Tuesday, March 28, 2017

The Trouble with Tabbies. And Wylla. And Bean

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You guys, it's been crazy around here. It all started with two trips to the emergency vet and one to the HS vet with Beau and his mysterious Limping Kitten Syndrome. That was resolved, thankfully, but next, came rivers of diarrhea flowing from all of the Huddlestons.  I'll spare you the details, but it was pretty dang gross.

I took the kittens to the Humane Society Vet on Tuesday, along with a couple of poo samples, and they came home with a de-wormer, Metronidonzal, probiotics, and a bag of sub-q fluids to start them down the road to recovery.

That same afternoon, Craig was cleaning out Wylla and Charlene's litter box when he noticed a little blood on the surface of the litter. We didn't know who was responsible for leaving it but suspected it was Wylla because of her recent UTI. We called the vet and set an appointment for the next morning, then monitored the box just to be sure it was her. It was.

Wednesday we brought Wylla in for her appointment, and a urinalysis revealed another UTI.  We got some antibiotics, booked her for a recheck, and I decided to also make an appointment for Charlene. Bean had been drinking a lot more water than usual and was using the box more frequently,  so I wanted to bring her in for a good once-over.

The next day Charlene just wasn't acting herself. She seemed very sensitive and uncomfortable, so I called the vet to see if they could squeeze her in for an appointment.  When we took her in on Friday for the exam, they did a urinalysis, blood work, and an x-ray. The x-ray revealed that one of her kidneys was slightly enlarged and when the results from the urinalysis and blood work came back on Monday, our vet concluded that the likely cause of her discomfort was a kidney infection.  She's on antibiotics for a month, then we will go back for a recheck.

The drugs seem to be working for both Wylla and Charlene, and I think they are feeling much better.

Now, back to the Huddlestons: After a few days on the meds, I didn't really see much improvement with the kittens. They were acting normal, eating fine, playing as they should, but things weren't thickening up in the litter box.

On Friday night, Beau's energy level was noticeably lower than the rest of the kittens and his diarrhea was even worse than before.  I upped his sub-q fluids to twice a day to try to keep him hydrated, and I also started syringe feeding him to give him a few extra calories. Things didn't improve Saturday, and he was starting to feel a little too scrawny, so Sunday morning I headed out to the emergency vet with the tiny guy. They gave us a different antibiotic to try and said to continue with fluids and syringe feeding to sustain him while we wait for the medicine to kick in.

Yesterday, everyone went back to the HS vet, and we came home with more new drugs to try, special food, and a different probiotic. Our fridge looks like a pharmacy!

We're not through all of this yet, but Beau did seem perkier this morning. Things were looking a little better in the box for all,  so hopefully, the new meds are doing the trick.

We'll get through all of this, I'm confident. Sometimes, it just takes a while with diarrhea and little kittens -- you just have to keep trying different drugs until you find the one that works.  And until then, you just make sure they're getting the calories they need and that they are staying hydrated  -- and that's exactly what we're doing.

Today day marks two weeks since these cuties moved in, which is normally when quarantine is up, but until they get over their bug, we will keep them separated from the big cats.

Hopefully, before this week is out, we will be able to spring them! Fingers are crossed.





31 comments:

  1. Get well babies, big and small.

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  2. Oh, kitties. I had a bout of diarrhea at my 9-cat household recently. Not fun figuring out the culprits and the causes

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  3. Fingers crossed, especially for Charlene. Kidney issues are serious for cats, especially older ones. I'm glad you caught it so soon. I would also check her for dehydration. I imagine it would be hard to tell under her floof.

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  4. Goodness Gracious! Healing purrs for all.

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  5. Hope everyone gets well soon. Purrs and scritches to all (and kisses on those adorable little foreheads). :)

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  6. So sorry to hear everyone is unwell. I'm sure you have the best vet ever so they should be back to normal soon. FYI, I'm now a believer in the good a probiotic can do. Our older cat was diagnosed with kidney problems a couple of months ago. Our vet suggested he take a probiotic daily (we use Renadyl because it can be hid in food). Since he started, he no longer throws up daily like he had been. It's pretty astonishing how well it's working!

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  7. Fingers crossed indeed for kitties big and little!

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  8. Oh my... Hoping everyone will be feeling better soon! <3

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  9. Sometimes, the issues come at flood volume. You and Craig can weather this storm, dispensing drugs and fluids and extra calories. Wylla and Bean and Huddlestons will come through healthy and well.

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  10. Goodness! Kitten fostering is not all kitty piles and purrs. Lucky for kitties big and small that you're so observant and attentive. I hope your vet gives you a frequent customer discount and everyone is feeling better soon!

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  11. Our rescue cat came with the runs. Canned, unsweetened pumpkin worked wonders.

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  12. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

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  13. Oh, so sorry you are having to run two sick wards! I hope cats large and tiny respond to their treatments and get to mingling soon.

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  14. Sorry to hear all the felines are under the weather. Perhaps John could back and help with the meds? Can't imagine what your daily calendar looks like with who gets what meds when and eats what when and poops what when.
    The Maine Coons send loud purrs.

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  15. Sending love to the kitties and to the humans who have to worry about and medicate and clean up after the kitties.

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  16. Aw, here's hoping everybody feels better soon!

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  17. Poor kitkats. I hope everyone recovers soon. When a former cat of mine had repeated UTIs it was discovered that she had crystals in her urine and she had to go on a special diet for a while to rebalance her PH.Her holistic vet also recommended Mt. Capra Mineral Whey which helped her heal.

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  18. Sending lots of love to all of you.

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  19. Wow, you really are getting slammed! I hope everyone feels better very, very soon.

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  20. Oh no!! Talk about going through the wringer... :(

    Thanks for sharing the bad as well as the good, and I hope things get better for both the babies and dear Bean and Wylla!!

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  21. Yikes. Glad to hear everyone is on the mend.

    (by the way, "the Trouble with Tabbies" sounds like the cutest kids book ever.

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  22. Sending love to the kitties and you and wishes for this difficult time to be over quickly.

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  23. Egad, we sure wish everyone the best and hope for speedy feel-betters!

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  24. They are lucky to have such diligent and experienced caretakers. Best wishes for all your kitties, big and small.

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  25. Wishing everyone a speedy recovery. Whenever sickness strikes my house, I try to open all the windows to air out the germs and bleach the bathroom (litter boxes?).

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  26. Get well soon wishes to all, big and small!

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  27. you poor things, how stressful. Thinking of you all.

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  28. Thinking of you. Love, Darin

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  29. Feel better soon, kittens. Take your medicine and go easy on your staff.

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  30. Poor kitties, and poor overworked, worried humans putting in all the overtime at the doctor's office, litter box, and Medicine droppers! Sending lots of good thoughts your way.

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  31. sending lots of love and positive thoughts your way.

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