Help Sick Kitten !!!!!

[PolishPython]

On Wed we took the kitten to the vet because its eye was swollen and it was sneezing coughing and throwing up. He gave us an anti-biotic and some eye drops. Well Yesterday my fiancee took the poor little guy down to the spca vet for a second opinion. He said it was an upper respiratory infection and said to keep using the medicine accordingly. On top of that he put a cone around his neck and gave us saline solution to use before the drops go in. Now im no vet but with humans after 3 days of anti-biotics generally you will see improvement. There is none, maybe cats heal up slower than humans. We are extremely concerned. My fiance has gotten no sleep because she is worried about it so much. What do we do ??? Wait ti out a couple more days before going back to the vet ????

Side Note: he is eating and drinking just fine.

[El_Dorado]

How old is your kitten? What type of food are you feeding it?

[wolfy-hound]

Antibiotics for RI in kittens often take a few days to kick in, and the eyes look errible in the meantime. The vet next door to us takes in kittens all the time and at least half have RI with the eyes all crusty and nasty and yes.. they take about a week on constant treatment to look better. Make sure you're treating the eyes on schedule, and giving the antibiotics on schedule. If she's not eating(or more importantly drinking), then take her to the vet. Fluids are very important.

[SlitherinSisters]

It sounds like you have "the farm cat disease", at least that's what we call it 'round hur' in I'awa Those respiratory infections in kittens are nasty. They are in no way easy to get rid of and take a lot of time to heal. I know both of our disease ridden farm rescued cats took at least a week on those antibiotics and eye drops before they got better. Both ended up getting a swollen shut eye from the infection.

I'm not sure if it's true, but I've been to several vets all a crossed Eastern Iowa and they all said the same thing. This RI found in kittens isn't really curable. It's treatable, but not curable, they have to grow out of it. Our first cat, Enzo, had horrible sneezes and his eye got watery/red every now and again for nearly a year. His eye bugs him rarely now, he's 3.5 years old now, but you can hardly tell, he just winks sometimes. Loony Luna, she's 2 years old now, and had it REALLY bad. She would get in sneezing fits that just wouldn't stop and that went on for over a year. She's much better now, hardly ever sneezes, but her eye does still water a little every once in awhile. It gets better with time! My mom also got a cat from a shelter who had it just as bad as my Luna, she is about the same age as Luna, and at the same healing stage. The shelter told my mom the same exact thing, they have meds to get through the infection, but they have to grow out of the rest.

Oh, I did have to get eye drops for Enzo one more time after the episode when we first got him as a kitten. I think that happened when he was about a year old. His eye was really inflamed and red.

[GoBoilers]

Yeah, kitten URIs can get pretty nasty! Unfortunately, the "infection" is a misnomer as it is actually caused by a virus. Therefore, when antibiotics are prescribed, they are simply for any opportunistic *secondary* bacterial infections that might take advantage of the irritated nasal passages. The antibiotics don't do anything for the virus itself (there is no cure for any virus). All you can do is supportive care...that she is eating and drinking is a HUGE plus! It's the ones whose poor little noses get so plugged up that they can't smell their food that are the biggest challenge. One suggestion is L-lysine that you can pick up at any grocery store in the vitamin section. 1/2 500 mg tablet crushed up in canned food will help combat the virus (Lysine is a great anti-viral). You're essentially helping to support the little guy's immune system to overcome the virus, so a good quality food is essential (lots of high quality protein to make immunoglobulins). Good luck! I've got an adult cat who's fighting a pretty tenacious URI at the moment so I feel your pain!

[SlitherinSisters]

Yeah, kitten URIs can get pretty nasty! Unfortunately, the "infection" is a misnomer as it is actually caused by a virus. Therefore, when antibiotics are prescribed, they are simply for any opportunistic *secondary* bacterial infections that might take advantage of the irritated nasal passages. The antibiotics don't do anything for the virus itself (there is no cure for any virus). All you can do is supportive care...that she is eating and drinking is a HUGE plus! It's the ones whose poor little noses get so plugged up that they can't smell their food that are the biggest challenge. One suggestion is L-lysine that you can pick up at any grocery store in the vitamin section. 1/2 500 mg tablet crushed up in canned food will help combat the virus (Lysine is a great anti-viral). You're essentially helping to support the little guy's immune system to overcome the virus, so a good quality food is essential (lots of high quality protein to make immunoglobulins). Good luck! I've got an adult cat who's fighting a pretty tenacious URI at the moment so I feel your pain!

Ah thank you! That explains it!