New Here - with a very sick kitty

[kitteh]

Hi, I'm new here... and I promise to post more about me in the welcome section soon but I've been searching the internet for some answers and was hoping to maybe find someone who's gone through something similar and can maybe give me some hope.

My baby, Ozzy (1 years old on July 1) I got when he was only 5 weeks old as the people were (stupidly) giving the litter away asap. I bottle fed him for a month and he's been generally healthy ever since. About 2 weeks ago he started sneezing and having snot bubbles coming out of his nose. I took him to the vet who has him on Clavamox and he's on day 3 of the medication. His eyes are starting to run really bad now. The vet said to wait 10 days and come back if he's not better.

I'm just curious if someone went through something like this who can give me hope that my kitty is going to pull through. I love him so much as he was the first cat I fell in love with after my beloved Pinecone passed away. I'm so desperately afraid of losing my Ozzy.

Thanks

[Maggieandme]

Welcome Kitteh
If you are have any concerns about poor Ozzys recovery I would not hesitate to call your Vet and have him put your mind at ease.
I understand how you feel. Laurie

[cell]

I would follow the vets advice and continue the course of meds. As long as your kitty is still eating and drinking he should be fine, and soon the meds should kick in a help with the infection.
If he is hesitant to eat you can get some nice wet cat food and even heat it up a little to really encourage eating.
Wet food also contains a lot of water so will help with hydration.

I have seen cats with respiratory/eye infections to the point their eyes were swollen shut and bubbles coming out their nose, recover fine after their clavamox course, and these were young kittens in a stressful shelter environment.

In a home with individual attentions your kitty should recover fine.
If his behaviour becomes off or he goes off food/water completely then you should call your vet since he could need fluids, but for now give the medication time to work since going back and forth from the vet causes more stress then he needs.

Also in the mean time you can wipe his eyes/nose softly with a warm moist cloth to remove gunk.

[kitteh]

Thank you for your replies!

He hasn't eaten anything since this morning, even wet food. I'm going to pick up some more wet food and a syringe and feed him that way if he hasn't eaten by morning.

Thank you Cell for your encouragement that you've seen worse who have gotten better... it gives me hope.

I was so upset today because i've never seen him so miserable. I lost my best friend Pinecone 4 years ago and it took me until I found Ozzy to mourn his loss, I would be devastated if Ozzy didn't make it either.

And I will follow your advice if he hasn't eaten anything to follow up with the vet. He WANTS to eat and goes to the bowl when I pour food but he can't bring himself to eat anything. Even water.

Here are some pictures of my baby boy and his brother from the same litter is in a couple as well. Ozzy and Oliver!

Ozzy and Oliver: Ozzy is the one lying down


My Ozzy (that's Maynard our Orange Tabby in the background)


Handsome cat:


This is how he sleeps!


More Sleeping Pics


Playing with a catnip toy:


Having a bath:

[PumpkinPal]

Welcome Kitteh!

Love the pics.

When I first brought Pumpkin home ( he was about 10 weeks old at the
time ) he had the same issues. He sneezed a lot, bubbles, etc. I don't
remember him eating too much. I stayed the course with the meds and
he did get better. He is 2 now, happy, healthy and full of life!




His sense of smell has most likely been affected, and maybe he is a
a bit nauseated. If he still doesn't eat this morning, I would give a call
to the vet and see what they say.

Don't give up. Sending positive vibes for him to feel better soon.

[Love4himies]

Beautiful kitty

If Ozzy hasn't eaten for over 24 hours, I would bring him back to the vet to check for dehydration. A cat who doesn't eat for over 24 hours is in danger of getting fatty liver disease. Your vet may prescribe an appetite enhancer.

What are you feeding him? Cats use their sense of smell to determine what to eat, if Ozzy's is stuffed up, then he may not be able to smell his food. Do you have some really stinky canned food? Sardines or tuna to mix with his food? Fancy feast, pate style is a favourite of cats.

You can also try force feeding him with a plastic syringe. Mix some pate canned food with water and use a large syringe and syringe very slowly, stopping for breaks so he can breath. If he struggles I would stop, but if he accepts it, then fine.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[kitteh]

Fancy Feast Pate... check - i'm sending my husband to wal-mart to pick up some wet cat food. He keeps going to the cat food dish, but just sniffing it and walking away. I will pick up a syringe as well and feed him that way. I feel so bad for him. He's even been sleeping RIGHT beside me on the bed instead of at the foot of my bed... poor little kitty...

thank you for the advice, i'll keep you posted

[Jim Hall]

cats are very smell driven to eat so when they have a cold they are less inclined to eat so the smellier the better warmong the food up can help to also clavamox upstes the tummy so if you can find some yogurt sometimes that helps

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by kitteh

He keeps going to the cat food dish, but just sniffing it and walking away.

He could be nauseous. Like Jim said, Clavamox can cause digestive issues, especially if given on an empty stomach. Because your kitty likely has a virus (herpes or calicivirus) the antibiotics are rather useless unless he's developed a secondary infection. If it were my cat, I'd stop the Clavamox. It's more important that he eat so his immune system can mount its own defense. Some excellent info can be found here:http://www.holisticat.com/uri.html

While antibiotics might be needed if your cat develops an infection, routine use of an antibiotic without confirmation of an infection is not a good idea. It can even lead to antibiotic resistance in the future, so use antibiotics judiciously.

If you can hang out with him in the bathroom with a hot shower running for about 10 minutes, a few times a day, it might help loosen up the mucus enough for him to smell some really stinky food (sardines fit that category nicely).

[diandpat]

Sorry to hear about Ozzie Ziggy and Zuzu were both very sick when I adopted them in the fall. Ziggy also ended up with URI and runny goopy eyes. Ozzie definitely will get better.

When Ziggy was sick I elevated his bowl to eat. I imagined that like us if you are all stuffed up and bend your head forward it is not comfortable and makes it even harder to breathe. To this day, he still will only eat if his bowl is elevated. Hope this helps and hope he eats something soon

[hazelrunpack]

He's a beautiful kitty, kitteh!

Eat for Mum, Ozzy!! And a quick recovery for you!

[kitteh]

The vet put him on cyproheptadine which is supposed to aid as an antihistamine as well as an appetite enhancer. I also bought some recovery wet food for cats who've had surgery or won't eat... it's apparently SUPER smelly so as soon as the antihistamine unblocks his nose and stirs up his tummy, he should eat.... fingers crossed!

[Love4himies]

Sending lots of your way!

[kitteh]

He's eaten twice all by himself! I woke up this morning and he was walking around meowing so I turned the tap on and he had a little (and i mean little but it's better than nothing) drink and then I decided to push my luck and got him some of that recovery wet food and he had a couple tablespoons!
Then this afternoon he started pawing at the crunchy dish so I put some fresh stuff in there and he ate some! HURRAY! He's not completely out of the woods yet but HURRAY!

[Love4himies]

Wahoo!!!!

Kitties do get sick just like humans and sometimes it takes a few days to recover.

[hazelrunpack]

Glad to hear he's improving!! I hope he eats even more tomorrow!

[krdahmer]

glad to hear he's eating! kitties do get sick just like us, I know the sniffles go around our house at least once a year, sneezing, runny eyes, then a week later everyone is fine. as long as they're eating, drinking, and using the litterbox, it's usually a good sign that it's just a bug they picked up.

[PumpkinPal]

YAH!

Sounds good so far. Can only get better. Great news!

[kitteh]

My Ozzy made a full recovery! I'm so very happy and appreciative of all the support and kind words! He's put the weight back on (and then some) that he lost while sick and he's back to his old self again. Thanks again everyone!

[PumpkinPal]

YAY!

So glad to hear that. May Ozzy have a lifetime of good health
ahead.

[Love4himies]

I am so glad to hear that

[catlover2]

So happy for you and Ozzy that he's well on his way to making a good recovery. I love his colour which is Black Smoke & White. It's unusual and stunning! Had a black smoke longhair spay once, tho she didn't have white chest patch or toes, but everyone who saw her loved her coat.

[14+kitties]

That is great news!! Now maybe is a good time to get him on a super healthy diet. This is a marvelous website to read: www.catinfo.org It's amazing what you will learn.

[hazelrunpack]

Hurrah for Ozzy

[chico2]

I am so glad there was good news at the end of this post,Ozzie is a beauty for sure