kittens eye infection - wrong treatment?

planetX

I've taken in a stray with 6 week old kittens. they all have sore looking eyes, but the smallest has an infection where there is no eyeball visible, even though the eye is open. Took them to a vet a week ago, he gave them each a shot of antibiotic, and gave me a tube of Fucidin. A week on and there's no improvement at all, and I'm wondering if this is the best treatment - is there any hope for that eye. Money is tight, but if I can find out if there's something better for them I'll go to a different vet. Have no faith left in the last one, the mother cat was wormed there a month ago and I've just found she's shedding tapeworm eggs. It was a half of a big pill they gave her, I'm wondering if it was a dog pill that didn't cover tapeworm?

One last thing - when should I spay the mother cat? She is still allowing the kittens to feed, but is usually climbing up high to get away from them.
Thanks for any advice, I don't want to make an unnecessary and expensive vet trip.

boomerang

Hi OP,



Obviously the long-acting antibiotic (was it Convenia?) has not worked. Fucidin is also of limited use as it only fights certain strains of bacteria.

They need to go on antibiotic tablets. Ronaxan are fantastic. And a broad-spectrum antibiotic ointment for their eyes, like chloromycetin.

The treatment they were given is not working and the wee fella will lose the eye if you don't start a new treatment.

I would definitely seek out another vet, and get the kittens started on worming now too. Drontal or Milbemax both treat roundworms and tapeworms.

Re: neutering the momma cat - the kittens need to stay with her until at least 10 weeks of age. I would wait to neuter until kittens are rehomed at 10 weeks plus, otherwise their suckling could interfere with the wound healing or could accidentally hurt her. Plus her milk will have dried up by then.

planetX

Thankyou, wish to hell I'd taken them in today - it'll be tuesday now before I can get them to the expensive vet. If only I'd gone there to start with:(
I can't even start looking to home these kittens till I sort this out.

Also couldn't get a straight answer from vet about the risk to my own cats. their vaccinations are up to date, and the new cats are isolated in one room.

boomerang

Give your foster momma cat and her kittens totally separate food bowls, litter tray, bedding etc. to your own cats for the length of their stay. Wash your hands after handling the kitties, and if they sneeze or cough on you, change your top before cuddling with your own cats.

Poor little kitty with the swollen eye.

carwash_2006

For the weekend try bathing the eyes at least 3 times a day, bicarbonate of soda is brilliant, also chamomile tea. If you steep a chamomile teabag and then keep the liquid in a squeezy bottle in the fridge it makes it fairly handy for doing it.

To be honest for the little guy with the really bad eye I would be bathing it every hour at the moment. Possibly with bicarb 3 times a day and then at other times with the chamomile. It's really important that the eye is sorted out asap. There is a chance he could lose it at this stage anyway, but they do very well even if they do lose an eye, hopefully it won't come to that though.

I would definitely try and find a more proactive vet by the sound of things. Your own cats should be fairly ok though if their vaccinations are up to date, but nobody can say for sure which is possibly why the vet was reluctant to give a proper answer. If they were to get infected it would more than likely be a much milder dose as their immune systems would be much better able to fight it off. Stray cats and kittens are much more susceptible to flu partly due to the worms and also the poor nutrition they have probably been suffering from.

Hope they all come on in leaps and bounds now for you.

mymo

Hi OP, for worming kittens Parazole is very good, its a liquid and works out quite cheap too, every two weeks until 12 weeks is the normal worming program.
The sore eyes are probably due to cat flu, it often can be hard to shift, and I would go back to the vets, last kitten I treated for it took a shot of antibiotics and 10 days of tablets after that.
Where are you based?
If there's a rescue nearby they may help by referring you to a vet they use. I got help to get two females spayed that I found, they referred me to the vet they used who neutered them very cheap.

Also keep their fluids up, if you give them wet food add a little warm water to make it a little soupy, cats aren't great to drink and when sick even worse.

planetX

thanks so much for replies, a few more questions...

To bathe the kittens eye - would that mean using cotton wool soaked in the solution, or is there a better way?

I asked this vet to worm the kittens and he said not to yet... was this also incorrect:(

I had hoped to start letting the poor mamma cat out into the rest of the house for a stretch, but I guess that's not a great idea. I have them confined to a small bedroom, as I have our new puppy in the kitchen, and my own very annoyed and upset cats in the rest of the house.

Will post pictures in the rehoming section when I get their eyes cleared up. They're super cute - 1 ginger and white male, 1 ginger female and the little ginger and white female with one eye who's the bravest and naughtiest of them all. The mother is just a kitten too, about 8 months old.

mymo

I know your vet said not to worm them yet, but did he say why?

I've always wormed kittens from 2 weeks old with the Parazole, its measured by weight, so ideal for small kittens. It's the first thing my vet asks when he see's animals, when were they last wormed and what is the regime. Seems odd to tell you not to worm stray kittens. The worm burden would be very hard on their systems and makes it harder for them to fight off infection.

I think I've seen the parazole in petmania, its a yellow box with a white bottle in it, they may be open today if you want to try it.

planetX

He didn't say why - I was a bit overwhelmed the day I brought them in, and didn't ask questions (was still in shock with being handed all these cats)
Afterwards I thought maybe it was because they'd just had a big shot of antibiotic.
I've heard this vet is great with dogs, I just get the strong impression that he doesn't like cats (actually its mutual with one of mine). Unfortunately his prices are good, so I usually go there for the annual boosters. His quote for the spay was 27 euro cheaper than the vet i'll be heading into on tues
I've been trying to contact rescues here and they're spectacularly unhelpful. As the vet told me - the country is awash with kittens. Something has to be done to encourage more neutering:mad:

mymo

Sadly there are vets that don't seem to like animals at all, I changed vets some years ago after a very bad experience with a vet that clearly hated cats. (I was told it would be cheaper to put the cat down or let it die and get another, than treat it for cat flu) That vet was a farm animal vet, he had great time for them, but none for small animals.
I would go with worming if I were you, its a week since the injection so should be fine, it'll take 2 doses (if I remember right) of the parazole, it comes with a little syringe to dose them, weigh each kitten and dose individually. You can use it on the mother too. If you struggle with the syringe try mixing it into a little cat food.
The rescues in this country are over run at the moment, and have no money, but may be able to give advice.

boomerang

Bathe the eyes while the solution is still warm - they find it soothing and it helps to dissolve the crusts. Use a new piece of cotton wool for each eye. Squeeze it well. Be really gentle with it, and move from the outside to the inside. (That way you're not spreading infected "sleep" from the tear duct to the rest of the eyelid.) If their eyelids are glued shut with goop I let the warm cotton wool pad sit for a bit to help break it up and they seem to like it.

If they have any crusts on their nose or snot that you can see, I use the warm, damp cotton wool to clean their noses up too so they're more comfortable and can breathe more easily. (Separate piece of cotton wool.)

planetX

thanks for all the great advice:D
I'm going to spend the money to get them into good shape before (hopefully) finding homes for them. If I can't I'm going to have 6 cats:eek:
again thanks, it's the first time I've looked after such young kittens. It's so much fun:D

ladyjuicy08

My kitten has had conjutivitus since I got it tried every eye ointment going vet ran test he tested positive for calicivirus vet says he prob get recurrent bout forever am currently using eye drops name not handy it seems to be clearing it for the moment but vet says best keeps eyes bathed and as clear as poss

planetX

Hi, back again.
Mamma cat neutered and doing fine. Kitten with the bad eye is going to lose it:(

But I was just taking some photos and have noticed a problem with one of the other kittens



Her eye comes out like that in every photo - I'm thinking she's blind in that eye?
I'm so sad.

Wisco

The reflection you're seeing in the eyes is the tapetum, which all mammals (except pigs and people AFAIK) have- it's what you see when an animal's eyes glow in headlights on the road, etc. Aside from that, it's very difficult to see the problems of the eye in this picture.
As for worming, I'd recommend Milbemax tablets (they cover all types of worms) every 2 weeks from 2 weeks of age til 12 weeks, then reduce the frequency. I do not recommend buying any worm/flea products from the likes of Petmania as they are not licensed to sell prescription meds, which all good wormers are (vets/chemists will sell them over the counter without prescription however)
My advice as to your vet would be to seek a second opinion, preferably in a small animal only practice, or with a vet who deals primarily with small animals.

planetX

It's the different colour of the reflection that alerted me - maybe that isn't the best photo. I've taken loads, and in every single one the left eye of that kitten comes out yellow, where all the other eyes reflect green. From googling it, it seems that camera flash can reveal eye defects.

this shows it better



anyone seen this before?