Kitten suddenly sick

[BuzzieCat]

We've had a stray female kitten for about a week.  She is only about 6 weeks old.  She has seemed fine although she sleeps a lot more than I would have expected.  Other than that, she is active, plays with toys, runs around, seems good natured, etc.  She has had her distemper vaccine and been wormed, also had a flea treatment, but is too young for other shots yet.

Today out of the blue she suddenly acted like she was in pain.  She just started squeaking and crying when touched, even just lightly on her head.  Being moved or touched at all just makes her cry.  She was not like this at all, perfectly happy and fine, only a few hours ago.  What the heck IS this?  She has been having soft BMs and urinating fine.

[BuzzieCat]

We left her alone today and just let her do her thing.  We're going to pick up a pill from the vet rather than have to take her in again.  I guess we could consider waiting a little longer to give it to her.  She has done well all day again today, no signs of whatever that weird illness was.

[opus88]

well theres good news and bad news both...I'm glad kitty is feeling better....this is only my opinion that I'm going to suggest so take it as you will and make your own decision. kitty is only 6 weeks old and to have vaccines/wormers and flea meds all into her system at one time is alot to absorb. she could have had an allergy or other reaction to any or all of these.
Since tapeworm meds can be quite harsh, if I were you I would allow kitty to heal well and overcome whatever it was that affected her before attempting to administer another dewormer, and IMO I would only subject her to ONE med or vaccine per visit than if it should happen again you would know what the culprit is..
best of luck to you and the little one, please continue to post anytime.

♥Opus

[BuzzieCat]

Just as an update, she has been her usual perky self all day today.  Running around, chasing toys, pestering us to death, etc.  She resists her antibiotic drops and eye ointment quite vehemently - she's very strong for such a little thing!

Our wonderful discovery of today, however, is that she still has tapeworms!  We took her a few days ago and they gave her treatments for certain worms but not tapeworms.  For some bizarre reason, they said bring her back if she has tapeworms.  We then noticed she had tapeworms, so we took her back for treatment for that.  Now today she has tapeworms some more.  Just great.  I wonder if the tapeworms could have made her feel sick or if the treatment for it made her sick.  Kind of dreading having to take her again for that, as maybe she will become ill again.  It has just been a never-ending vet trip with this kitten!

[Piparskeggr]

Hey, thanks for the better news =)

I know that sense of loss when a long time companion passes on to wherever it is they go.

I also tend to believe that out little fur-friends watch out over us afterwards.

Hope the good progress continues!

Pip

[BuzzieCat]

Yes, they did give her the distemper vaccine when her eyes were runny.  I have had cats in the past who have seemed ill for a day or two after getting vaccinations each year, but I guess I just wasn't expecting such a strange reaction - she went from fine to very sick so quickly.

Thanks for the support and suggestions, guys.  It does make sense that she either shouldn't have had a vaccination while sick or that the shot itself could have given her a reaction.  I do feel better that she seems back to being perkier now.  We recently had our elderly (19 YO) cat pass away so I guess I am super sensitive that any symptom a cat displays automatically means death.

[BuzzieCat]

She seems more back to her normal self now, not fussing when petted, able to play with toys, eating, drinking, using the box.  Her body maybe seems a little warm.  So weird.  The more I think about it, the more confused I am.  They had originally told us she had a "cold" (viral?) and that's why her eyes were runny.  Now they're giving her antibiotic drops (for bacteria)?  Ugh!

[zodiacqueen]

Did they give her a vaccine when her eyes were runny?  If they did, they shouldn't have done that while she was sick.  That is very bad for animals!!!  The shot could've made the URI worse.  That could be what's made her worse.  OR, it could also be a reaction to the vaccine itself.  Some kitties react badly to their shots to the point of getting fevers.

Let the antibiotics kick in over the next day or so.  I bet she'll be back to her old spunky self in no time!!

Please come on back if she's not eating or drinking, we've got some tips that can help!

Best wishes!
ZQ

[Piparskeggr]

Thanks for the update.

With the care you describe, kitty should make a good recovery; the young can be amazingly resiliant. =)

(Me, I don't bounce back as good as I did ;-)

Take care - Pip

[BuzzieCat]

We took her to the vet and they think it's an upper respiratory infection.  She had drops for her eyes because they were runny, but now they think the URI has worsened and she now has antibiotic drops.  They said she should get better quickly, but I'm still scared because they could be wrong.  She still cries when touched so she is just lying in her carrier with the door open in case she wants to come out.  She looks around when spoken to but doesn't get up and can't be touched.

[Piparskeggr]

No idea, but sudden pain is something that you should take kitty back to the vet for investigation.

Hopefully it is not a delayed sensitivity to one of the meds given her so far...

Keep us posted - Pip