Conference misery::feline_v1

    I have had cats with upper respiratory viruses (kitty flu; sounds like
    this is what Buster and Charlie have) that lingered for around 3 weeks. 
    What you are dealing with is a virus which the immune system must fight
    on it's own.  The antibiotics won't clear it up, but will help prevent
    any secondary infections.
    
    In the past, I have had very good luck with Cefatabs or Cefadrops.  The
    strongest dose of antibiotcs would be Keflex, I believe.  Cefa is a
    derivitive of this.  You didn't mention what your vet put the kittens
    on after the amoxi.  In our house, when amoxi and clavamox don't work,
    I ask for cefatabs.  Most of the time, I will request cefatabs because
    we've had such good luck with them.
    
    Worst case scenario here is that your kittens' colds are a symptom of a
    much greater problem.  If things don't improve soon, you might ask your
    vet to conduct a more thorough exam and maybe take some xrays of the
    chest and lungs.
    
    --Roberta
    

    Oh, and PLEASE DON'T administer any medication on your own, without
    approval from your vet.
    
    Usually the immune system will build up a resistance to an antibiotic
    and then it is a matter of switching off until you find something that
    works.
    

DO NOT give your kitties Tylenol! Tylenol (tablets) is lethal to cats; 
I assume Tylenol Cold Medicine would have the same effect. You should not 
give a cat ANY people medicine unless your vet has told you it's ok. 

Hope the little guys get well soon!

Linda

    Re: .1 - The antibiotic I received after the Amoxicillin was Clavamox. 
    I just couldn't remember the name of it.  
    
    So, Cefatabs, Cefadrops, and Keflex are all antibiotics and stronger 
    than the Clavamox?  If so, maybe I should ask the vet for that.
    
    Re:  .2 and .3 - Thanks for the warnings.

    Yes, the cefa is stronger than the clavamox.  Keflex is even stronger
    than both.  My kitties never responded to the clavamox very well.
    

    re: previous
    
    I was *really* intrigued about the use of a decongestant (I am NOT
    talking here about an antihistamine, btw).  I have been wondering
    for a long time why we can't help our little kits breathe while
    they are fighting the URI virus.  I mean, *I* take a decongestant
    to help temporarily relieve cold symptoms...
    
    As for the Heavy Hitter Antibiotics for URI,
    
    	<set mini-flame on>
    
    Please use restraint on ALL antibiotics for Upper Respiratory
    Infection.  As was previously mentioned, usually these are caused
    by a VIRUS, and antibiotics are NOT effective against viruses.
    However, an antibiotic CAN help fight a secondary bacterial infection,
    or even help to prevent one taking hold.  So, if it is used for
    prevention, which is a frequent situation, use something like
    amoxicillin.  *SAVE THE HEAVY HITTERS FOR WHEN THEY ARE REALLY
    NEEDED.*  Using them routinely can lead to a <heavy_hitter>resistant
    strain.  Of course, using amoxi can lead to an amoxi-resistant
    strain, but if that happens, then you can pull out the big guns,
    the heavy hitters.  But if you end up with a HH-resistant strain,
    good luck!  None of us wants to face that.  And worse, these strains,
    like any other, can be contagious... leading to tricky_to_treat
    illness for other animals as well as the original one(s).
    
    <flame off, sorry>
    
    	Pennie

    Pennie, I agree with you and should have mentioned it.  My vet was
    hesitant to write me a script for antibiotics just to have on hand
    because she felt that it could lead to resistance and then when we
    really needed it it wouldn't work.  She doesn't believe in overusing
    any type of antibiotic.
    
    I thought since .0's kitties have been sick for so long they might need
    a stronger course of meds.
    
    BTW, When TK had a URI two years ago the vet was going to give him a
    shot of Benadryl to help decongest his lungs
    

    Maybe a thorough cleaning/disinfecting of the house 
    & areas where the kittens eat, use the litterbox, sleep,
    etc. might help.  They could just be passing it
    back & forth, only to pick up the germs again and the
    whole thing starts all over.
    
    DO NOT USE Lysol, though....it is poisonous to cats.
            
    A bleach & water solution, (1 part bleach to a gallon of
    H2O) or something your vet recommends should be fine.
    
    Lynne

    Re: .8 - We thoroughly clean the house every week, so hopefully there
    aren't too many germs they are picking back up, except from each other.
    
    I have heard several people say that Lysol is poisonous to cats.  Are
    you referring to the liquid cleaner or the spray?  I don't use Lysol
    liquid cleaner, but I do use the spray for food odors, litterbox odors,
    etc.

    BOTH!  Lysol contains phenol which is lethal to cats.
    

>    I have heard several people say that Lysol is poisonous to cats.  Are
>    you referring to the liquid cleaner or the spray?  I don't use Lysol
>    liquid cleaner, but I do use the spray for food odors, litterbox odors,
>    etc.

not healthy for the cats.  Use Mr. Clean to clean around the cats' areas
and then rinse well and dry.

Also, do not give meds to both cats with the same medicine dropper, and do
NOT use the medicine dropper in the bottle at all.  In this way, you can
prevent the cat from catching the disease from his pal, and you can keep the
medicine "clean" by not using the dropper that comes with the bottle.  Ask
the vet for enough extra dosage administration tools to take care of each
cat.  Wash each tool completely in hot soapy water after EVERY dose of meds,
and then rinse and dry thoroughly.

If you have one cat that is looking more ill than the other, isolate that
cat from the other until both cats are healthy.

Finally, have the cats checked again by the vet - if they are not running
a fever, they may need you to change their kitty litter brand because they
are allergic, or they may be allergic to other things.  However, the flu
that is going around can be real hard to beat - I know of one family with
4 cats - one of their older cats had it for a month.  

I also caution overuse of the amoxy - it won't kill a virus, but it can
kill the bacteria that help cats digest food in their intestines.  This
can further weaken a cat by preventing good nutrition.  Vets give this
stuff to us most of the time, I think, to make the humans feel better...
they have no effect on the cat unles the cat has an INFECTION.  Viruses,
flues - colds - etc. are NOT INFECTIONS.  Treat the symptoms to make your
cat comfortable and keep enough food and water in the cat, even if you
have to get force feeders from the vet and force-feed baby food and use
eye droppers to administer water.  The cat will beat the virus if you
keep it's strength up. 

    No one has mentioned this:
    
    Buy some Nutrical and put a glob in the kitty's mouth.  Nutrical is a
    high palatable nutritional supplement... a Godsend for cats with URI. 
    When TK was sick, I mixed it with babyfood and water and fed it to him
    with a syringe.  Be careful with the syringe.  Go slowly, or the cat
    can aspirate on the food.
    
    D. is right.  Gotta keep their strength up.  I always believe that if
    you give up, so do the kitties.  They rely on your strength to get
    well.
    

    Since they are a couple of replies referring to the kittens getting
    week, it made me realize that I didn't mention this before.  My kittens
    are far from being week.  They eat like little pigs, play like crazy,
    and otherwise feel fine.  They just sneeze all the time, have watery
    eyes, and at times get congested.
    
    Thanks for the hints about washing the eye droppers after each dosage. 
    The vet did give me two separate bottles of Clovamox, but I haven't
    been washing them off after each use.

    Just wondering if it could be the Lysol that is causing a reaction??? 
    Before I realized what the side effects of Lysol were I had sprayed it
    around the house and that same evening Pippin became congested, sneezed
    and coughed to the point where I thought she wouldn't be able to get
    her breath.  It triggered a sort of asthmatic reaction which required
    medication and nose drops.  The other two didn't react to it (thank
    God) but she had one he** of a time.  She's never had the problem again
    as Lysol is banned from the house.
    
    
    Giudi +3

    The ingredient in Lysol that is toxic to cats is Phenol (forgive me if
    this has been mentioned already, haven't had time to read the whole
    string).  Do not use any cleaner that contains Phenol as that will be
    toxic too.
    
    The cheapest, safest disinfectant that I know of is household bleach. 
    Dilute it 1/32 and use it to wash down surfaces, food and water bowls. 
    It will kill all the upper respiratory viruses, fungus, felv, FIP, and
    most types of parasites and worms.  
    
    Jo

    Yesterday after work I went by the vet's office and asked them about
    getting either the Cepadrops or Keflex for the kittens or if I should
    get more Clavamox and keep them on it for a longer period of time.  The
    vet said that they had Keflex but only in a tablet.  Per my request,
    they called the drugstore to see if they had it in a liquid form (as I
    have had much more success with my kittens with the liquid).  They did
    have the liquid, which I purchased and started them on last night. 
    Much to my surprise, the Keflex (or the generic brand Cephalexin which
    they sold me) is cheaper than the Clavamox.  A 10 day supply for both
    kittens was $10.00, compared to $18.00 for the Clavamox.  They said
    that the generic brand will do the same thing.
    
    As I said, I started them on the new medication last night.  I will
    keep you up-to-date on how they do with this new medication.  The only
    thing about it is that you have to give it to them 3 times a day
    instead of twice, and it smells horrible!
    
    Debbie

    I'm not going to repeat the warnings about phenol, but I'll mention
    that a  lot of folks use Lysol as an air fresher; if that is why you
    are spraying the house with it, I'd like to suggest that you try one of
    the Arm & Hammer aresol air-freshners. Their active ingrediant is
    BAKING-SODA and they contain no pheonols.
    
    Deb

    I started using this Citris spray which is 100% citris with no
    added ingrediants.  It smells like oranges and it takes care
    of the Poop smell within minutes.  Hopefully this is harmful
    to me babies.
    
    Believe it or not...I buy the spray at my hairdressers. It is
    a little bit expensive...but does the trick.
                 
    Sandy

    The Arm & Hammer "Pet Fresh" spray......I love it!!!!
    It has a scent that you can't describe as anything
    other than "Fresh"...!
    
    Lynne

    I prefer the Ozium anti-bacterial spray.  Its also expensive but
    worth it, especially with kittens around.
    

    I have been meaning to get back in here and give you an update on my
    kittens' colds.  I have a new question for you, so it reminded me that
    I never entered an update.
    
    The generic equivalent of the Keflex never did much good, so the vet
    put them back on the Clavamox for three weeks.  I gave them the
    Clavamox continuously for three weeks, and their sneezing, watery eyes,
    etc. was gone.  This was also about the time that the weather started
    getting warmer around here (North Carolina).  At the time, I thought
    maybe it was just a coincidence, but now I am wondering if the colder
    weather doesn't really have something to do with it.  
    
    About a month ago, we had a little cold spell and the kittens started
    sneezing again and their eyes started watering.  A had one bottle of
    Clavamox left that I had gotten from the vets (still in powder form),
    so I mixed it up and started them back on it.  Well, within a few days
    everything was fine, and the weather also warmed up again.  Just this
    past week, we have had another cold spell.  The kittens haven't really
    been sneezing that much, but their eyes are watering (or have a lot of
    "cold" in them).  Otherwise they seem fine.
    
    Has anyone ever heard of the cold weather bothering kittens like this? 
    I was wondering if maybe their immune system just isn't fighting off
    the colds well enough.  This leads me to my next question - should I be
    giving them some sort of vitamin supplements?  Will their immune
    systems be able to better fight off colds when they get older?
    
    I would greatly appreciate any help you can give.
    
    Debbie

    Debbie..
    
    I just want to share that within the last couple of weeks the
    shelter I work for has had a few problems with URI.  The vet
    said it is due to the constant changes in the weather.  It's very hot
    during the day (85)...and down to about (40) at night...the
    cat's body just can't adjust.  The shelter is damp too!!
    
    Hope you can control this problem soon!!!   Keep us posted.
    
    Sandy

Well, up here in New Hampshire, we get a little cold weather, but my 6 cats
don't seem to react to it.  Where in NC are you??  If you're inland, maybe
it's some type of allergy; same for all the pine pollen at the coast.  Kittens
aren't as hearty as we like to think they are, but yours seem unusually
sneazy.  I don't know what to tell you.  If you're feeding them a good
quality kitten food, they shouldn't need extra vitamins.  You might ask
the vet for a supplement for them; they've got some vitamins that come
in a tube, like toothpaste, that my guys just love.

Mary

    Have the kittens received their vaccinations yet?  Lots of times the
    modified live vaccines will cause kittens to get runny eyes and sneezes
    a few days after vaccination.  The reason I ask is that you describe
    three bouts of colds in all the kittens, and I usually vaccinate my
    kittens three times.  Just thought there may be a connection there.
    
    If you find that it is related to vaccines, try switching to killed
    virus vaccines next time.  I have had no colds or other reactions with
    killed virus vaccines.
    
    Jo

    Re: .24 
    
    The kittens have had all their vaccinations, but it has been a month or
    so since they received their last one.  I don't know about the rest of
    them, but I do know that the rabies vaccination was killed.

>    About a month ago, we had a little cold spell and the kittens started
>    sneezing again and their eyes started watering.  A had one bottle of
>    Clavamox left that I had gotten from the vets (still in powder form),
>    so I mixed it up and started them back on it.  Well, within a few days
>    everything was fine, and the weather also warmed up again.  Just this
>    past week, we have had another cold spell.  The kittens haven't really
>    been sneezing that much, but their eyes are watering (or have a lot of
>    "cold" in them).  Otherwise they seem fine.
    
it sounds as if they may be reacting to your heater....is it possible that
you haven't changed the filter recently?  If not, then your heater chould
be harboring some nasty things that get blown into the environment -- you
might be more immune than the kittens.

have your heater serviced and the filter changed before you get any more
cold weather...it might do wonders.

    Do they have a place to stay out of drafts?
    

    Re: .26 - We haven't had the heater on in a few months as it hasn't
    gotten quite that cold when it cools down.  We have had the air
    conditioner on, but we do keep the filter changed regularly.
    
    Re: .27 - Yes, they have free run of the entire house.