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The kittens were now 4 weeks old and at this point they were wearing colored ribbons around their necks so I could tell them apart quickly. I was glad of this when they began to fall ill. It all started with the kitten wearing the pink ribbon whom I had named, Kilara. She was having diarrhea only at first and I thought that maybe her little belly was upset from the new kitten chow. But then she began to vomit. Uncontrollably. Everything she tried to eat or drink was coming back up. Later that evening we were getting ready for bed and I noticed she felt awfully warm. I took her temperature and it was over 104 degrees. Time for a trip to the emergency vet!
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| Little Kilara |
The Emergency vet was happy to see that Kilara was bright and alert, but were concerned about her fever. After an hour or so at the vet I was sent home with an antibiotic and some fluids to administer at home. The next morning she seemed better, but her brother Belrose was now vomiting and having diarrhea. He also had a high temperature. I gave him fluids and separated him as well from the other kittens.
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| Baby Belrose |
By the end of the day westleigh was having issues and a fever as well. I gave him fluids and medication, but I was starting to worry.
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| Tiny Westleigh |
I had moved the kittens into the spare bedroom to get them away from the other cats in the house. They were all staying in separate little kennels so I could tell who ate and who was vomiting. Not even poor little Berrilee had been able to escape falling ill. I found her just laying flat on her side and almost non responsive. She had a fever, so I gave her fluids and a few medications and tucked her into her kitty bed and hoped for the best.
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| Baby Berrilee |
I was so afraid that Berrilee would die after I found her in such a state. I was happy to find her perked up and moving around after an hour or so of getting fluids and some supplements. The twice daily medicating and once daily subcutaneous fluids continued for a few days, but the babies didn't seem any better. I was still having to force feed them and they were still having diarrhea and vomiting intermittently. I was feeling discouraged and very worried for Belrose as he was the smallest kitten and seemed to be doing the worst. I took him to work with me and the Vet suggested I have him tested for Panleukopenia. The test was positive. She advised me to continue to do what I was doing and only time would tell if they would be strong enough to survive. I felt a sigh of relief as I got ready to leave that day and saw that Belrose had eaten his kitten chow all on his own.
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| All the babies in the bed I made for them |
After a few more days of treatment all the kittens began to eat on their own again, and they were able to leave their separate kennels and play in the kitty playpen with each other again. It seemed as if they were on the road to recovery. The illness had put them a little behind in weight gain so they were still pretty small in comparison to kittens their age, but they lived. I was so proud of them.
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