like complete pigs; drinking water and are all pooing and
> > peeing a TON- I can barely keep up! I like to take the poo out immediately
> > because the little rascals lay in it if I don't...but it's hard to keep up!
> >
> > Ears: currently I am using a mixture of organic vegetable oil and organic
> > distilled white vinegar (per Tad's general suggestion). I didn't have
> > measurements so I mixed it into an empty pill bottle and I did 2/3 vegetable
> > oil and less than a 1/3 vinegar (rough estimate). It seems to work good at
> > loosening the wax and getting it to come up to the outer ear, where I can
> > work on getting it out later. Only thing is their poor little fur around
> > their head/ears gets greasy! I do wipe them with wet wipes afterwards- I am
> > also still working on getting rid of the "smell" they had on them from that
> > volunteer's house. I did find the ear solution my vet had me use on
> > Monkee's excessively waxy (way down in the canal) ears-- Malacetic Otic-
> > online, so I ordered a bottle. But I will stick to the oil/vinegar
> > concoction for now while their ears are so bad.
> >
> > I found out more about them: apparently they are all "orphans" from our
> > Metro Animal Control that were going to be euthanized, but Metro called the
> > volunteer for this group and she went and got them; took them to her house
> > and mingled them with her already out of control, arguably sickly adult
> > population. So, they just have so many strikes against them: losing their
> > mothers too young (when they should still be nursing and getting those
> > antibodies); and they also went to Metro-- which is bad for any cat, much
> > less a kitten. That, in and of itself, could have killed them just because
> > of the disease exposure.
> >
> > Now for the questions: how long can they suffer from these URIs? Is there
> > at point at which, even tho they are eating, etc., but they are still
> > sneezing and snotty, that they need to see a vet? Is it possible some need
> > a different antibiotic? How will I know when it's time to see the Vet? As
> > of tomorrow night, Yoda will have been on Amoxy for 7 days...
> >
> > How can you tell which virus is causing the URI symptoms? I read that
> > feline herpes can cause it and I am thinking they may have this? What can I
> > do to help them? I have been trying to load them up with Colostrum, but
> > wasn't sure how much kittens this size (2.4 lbs and up) can get? I have
> > also been giving L-Lysine since I fear feline herpes, but didn't know a
> > dosage for that either?
> >
> > And finally, my foster cat Izzee has had her vaccinations (she was an owner
> > surrender to Metro so I have her records); also she spent time in Metro,
> > mixed with the general pop (even tho she wasn't supposed to be); she was
> > treated with the nasal spray to protect her before she went in. But I am
> > still kind of worried about her with these sickly kittens...? Especially
> > since I am suspecting feline herpes? Should I be concerned? The only one
> > she has mingled with is Yoda because I got him 1st and thought (ha!) he'd be
> > the only one; now they are used to each other and like to play together-
> > it's really improved Izzee's behavior; the other ones stay in their crates
> > unless I bring them out to treat, cuddle, or I put them on the front porch
> > (without Izzee) for play time. I don't mix them with Izzee. She doesn't
> > seem interested in any of them other than Yoda and in fact, she has hissed
> > at the larger, extremely wild B/W male.
> >
> > I'm just new to this and need some advice!
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Caroline
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > Kick back and relax with hot games and cool activities at the Messenger
> > Café.
>
>
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