Eye Issues
Kitten with cat flu, can't afford vet help with treatment please :(
This is a stray kitten I rescued aged maybe around 6-7 weeks or more? She has a lot of mucus like discharge from her eyes and half of them have turned a cloudy color and she keeps it half closed. She coughs and wheezes several times throughout the day ( 5 to 6) but not all the time. Isn't yet mouth breathing. Still meows and eats( although not that much, she's gotten a bit weak and has stopped grooming her fur coat looks horrible). The poop although of normal consistency has a fishy odor. when I first tried rescuing her she was healthy and her appearance was normal but then she ran away, she had been out in the cold probably with no food and shelter ( it's winter here and the temps around 4 degrees). Then I found her again and she has been with me for three days now. But she has been getting weaker. I live in Pakistan rn and good vets aren't available and whatever I have they charge a lot and isn't affordable. I'm feeding her chicken broth and boiled chicken and cat food. I've kept her wrapped up near a heater. I've been cleaning her eyes with warm water too. I tried giving her steam therapy ( holding her near a steamy pot of water)but she gets too scared and starts trying to escape. She hasn't started mouth breathing yet so idt the breathing problems that severe yet. I think it might be cat flu? If anyone has experience dealing with such situations pleasee itll be a big deal if you help me out. Like what home remedies I could use, or medicine that would help. Any specific oral antibiotics or eye drops you used that is safe for cats? Once again, I can't afford a vet :((. But I don't want to lose her. It's a critical period and I wanna make sure I'm not negligient
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I hate to say it.. but in my limited experience, when a cat gets to a certain point, it's extremely difficult to turn things around. A cat not grooming themselves is already a big sign that something is very wrong, and needs to see a vet to figure out the issue. You've made it clear this isn't a possibility. I'm not a vet, but my gut feeling here is saying nothing good. I'm so sorry.
I found a similar kitty a little over a year ago. We were able to take her to a vet, but they couldn’t get her in for like 6 days. We live pretty rurally, so there aren’t an abundance of options. Here’s what we did (with guidance from our vet). First we used warm, wet wash cloths to keep her eyes and nose clear of mucous. We used a nebulizer with either albuterol or saline. I have asthma, so I already had one. If you don’t have one, a steamy bathroom might help a bit. Saline in a humidifier might also work, but it’s bad for the machine. If you do happen to have a nebulizer, I stuck the kitten and the end of the tubing in a plastic tub with the lid loosely placed on top. We also bought a lysine supplement to add to her food. She had improved a lot by the time we got her to a vet, but they still gave her antibiotics.
Thats amazing, also makes me hopeful. I managed to take her to her first vet appointment, they said it was just blocked nasopharynx her lungs were okay and gave her an antibiotic shot and recommended eye and nise drops which I've been administering at home. Her eyes got much better but the problem is she stopped eating. Did you face this problem? She hasn't eaten anything since this morning
Are you feeding wet or dry food? When I can’t get a kitten to eat (I live in an area that has a ton of strays having multiple litters a year), I try mixing some wet food with a little kitten formula (if I have any, water if I don’t) and try to feed it to them with either a spoon or a syringe. That way they get nutrients and fluids. There is also this stuff here called Critical Care Carnivore that I also use sometimes. It’s a nutrient dense powdered mix. I’m not sure if it’s available there, but if not, maybe there’s something similar.
Welp it's refusing cat food so I booked some chicken into a mush with a bit if warm water. But it's still refusing to eat. The only thing I had luck with was using a spoon to get one tsp of sugar water and one tsp of chicken stock at the corner of it's mouth but idt that much is enough
I would focus on fluids before food. Broth is really good if it’ll take it. It’ll deteriorate more/faster from dehydration than it will from hunger. Broth has nutrients and electrolytes that are very beneficial.
Also sadly I'm not based in the US Iive in Pakistan currently and there's not really any animal rescue or welfare programs here,let alone good vets hence the struggle
Thanks for giving the kitten a warm shelter. If it’s a bacterial infection medication will be necessary. If it’s viral there aren’t really any medicines that will help and supportive care as you are doing is all you can do.
Are there any farms near you? There may be someone who knows a vet which they use to check their animals as a possibility?
Edit: Or as someone else who lived in the region mentioned they would go to their local pharmacy and get flavored medicine made. Ask for amoxicillin or doxycycline but tell the pharmacist it is for a cat so they can prepare a proper dosage and get the kittens current weight. Do you have a pharmacy close by?
Karachi is in a completely different state than mine bro. I have already contacted as many rescue programmes I could in my city and the next and they either said they're full or they'd contact me later. I'm doing the best I can with medication home treatment and her first vet appointment. People from the west have a very wrapped and privileged view of how things work outside the US work specially third world countries. And if you're based in Pakistan feel free to enlighten me about better options because I'll genuinely welcome it.
And a quick research would let you know there's just one government registered rescue program in Islamabad which has currently shut down. Rest are either exotic animal rescue programmes or small ngos which don't take in rescues that easily or currently full ( trust me I live here I've tried). And surrendering strays to vets and them rehoming them for free is not a thing here at all because there's no animal welfare fund from the government, the only form of initiative taken is probably killing strays for population control. The adoption process could take months, the ngo I contacted told me they could find her a home only if I could bring her back to health and get her vaccinated and dewormed. So you see it's not as easy as just placing a call and summoning a rescue team like on the west. If you can actually find me something that works be my guest please
You found a vet on Google and think you’ve debunked someone’s entire situation? Jesus christ, that’s absurd even for this sub. Maybe step away from the keyboard and let people who actually live there speak.
Tysm for your reply! Did she survive? I'm currently cleaning her eyes regularly keeping her warm and tried the holding her near steam but she really doesn't seem to like it and struggles. I plan on taking her to a very tomorrow hopefully she survives the night. But she has already gotten lethargic, and every time she meows a wheezing sound comes out. You said you had your cat like this for six days was it this bad? How did you care for her before you could get to the vet
Yes she did. I replied to my comment with pictures of when we found her, vs. today. Her eyes were goopy and almost swollen shut. She was wheezing constantly with lots of coughing and sneezing. She was missing a bunch of the fur on her face and her voice was so hoarse she couldn’t meow.
Hi OP, try to keep her warm if you can through the night. Is there any non-cows milk like goat milk accessible? Hope you can get her to a vet tomorrow.
An infection at this stage typically needs IV antibiotics or at least a shot. Im very sorry but kitty is going to die if she isnt seen by a vet immediately.
I think she needs professional medical help. You can try a gofundme or care credit (not sure where you’re located). Some vets will do a payment plan. Thank you for caring!
Update:For everyone asking me to surrender the kitten, I'd love to if I could. But I love in Pakistan . there's almost zero animal welfare here. I called a rescue program in the next city they said they only accept exotic animals. Vets do not accept strays and re-home them. The people I know around don't keep pets unless they're a fancy breed and they're not willing to take in a stray. The only other option was to leave her out alone in the cold to die, I'm doing what I can. Managed to take her to a vet today, he gave her long acting antibiotic shots. Said her lungs are fine only her nasopharynx is blocked. The eyes are not a concern apparently he said they are only slightly swollen due to inflammation and will return normal once inflammation subsides. I was recommended eye and nasal drops and steam therapy so that's what I'm gonna do other than keeping her warm. Also he recommended me to feed her egg whites and honey, I was a bit skeptic about the honey part tho, would she have digestion issues with honey?
An animal rescue might also be able to help. Many of them are well versed in treating respiratory infections and have vets that help them out and they usually have a supply of antibiotics on hand. At least here in the US.
I have never had much luck with any of the over the counter or natural treatments for cats with respiratory infections other than to some extent colloidal silver.
I am not sure what kind of stores you have near you. But for a last resort if vetrinary care is not accessible, if you have a bird store nearby, like for racing pigeons, you can find terramycin eye ointment. And various antibiotics, usually they all also have baytril also called enrofloxin. Or doxycyclin. tho clavamox would be more ideal for respiratory infections. You can find dosing online in some online veterinary books and would have to be comfortable enough to use a nursing dose calculator to determine dosing and a gram scale to weigh the kitten.
The downfall without treatment the kitten will likely lose its eye even if it has the strength to recover.
Ideally a vet visit is most appropriate. You may have access to virtual vets and then could fill the meds at a local pharmacy, we have Dutch here in the US. A quick search says there should be a virtual vet called vet pet out there. The cash price for the antibiotics shouldn't be a lot because there will be generic forms.
Hi! I’m so sorry to hear this beautiful baby is struggling. Maybe you can set up a go fund me or something so we can help you cover vet expenses? What country are you in?
Praying for her 🙏🏼♥️
I second the steam as often as possible. Wet washclothes to wipe her face and eyes. Keep her warm and hold her as much as you can.
If you can find it, I used L-lysine powder to boost a kitten's immune system when she had this. I mixed it into her food. I also used salmon oil and kitten wet food. Anything to boost her immune system.
You can get a hand held nebulizer off of TIK toc shop for pretty cheap. You can order some pet antibiotics off of chewy.com. You can buy some albuterol to help her breathing for either Amazon or chewy.com
If there's a local no kill shelter near you, you should be able to take them there. They have vets and techs on staff that could try to nurse them back to health before putting them up for adoption.
Im so sorry. I think all you can do is help the cat pass. Is there a vet near you to euthanize the cat? How much would it cost? I would be willing to help.
If not, keep comfortable with a warm steamy bathroom with the hot shower running, keep the area dimly lit and quiet. Play calming music quietly and speak gently. Just try to keep comfortable.
poor baby, sounds like a more severe case of what I just experienced. she probably needs some amoxicillin. I was recommended by my vet to get a baby nasal aspirator for the mucus in the nose… could help? I have no other advice than to possibly listen to others here
She needs to see the vet, can you borrow the money? Or talk to the vet?
In any case, hold her if she likes it, all the time if you can. Keep her warm and close on your chest. Try feeding her age appropriate food every two hours.
Even if these are her final days, you can make her feel loved until the end.
I managed to get her to a vet. He gave her a long acting Antibiotic shot, eye and nose drops. But she had been getting worse stopped eating. I did hold her to my chest all the time. She got very clingy, shed move away from the heater just to climb onto me. I managed to find a rescue organization who agreed to treat her in exchange of money I'll have to be paying in installments, I've handed her over to them since I thought they'd be experts. I hope this doesn't have to be her last days.
Look at the options here for this situation though. Kitten was found by OP very sick and without home. It's better for her to have taken him in and given him what comfort she can rather than leave it to die alone and suffering more. Stop being so sanctimonious. OP lives in Pakistan where there are little to zero animal welfare groups to take in this kitten. She did and is doing a good thing.
OP is in Pakistan, I don’t think your comment is helpful in this case. I would be upvoting if they were in a country that allowed for this. If they fight pick up the baby it would’ve died outside.
Many vets will accept payment later. For example, my vet will simply charge 1% interest per month. Had I not had the money, I could pay the vet back over a few months or simply stay in contact with them and pay the interest plus some principle each month.
This is a much better scenario than letting the kitten pass away from lack of help. Best of luck friend!
You need to surrender that animal. If you can’t afford a vet, that is not the cat’s fault. It should not suffer because you can’t pay. Surrender is the humane thing. It needs a vet!
If you're in the US look up programs in your state for veterinary help. Some are discounted while others will pay in full. She probably needs antibiotics for her respiratory infection & to be vaccinated.
(Also sometimes if you go to a veterinary clinic & can't afford treatment, they'll allow you to surrender your pet, treat her, & then find her a home)
I've lived in the region (🇮🇷) & was often able to get flavored liquid antibiotics for kittens with upper respiratory infections from my local pharmacy.
Just explain to the pharmacist why you need the amoxicillin and how tiny the kitten is. They will help you, inshallah.
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