Listless kitten

I'm fostering a kitten who I think is around 10 weeks old, but he
stopped gaining weight almost 2 weeks ago and he doesn't quite weigh 2
pounds, which is the healthy weight of an 8 week old. He spent a full
day early last week vomiting, and I took him to the vet that night and
he had a fever of 105. The vet gave him fluids to try and bring his
temp down, and flagyl in case he had an infection somewhere. The next
day his fever was only down to 104.75 and the vet gave him more fluids
to try and bring the fever down, and then a few hours later more
fluids. Next day same temp, same routine only adding a shot of
amoxicillin, next day same temp same routine. By the next day his fever
was down to just under 103 and then 2 days later it was finally normal.
He had blood drawn and was negative for felv/fiv, and wasn't anemic, and
didn't have an elevated white count. In other words, the vet said
everything looked normal. But this kitten looks like he's wasting
away! He nibbles at his food, which is good quality canned kitten food,
good dry kitten food, and A/D canned which is high calorie, high
nutrition. He wants to eat every couple of hours but barely takes any
and then stops eating pretty quickly. He never plays anymore, and just
sits around watching everybody else. I've noticed that his stomach
makes a lot of gurgling noises. I've never heard this amount of
gurgling in a kitten's tummy. He's been dewormed either 2 or 3 times
and he doesn't have a swollen belly, so I don't think it's worms or
parasites, but his stool has not been checked so I can't be sure. He
barely poops because he barely eats, and I'm never on time to get a
fresh sample when he does! Has anyone got any ideas about what might be
wrong with this baby? What are the symptoms of FIP? What about a
pyloric valve stenosis, which killed a kitten I fostered a few years
ago? He did a lot of throwing up, but the vet I was using back then
took him and kept him for a week until he had to be put down, so I don't
know what the symptoms were to compare with this kitten. Thanks y'all,
-- Laurie --

in article , Laurie at
wrote on 7/8/04 1:30AM:

I'm fostering a kitten who I think is around 10 weeks old, but he
stopped gaining weight almost 2 weeks ago and he doesn't quite weigh 2
pounds, which is the healthy weight of an 8 week old. He spent a full
day early last week vomiting, and I took him to the vet that night and
he had a fever of 105. The vet gave him fluids to try and bring his
temp down, and flagyl in case he had an infection somewhere. The next
day his fever was only down to 104.75 and the vet gave him more fluids
to try and bring the fever down, and then a few hours later more
fluids. Next day same temp, same routine only adding a shot of
amoxicillin, next day same temp same routine. By the next day his fever
was down to just under 103 and then 2 days later it was finally normal.
He had blood drawn and was negative for felv/fiv, and wasn't anemic, and
didn't have an elevated white count. In other words, the vet said
everything looked normal. But this kitten looks like he's wasting
away! He nibbles at his food, which is good quality canned kitten food,
good dry kitten food, and A/D canned which is high calorie, high
nutrition. He wants to eat every couple of hours but barely takes any
and then stops eating pretty quickly. He never plays anymore, and just
sits around watching everybody else. I've noticed that his stomach
makes a lot of gurgling noises. I've never heard this amount of
gurgling in a kitten's tummy. He's been dewormed either 2 or 3 times
and he doesn't have a swollen belly, so I don't think it's worms or
parasites, but his stool has not been checked so I can't be sure. He
barely poops because he barely eats, and I'm never on time to get a
fresh sample when he does! Has anyone got any ideas about what might be
wrong with this baby? What are the symptoms of FIP? What about a
pyloric valve stenosis, which killed a kitten I fostered a few years
ago? He did a lot of throwing up, but the vet I was using back then
took him and kept him for a week until he had to be put down, so I don't
know what the symptoms were to compare with this kitten. Thanks y'all,
-- Laurie --

It sounds very odd to me. Is there a feline specialist in town you can take
the kitten to? This is not normal.

in article , Laurie at
wrote on 7/8/04 1:30AM:

I'm fostering a kitten who I think is around 10 weeks old, but he
stopped gaining weight almost 2 weeks ago and he doesn't quite weigh 2
pounds, which is the healthy weight of an 8 week old. He spent a full
day early last week vomiting, and I took him to the vet that night and
he had a fever of 105. The vet gave him fluids to try and bring his
temp down, and flagyl in case he had an infection somewhere. The next
day his fever was only down to 104.75 and the vet gave him more fluids
to try and bring the fever down, and then a few hours later more
fluids. Next day same temp, same routine only adding a shot of
amoxicillin, next day same temp same routine. By the next day his fever
was down to just under 103 and then 2 days later it was finally normal.
He had blood drawn and was negative for felv/fiv, and wasn't anemic, and
didn't have an elevated white count. In other words, the vet said
everything looked normal. But this kitten looks like he's wasting
away! He nibbles at his food, which is good quality canned kitten food,
good dry kitten food, and A/D canned which is high calorie, high
nutrition. He wants to eat every couple of hours but barely takes any
and then stops eating pretty quickly. He never plays anymore, and just
sits around watching everybody else. I've noticed that his stomach
makes a lot of gurgling noises. I've never heard this amount of
gurgling in a kitten's tummy. He's been dewormed either 2 or 3 times
and he doesn't have a swollen belly, so I don't think it's worms or
parasites, but his stool has not been checked so I can't be sure. He
barely poops because he barely eats, and I'm never on time to get a
fresh sample when he does! Has anyone got any ideas about what might be
wrong with this baby? What are the symptoms of FIP? What about a
pyloric valve stenosis, which killed a kitten I fostered a few years
ago? He did a lot of throwing up, but the vet I was using back then
took him and kept him for a week until he had to be put down, so I don't
know what the symptoms were to compare with this kitten. Thanks y'all,
-- Laurie --

It sounds very odd to me. Is there a feline specialist in town you can take
the kitten to? This is not normal.

Laurie, I would also be very concerned. How is the kitten doing today?

Sometimes kittens spike high fevers out of nowhere (vets call it fever of
unknown origin). Generally, antibiotics clear it up very quickly, though.

I know he was wormed but was a fecal done, to rule out nasties like
coccidia? We are pretty much to the point of starting kittens on albon
even if they test clear, if they have stomach upset or diarrhea; coccidia
are hard to detect and just don't always show up. Albon also helps the
gut to heal. Ask your vet.

A good over-the-counter product for upset tummies is "Stomach Ease," which
is an herbal concoction made in Oregon. It works great, breaking up gas,
though kittens hate the strong peppermint taste. Pepsid AC has already
been recommended to you. And good old peppermint oil (not extract, with
alcohol, though).

Good luck. It is scary when kittens fade. If he doesn't make it, it
won't be because you didn't try.

Sharon Talbert
Friends of Campus Cats


On Thu, 8 Jul 2004, Laurie wrote:

I'm fostering a kitten who I think is around 10 weeks old, but he
stopped gaining weight almost 2 weeks ago and he doesn't quite weigh 2
pounds, which is the healthy weight of an 8 week old. He spent a full
day early last week vomiting, and I took him to the vet that night and
he had a fever of 105. The vet gave him fluids to try and bring his
temp down, and flagyl in case he had an infection somewhere. The next
day his fever was only down to 104.75 and the vet gave him more fluids
to try and bring the fever down, and then a few hours later more
fluids. Next day same temp, same routine only adding a shot of
amoxicillin, next day same temp same routine. By the next day his fever
was down to just under 103 and then 2 days later it was finally normal.
He had blood drawn and was negative for felv/fiv, and wasn't anemic, and
didn't have an elevated white count. In other words, the vet said
everything looked normal. But this kitten looks like he's wasting
away! He nibbles at his food, which is good quality canned kitten food,
good dry kitten food, and A/D canned which is high calorie, high
nutrition. He wants to eat every couple of hours but barely takes any
and then stops eating pretty quickly. He never plays anymore, and just
sits around watching everybody else. I've noticed that his stomach
makes a lot of gurgling noises. I've never heard this amount of
gurgling in a kitten's tummy. He's been dewormed either 2 or 3 times
and he doesn't have a swollen belly, so I don't think it's worms or
parasites, but his stool has not been checked so I can't be sure. He
barely poops because he barely eats, and I'm never on time to get a
fresh sample when he does! Has anyone got any ideas about what might be
wrong with this baby? What are the symptoms of FIP? What about a
pyloric valve stenosis, which killed a kitten I fostered a few years
ago? He did a lot of throwing up, but the vet I was using back then
took him and kept him for a week until he had to be put down, so I don't
know what the symptoms were to compare with this kitten. Thanks y'all,
-- Laurie --

Laurie, I would also be very concerned. How is the kitten doing today?

Sometimes kittens spike high fevers out of nowhere (vets call it fever of
unknown origin). Generally, antibiotics clear it up very quickly, though.

I know he was wormed but was a fecal done, to rule out nasties like
coccidia? We are pretty much to the point of starting kittens on albon
even if they test clear, if they have stomach upset or diarrhea; coccidia
are hard to detect and just don't always show up. Albon also helps the
gut to heal. Ask your vet.

A good over-the-counter product for upset tummies is "Stomach Ease," which
is an herbal concoction made in Oregon. It works great, breaking up gas,
though kittens hate the strong peppermint taste. Pepsid AC has already
been recommended to you. And good old peppermint oil (not extract, with
alcohol, though).

Good luck. It is scary when kittens fade. If he doesn't make it, it
won't be because you didn't try.

Sharon Talbert
Friends of Campus Cats


On Thu, 8 Jul 2004, Laurie wrote:

I'm fostering a kitten who I think is around 10 weeks old, but he
stopped gaining weight almost 2 weeks ago and he doesn't quite weigh 2
pounds, which is the healthy weight of an 8 week old. He spent a full
day early last week vomiting, and I took him to the vet that night and
he had a fever of 105. The vet gave him fluids to try and bring his
temp down, and flagyl in case he had an infection somewhere. The next
day his fever was only down to 104.75 and the vet gave him more fluids
to try and bring the fever down, and then a few hours later more
fluids. Next day same temp, same routine only adding a shot of
amoxicillin, next day same temp same routine. By the next day his fever
was down to just under 103 and then 2 days later it was finally normal.
He had blood drawn and was negative for felv/fiv, and wasn't anemic, and
didn't have an elevated white count. In other words, the vet said
everything looked normal. But this kitten looks like he's wasting
away! He nibbles at his food, which is good quality canned kitten food,
good dry kitten food, and A/D canned which is high calorie, high
nutrition. He wants to eat every couple of hours but barely takes any
and then stops eating pretty quickly. He never plays anymore, and just
sits around watching everybody else. I've noticed that his stomach
makes a lot of gurgling noises. I've never heard this amount of
gurgling in a kitten's tummy. He's been dewormed either 2 or 3 times
and he doesn't have a swollen belly, so I don't think it's worms or
parasites, but his stool has not been checked so I can't be sure. He
barely poops because he barely eats, and I'm never on time to get a
fresh sample when he does! Has anyone got any ideas about what might be
wrong with this baby? What are the symptoms of FIP? What about a
pyloric valve stenosis, which killed a kitten I fostered a few years
ago? He did a lot of throwing up, but the vet I was using back then
took him and kept him for a week until he had to be put down, so I don't
know what the symptoms were to compare with this kitten. Thanks y'all,
-- Laurie --