sick kitten!

[vivaviolin]

I just adopted my kitten last week from an organization. They warned me he had a "little cold" and so i made an appointment, took him to the vet and have now been giving him medicine. My concern is that he doesn't seem to be getting any better-he seems just as congested and he has a horrible cough! The vet has told me that it's too soon to tell and that I need to give it a few days; it's already been 5 days since he began his medicine. Am I over-reacting?

[InfiniteMystery]

vivaviolin,

One of our kittens had an upper respiratory infection when we got him. The vet prescibed antibiotics and we just had to wait it out.

Here's a couple of hints though, to possibly make it easier (on you , and kitty).

- take him into the bathroom and run the shower on hot - the steam should help him breathe a little better. Either that, or get a bowl of steaming water and sit him in front of it with a small towel over him head (same effect, just don't let him touch the hot water!)

- make sure he drinks and eats. It will take longer for him to get better if he's dehydrated. The only thing my kitten ate when he was sick was "cat's milk" (comes in a purple drinking box type carton)... slightly warm, he may drink it. Make sure he gets fluids, get a syringe and squirt water down his throat if necessary. A lot of the time when cats are sick, they won't eat because they can't smell their food - try warm canned food, it may just be stinky enough that he'll eat.

Good luck, hope your kitty feels better soon!

[sobe]

Our kitten had an upper respiratory infection as well, she is now fine ( it was about 7 mnonths ago that she was sick) but it took 3 rounds of antibiotics till it finally cleared up.

After the first round of antibiotics was done, she got sick again towards the end of the next day. I took her back in and was told that sometimes it takes several rounds before the infection is cleared up. Also, this type of infection tends to go dormant and if and when the cat is in a stressful situation it can come back .

Our vet told us to bring her back in just before the round of antibiotics ( second round) was finished so he could take a listen to her to see how she was doing. We ended up on a third round because she was not quite over it. the best suggestion I can make is to do the same, have your vet take a listen just before the antibiotics are finished so he/she can determine if your cat needs another round . This type of infection is very stubborn and can be hard to treat!

The warming up of the kitten food is an excellent idea, I did the same thing. I added a bit of hot water to it ( fed it warm, not hot of course) and it caused the food to smell . This way she ate it and as an added bonus got extra liquid too.

Good luck and hang in there, this type of infection requires patience.

[InfiniteMystery]

Sobe, that's something else I didn't mention...

When we got the kitten from the SPCA he was fine, no sign of illness. The next day he was sick. Obviously the infection was dormant. Our vet told us the same thing - it can flare up at anytime, or when the animal in under stress.

We had him for almost 3 years before it flared up again. We did the same things to help him through it as we did when he was a kitten, and he made it through it in about 3-5 days without antibiotics. He was an absolute, pathetic furball while he was sick though. He didn't want to eat or drink - I had to give it to him with a syringe.

So as long as you follow your vet's instructions and give your kitty lots of TLC, he should be better before you know it!