My poor kitten is going downhill - scared

[tortietimestwo]

Hi

I've already posted another thread about my two little torties (10 months) who are very shy and have been hiding a lot. We got them from a lovely local shelter nearly 2 weeks ago and they've been fixed, flead, vaccinated and wormed on schedule.

As far as we can see they've been eating, drinking, grooming and using their litter trays. They were starting to settle in and come out around us a bit, but had to go to vets last Friday for weepy eyes and have been having twice daily eye drops since. Eyes were looking brighter and I thought all was good, but the littlest one seems to have gone downhill in the last day or so. She's not eaten at all, had diarrhoea on carpet, barely drank and was super listless.

We got her to vet this morning, who gave her an antibiotic/anti-inflammatory shot. He said it could be cat flu that's dragging on a bit. He also weighed her and said she's 1.2kg and should be 2kg so she's underweight, although I was told she has always been very slight.

We've had her on wet food that we know from the shelter she liked and she's been ok with it, but now she's not touching it. As they're still hiding a bit, he told us to move her into the bathroom so we can keep an eye on her. I'm just really hoping she picks up and starts eating, I'm going to try her on some cooked chicken as well.

Just a bit beside myself about her and could do with a hand hold! I really want her to be ok.

Here she is:

I was just thinking that too! You really seem tuned into them - you must have a strong caternal instinct! 😁😻

@Compash ❤I am weirdly obsessed with doing cat research as I was nervous about never having had pets before. Having DH around also helps as he is an experienced cat person and a bit of a cat whisperer (cats are always randomly coming up to him in the street).

Here she is again having a play! Would love to share more pics of the other one but she's too wiley and whisks away when I get out the camera 🤣.

Awwww!

Me looking at the photo thinking 'hm I could do with hoovering that carpet' 😳

Gorgeous photos of her playing! I'm so glad the two of them can be back together, and I'm sure she'll teach the other one how to trust and love humans.

She's looking a lot brighter, isn't she? Lovely to see.

I bet your DH is really enjoying having them around too... 😻😻

Lovely to see her looking so perky!

Caught the two of them being super cute on the cuddle chair! Only went to the kitchen to get something and lost my chair to kitties...the life of a cat owner!

The tissue was very fascinating, she was playing with it for ages haha.

Looking very relaxed on their cuddle chair!
Have you any cardboard boxes?
My cat loves a box, I always treat him to a new one when I pop to lidl.

@Sunshineandrainbow We have two cardboard boxes in different sizes out but they haven't shown much interest so far!

Such a lovely set of pictures @tortietimestwo , love the one where they are stretched out especially as to me that shows they are relaxed! Getting better and better every day, hurray!

@Pudmyboy That's my favourite picture too, they look all comfy!

Little is like a different cat this week and full of energy, she really must have been feeling poorly before.

Good afternoon from the little ladies (yes they've left a lot of treat crumbs on the carpet, I shall need to whip the hoover out soon).

They've been out and about a fair bit although little sadly has had a bit of diarrhoea this morning again. She's not eaten anything different, but she was back to eating cat biscuits not long after and seems alert so I think she's ok for the minute.

I did block off the space under and behind the cuddle chair last night as one of them was still there a lot of the time and apparently you should gently challenge cats by providing other hiding spots, so I hope that hasn't caused them too much stress and led to the funny tummy. The other one ended up behind the fridge, bless her, but she's come out now.

They have loads of other hiding places like cat igloos, the cat tree boxes, cardboard boxes etc so they have plenty of other places to go. Maybe they just need to adjust a bit more but I hope I didn't do the wrong thing there!

I think you are going to be fine. Beautiful babies x

Gorgeous girls. And plainly growing more trusting by the day.

Tummy troubles can take a while to clear up fully, but I have no doubt kitten little is in very good hands.

I agree, tummy trouble takes a while to settle - our little girl has IBD and it took a lot of trial and error to find food that agreed with her - she's currently fine on Purina Sensitive Dry and some non-grain wet stuff from Pets at Home. But the slightest deviation from her diet throws her off for a few days - it's hard to resist when she's begging for tuna or bacon but they really cause a blow out! And yes, anything she perceives as a stressor too. 🤢

But if you're making changes, you need to go slooowly and patiently. Luckily it sounds like you're that kind of person anyway!

They really are looking better. Look at you, with your little family cats! 😻😻

I say 'begging'... I mean 'demanding with menaces...'. 😼

They are certainly getting demanding @Compash when I had my lunch today one of them was trying to drink from my can and eat from my plate 🤣.

Alas, the gunky eyes have struck again today, in both cats. We have another set of eye drops so I think I'll just start them on those today and watch out to make sure they aren't feeling too unpleasant. They seem bright, alert and happy although the non-little is slightly sneezy.

I do hope the cat flu will clear up fully soon and they aren't constantly plagued by it, poor little mites. Could these kitties just not make me worry for them for ONE DAY. That's all I ask 🐈

how are your little ones doing? I hope the cat flu symptoms have cleared up again and that they're getting on well!

Just wondering how the Terrific Twosome are doing... 😄

Aw hello, sorry for not spotting these replies to the thread!

They're doing ok and smallest has put on more weight, her tummy is still dodgy though and she's had blood in her loose stools on and off. Otherwise alright though and vet didn't seem concerned, said it was probably stress and advised we keep giving her pro-kaolin and fortiflora probiotic on her food. Hasn't cleared up yet but hopefully it will. Considering starting them on l-lysine as well to keep down any cat flu outbreaks.

They went all weird and fussy with their wet food and have finally settled on Whiskas after eschewing the high quality stuff, not wanting to change the food again.

The other one has become very cuddly and rubs herself against our legs for strokes which is super sweet! We are still working on tiny, but given she's been unwell on and off and hates the kaolin paste she isn't super friendly yet. Praying we can clear up that dodgy tum soon but she is very cute as always.

@Compash @ella142 The other one this morning 🥰

Kaolin worked & fortiflora worked really well for my girl when she had colitis.

Thanks @Toddlerteaplease how long did you need to use it for before you saw an improvement?

I think she only had it for a few days. Her colitis was caused by a change in food. I was very surprised, as I'd only swapped from Iams indoor cat, to Iams senior. So swapped back immediately.