Sharon told me about this newsgroup, so I thought I'd post our situation.

We took in a stray cat who turned out to be very pregnant. She delivered
5 live babies, and 1 that was not born alive.

I noticed one kitten seemed less coordinated or weaker than the others
at 2 weeks old. From then on, I made sure he got some uninterrupted
meals (he was always getting knocked off the nipple) and tried my best
to help him. He was about 2/3rds the size of the others.

At age 5 weeks, he developed tremors. His little head would bob around
at times. He became more lethargic, had some trouble walking, but would
try to play now and then. He slept more than the others and missed
meals. I was constantly waking him up and hauling him over to mom.

The vet could not diagnose what was wrong, said it could be many things
-- viral, cerebellum development problems, organ problems, and we
started him on antibiotics in case of infection.

At 7 weeks, we lost him (2 days ago.) He was completely lethargic and
not trying to eat. Vet said he'd have to have IV's, sub-q, and more to
get him to last the night to try to get test results. She did not give
him a good outlook so we made the decision to let him go.

Necropsy showed abnormal liver, but that could have been from lack of
nutrition. It did show grossly enlarged and pale kidneys. The vet
suspects it was viral or congenital. Could even be FIP. We are waiting
for tissue sample results early next week.

The mom-cat has tremors when she leans down to eat. You can't see it,
but I can feel it down her back. I've read that these are "intention
tremors." I have noticed those tremors on 2 of the remaining kittens.

Today, one of those kittens developed visible tremors. You could see her
little head shaking, and her foot shook when elevated. I have left a
message for the vet, but ohmigawd. I cannot take another heartbreak. She
also has sneezed a couple of times today, but no discharge. I don't know
if her immune system could be weakening and she's catching things that
are contagious.

Any ideas? Are these classic symptoms of FIP in kittens? What can I do
to help these guys? Anyone else have cats with "intention tremors," and
can they be harmless?

Thanks for making it to the end...

Rhonda (Sleepless and Worried in Seattle)