Kittens born August 7 & 8.
Momma Mouse came down with a very bad upper respiratory infection two days before the kittens arrived. I had taken her into the Veterinary clinic today(August 11th) and came back with an oral antibiotic and a Lactated Ringers Solution which I am to give daily. Mouse is very ill with what appears to be a bad rhino virus. This is very sad turn of events because I'm told that this virus will almost certainly kill all her kittens within the next 21 days. The newborn kittens will not be able to fight off any infection either bacterial or viral until they are at least 5-6 weeks old. The Dr advised me that since the mother was shedding the virus as her kittens were born that they were already infected. In these cases there are usually no survivors and all the kittens usually succumb to pneumonia starting after two weeks. I had some thoughts of immediately separating the kittens from their mother however the Dr advises me that that will just weaken the kittens faster. What little hope there is for these kittens is that the Momma Mouse with her infection fighting immune system in high gear will pass some infection fighting ability to her newborn.
I foster lots of kittens for my local animal shelter and have had many sick litters if kittens. It seems to me, a bigger problem has been girdia and it's an intestinal parasites. Kittens developed an extremely smelly diarrhea and took compounded mediation. When my fosters did have a cold, they were about 2 weeks old and were treated w amoxicillin, teramyocin for the eyes. I would remove the mucus apply the ointment inside the eye. They all lived through it but treatment last 10-12 days. I also used a humidifier, to help loosen up the mucus.
Stephanie
21-Jun-2012 01:37
Hello, I know I'm responding to an old posting, But I too am in a similar position. My daughter has found a kitten that's a few days old & are trying to place it w/a foster family. Due to the age of the kitten, we have not had any success in finding a home. At this point, based on some pictures & the size of the kitten, it appears to be a couple of days old to maybe a 2wks??. We are bottle feeding it & just sort of winging it while searching for a home. HELP!!
Erin
23-May-2011 17:04
I have a sick mama and 2 very sick kittens. They are rescue cats and this is my first foster attempt. When they came home at 4 days old everyone was fine. They had been overnight at the pound though and I believe this is where they picked up whatever they have. There was 3 kittens but we lost one a couple nights ago. My son was devastated (7 yrs old). It looks like your kittens didnt get sick....did they? I am afraid another kitten is going to pass soon as it has not gained for 5 days. The one that passed lost half an ounce the day it passed. THis second one is now moving away from the mom and other kitten too. I have them in a bathroom with a humidifier, giving them Clavomox, their eyes are swollen shut and I put in some ointment after ungluing them 2x a day. Since they are rescue cats no tests were done to see what kind of virus they have. Mama goes a day with eating a day without with temps up to 104.9....then break...then come back. All are congested and sneezy and hard to breath. Mama (Bethany) is sounding better, but babies are not. Any advice????