Benji, Fred and Ginger's tummy problems

[lau200]

i'm glad to hear how much they have improved

[cazzer]

glad they are doing better 

[JenGeorgieBob]

Have 2 very full kittens licking their chops  and Fred has started running up and down the stairs taking them two at a time.
Benji is struggling with his food and his mouth at the moment, he is still not used to having no teeth on one side it seems, but he did ok with the hilife my mum brought round for them, so I will pop to the shops and get him something with smaller chunks.
I e-mailed the cattery this morning asking for advice on how they are treating the cats there and telling them I will not be back for a while due to the impact on my cats health and have had no reply.
I understand they are probably busy, but seeing how quickly this has spread and the dramatic impact this has had on vulnerable cats, I can't help but think it should have been handled better
again, thank you all so much for the help and support, massive purrs from all the kitties, head bobs from the tortoises, bunny hops from the bunny and a lick from the lizard 

[Tiggy's Mum]

Glad they seemed to have turned the corner  Hope they're all back to normal ASAP 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

So pleased they are all improving   

Not good about this rescue if its so infectious that all their volunteers cats asre catching it and they havent bothered telling anyone!

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I'm glad they're all on the mend - hope it continues and they are all back to normal very soon 

[JenGeorgieBob]

sorry for the delay in updating, they are doing really well! My mum came round yesterday with some hilife fish flavor food and hand fed them about a tablespoon of food which seems to have perked them up a bit.
Ginger is almost back to her old self, demanding food  (by squeeking and standing like a meerkat, lol) and is being a bit naughty. She is also back to demanding cuddles from her mum and I am typing around her at the moment.
Benji is also doing better, though not 100% but he was demanding food this morning which is a good sign.
Fred is the least improved of them all, but he has eaten. He did not like any of the applaws stuff I was trying to give him so tried some salmon flavor gourmet (I know not the best food) but he sat and slowly ate about a quarter of a packet so I am pleased with that. He is still not himself, but we are heading in the right direction.
Found out yesterday that my friend's cats have it now which is a worry as one of them has pancreatitis (although so far she has shown no signs of being ill) also on Friday when I went to the RSPCA and found out about this illness 2 other volunteers phoned up that day to say their cats had it, so it seems to be spreading sadly, it is such a horrible virus

Thanks for all the help and support, it has been much needed! 

lots of purrs and snoozles to you all from Benji, Fred and Ginger

[Tiggy's Mum]

How have they all been today? Hope the've picked up a bit 

[lau200]

that sounds positive

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

That sounds really good news 

[JenGeorgieBob]

Breaking News: Benji has just come upstairs to be with us and attacked his second favourite mouse toy and thrown it across the room and is now rubbing himself on his favourite catnip rainbow...that has put a smile on my face

[JenGeorgieBob]

and thanks for the  they are such a worry aren't they? I can cope with this sort of thing up to a point and then lose it...I have lost it, just want my babies better, I wish I could take their poorliness away from them 

[Yvonne]

I am sorry to hear that your puds are not well - do they have access to grass?  I think it is quite important and aids digestion, I know that some indoor cats (don't know if yours are) never have access to grass.

If they are eating nothing I would syringe some water into them.

Good luck   

[JenGeorgieBob]

oops, did it again...
we did discuss Benji's FIV, as I got a bit of a lecture about FIV+ and FIV- mixing, but I quickly put a stop to that sort of talk by spouting out all my research at him, I think he was a bit surprised at that.
ok, so today is the first day they have had the full days dosage, so I should see improvement after tomorrow mornings dosage (so by tomorrow afternoon) which will then be 48 since their first antibiotic.
If no improvement then, then will be down the vets with them all.
am thankful they are all insured!

[JenGeorgieBob]

Thank you, sorry I posted just before you did,
they are drinking fine but we have boiled some chicken and put the water out for them to tempt them and they went for the plain water over the chicken water! it is almost like the smell of food is making them feel sick?
I haven't tried them with tuna, might give it a go.
My mum is coming over tomorrow with some fishy flavored hilife she bought for Benji as a get well present and she wants to try and hand feed them small pieces.
Fred has eaten a couple of applaws dry food bits.
I have some cat milk in the fridge I am going to get out
oh and have just remembered, they devoured that new lick-e-licks webbox treat the other day so will give some of that to them as well.
I tried to give Benji extra hugs to make him feel better but he wants to be on his own so am leaving him in peace for now
it is heartbreaking seeing them like this, just need to be able to cope with it better

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Abs take 24-48 hrs to work and if the vets have a surgery tomorrow, I would ring them about Benji and mention he is FIV cos hos imunne system will be a bit weaker than ordinary cats and you can the also discuss the kittens.

I do hope they all improve overnight, its such a worry.................if they get worse, it will be emergency vets time I think.

As lonf as you trust the practice and the vets you see give confidence 

[JenGeorgieBob]

you are right, it is Benji that is FIV+
I had never seen the vet that I saw on Friday, but I trust the practise, they have been good in the past, although a bit more expensive than other ones locally, not that that is important.
I was just expecting them to be a bit better than they are when I got home from work, I used to be mobbed for dinner when I got home...now I barely get a glance and they just seem to be sleeping all the time, can't even encourage them to play or anything.
The vet did say to give them until Monday and then he thinks the kittens should be hospitalised, but didn't mention Benji, probably because today is the first day he has been sick so maybe he wasn't worried about him as much as the kittens?
It doesn't help that they are a complete nightmare to pill!

[Tiggy's Mum]

Easy to say but try not to worry too much 

My boys went through a similar thing a few months ago, I found Riley listless and unresponsive when he had been bouncing around 12 hours earlier. He refused to eat any food at home and wouldn't eat the sensitivity foods the vet gave either, he ended up dehydrated and on a drip overnight at the vets. Lu came down with it soon after but not as bad as Riley.

If the little ones can keep food down but are just refusing food I would try tempting them with anything they will eat. I gave Riley small pieces of ham, tuna and gross tinned stewing steak, not huge amounts just nibbles to try and keep his strength up. From then he progressed to cooked chicken which is obviously much better for them.  It's not ideal as they will have sensitive tummies from lack of eating/being sick but it's important they keep their strengths up. As for Benji if he's still not keeping food down you can ask the vet about an anti-emetic injection or Zantac syrup. It's important to keep their fluids up too, the emergency vet advised syringing one small syringe every hour, when I had to go to work later that day she said to try and get three into him before work and three after - check with your vet as it obviously depends on syringe size.

Sending healing headkisses to all three

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

How good is your vet?

I would give the abs to tomorrow to start working but am worried about all 3, the kittens cos they are young abd Benji cos he is FIV I think..........sorry if I wrong.

If tomorrow they are not any better, you need to speak to your vet urgently I think cos its important that all 3 have food they can keep down.

[lau200]

i don't have any advice to offer, just wanted to say i'm thinking about you all *hugs*

[JenGeorgieBob]

ok, so it seems likely they have caught a virus.
they are all on antibiotics (clavaseptin?) and pro-kolin a pro-biotic paste.
Ginger and Fred came down with it Tuesday and were very bad with it Wednesday night going into Thursday and Friday. Now so far (touch wood) they are keeping some food down....they won't eat chicken or coley or applaws food or chicken water or the sensitivity food or dry food but will have up to 3 chunks of classic (their normal food) but that is it. I would say they have not had a full meal since Wednesday and they are very small cats (2kg each). They are still not eating (antibiotics were started on Friday) is there anything else I can do?
Benji seems to have caught it later, as he was at the vets on Tuesday having his teeth removed, while they were coming down with it but he is very bad today it seems. He would only eat applaws this morning so he had some of that, and his response to his dinner was to throw up and he is not keeping anything down at the moment...
again, is there anything I can do to make them feel better?
Do you think the vet should have given them an anti-sickness drug to get them better quicker?
am I being impatient for the antibiotics to work?
I am really not coping very well and haven't stopped crying this evening, they are just so sad and so poorly, I am afraid the kittens are giving up as they don't seems to be fighting it and the spark has gone from their eyes. I feel so useless, is there anything else I can do???