What should I do ? New kittens ill

[leo_phoenix_slo]

Hi everyone Im new to this forum and was wondering if anyone can give me some advice please.
I bought 2 bengal kittens just over a week ago, and within a day they both got diahorrea I thought it might of been the upset of moving , but then one of them was sick aswell and developed quite a bad eye infection practically overnight. I took them to the vets and the vet gave me some eye drops for him and said that the other kitten was fine and to bring the ill one back in 5 days. The vet also said they had worms as their stomachs are quite bloated I have now treated them for that. That day I rang the breeder and told her , all she really said was they are sensitive animals and she was sorry they were ill and that she had always wormed them. His eyes havent got worse but they havent got better either and he still has diahorrea. I am taking him back to the vets on wednesday.
I know that the breeders cats did have eye infections a few weeks ago as it delayed us in collecting our kittens because they couldnt have their 2nd vaccinatin done.Until it had cleared up. Any suggestions would be great.

[dinahsmum]

How old are they?
What are you feeding them?
What did the breeder feed them?
Are they bright in themselves - playing, grooming?
Are they looking for food?
Are they drinking?

Sorry to answer your questions with more questions but the answers will help.

[leo_phoenix_slo]

They are 4 months old , the vet told me to feed them cooked chicken and white fish for a week and then I could put them on any food I liked after that, the breeder fed them whiskas (dry food),the one with the eye infection doesnt run around as much as the other one but they both always eat their food and drink water. They play together .

[dinahsmum]

I'd agree with the vet and restrict them to invalid food (boiled chicken or white fish) in lots of tiny meals till their tummies settle. With an older cat I'd say starve them for 24 hours (other than having fresh water available at all times) to get rid of the tummy problems. You may not want to try this with your babies as it will be tough on them and on you :(
If Wednesday is the end of the current course of eye drops I'd continue with them and just take the kit back to the vet on Wednesday as planned. If it gets worse I'd get an urgent appointment.

I forgot to say welcome to Catsey. Hope you'll stick around and tell us more about your new babies. It must be disappointing for you to have these problems as soon as you bring them home, after you had been looking forward to the fun side of pet-keeping.

[Jac]

You have done the right thing by taking them to the Vet. I would aso maybe bath there eyes with some saline water between the eye drops.

[alexgirl73]

hmm, I suspect the breeder is telling a few porkies here! I would go with what your vet advises you to do. but please be warned, I had an exotic kitten who came to me with all sorts of problems and it has taken almost a year to get her to the point of normality! Hopefully your kittens will perk up much more quickly though.

[leo_phoenix_slo]

Thanks for your replies. I suspected the breeder could possibly be lying about worming. How can i prove this? Its obvious the kitten was ill before he came to us as its pretty unlikely that this would happen the first day we got him home. If this is the case what can i do??

[Jac]

I had a similar problem when I got my little bengal. You could report her. Did you get a pedigree and registration certificate. Is she a registered breeder?

[Moli]

Regarding the breeder not sure you can do anythin g, I would just worm them and bathe their eyes, keep an eye on them, and if at all worried, take them back to the vet...

[leo_phoenix_slo]

She is a registered breeder and we are awaiting pedigree and registration docs from her. Another annoying thing is that she tells us that they both had their vaccinations but we only have proof of one but we are not even sure that the cards belong to our cats as there is no description or name on the card. A pretty bad experience all round.

[dinahsmum]

There seem to be a lot of get-rich-quick merchants in animal breeding l-p-s :( . Yours isn't the first tale like this on the forum, don't suppose it will be the last. It's awful to think that they are happy to cheat the purchasers and to risk the health of the animals they cause to be brought into the world. :smt021 . She's got your money (quite a lot of money too, I suspect) and now she doesn't care.
The vaccination muddle/con is awful. Are your babies not microchipped either?
Anyway, they're yours now and you can make sure they get over this so-so start and grow into happy, healthy, cats.
Speak to your vet about the whole shebang and take his/her advice about how to go forward. Maybe vaxx & worming for both, maybe something else.
Good luck and please stick around and let us see how your fur-babes get on.

[Mags]

I can't add anything to the great advice you have already received above ........just hope your babies will soon be better and you can start enjoying them..:)

Welcome to Catsey ......... good luck and I hope you will keep us updated as to their progress..:)

[Jac]

Just a thought. On the vacc card there should be an address or phone number of the vet that was used. You could phone and explain that there seem's to be a mix up as there is only one rcorded vaccination. See what they say.

If you really do feel you have to report this person then do so. It may help future kittens.

When I got my little bengal the house was filthy! To be honest I didn't take my daughter in the second time as she asked what the smell was, it was so disgusting and Moli will vouch for me as she was there.
I know people complained. It hasnt stopped her as she now breeds another breed of cat but doesn't breed bengals anymore.
Your breeder is the kind that gives the rest a bad name.

[Booktigger]

Sorry to hear you have had a bad experience with a breeder, it really annoys me. Bengals however are known for having sensitive tums, and moving in general can cause a slight tummy upset. I personally wouldn't put them back on Whiskas (although you do need to do any food swapping slowly), and am surprised a Bengal breeder would feed it to be honest. I have known of Bengals having to have sensitive food up until the age of 1 because of a sensitive tum.

[mable1718]

sorry to hear about this

[Fran]

What a terrible experience for you :( Are they sneezing at all? Have a look at both their tongues, have they any sore red areas on them?

I do hope they pick up quickly and you can start to enjoy your new furbabies x

[leo_phoenix_slo]

Hi
Thanks for all of your replys. We took the kittens back to the vets today for their check up. It turns out the other kitten now has the eye infection . The vet said the infection had not gone in the other kitten and he said they are very sick kittens. As a result of this he tested them for feline aids and leukemia which have come back negative and we have to wait 14 days for the results of herpes and chlamydia. The vet also said they have ear mites, and one of the kittens has a slight heart murmer.
These poor kittens now have to continue with eye drops twice a day and tablet antibiotic for ten days , aswell as being sedated and having blood tests , skin, mouth and eye swabs today. I rang the breeder and she was very defensive and said they werent ill when she sold them and she had treated them for ear mites and worms basically our vet didnt know what he was talking about !?!
The breeders answer to it all was for us to give her the kittens back her vet would cure them and then she will resell them. Obviously we will not be giving them back.All we can do now is await the test results......

[Jac]

I'm so sorry to be reading this. I really do hope your babies make a full and speedy recovery.

[MrsH]

Oh dear, I'm sorry about the problems you're having. The breeder doesn't seem at all helpful (that's me being generous!) Hope everything is okay when the test results come back.

[rustyducko]

Hi, I cannot believe what I have just read, my 2 bengals kittens have had exactly the same health problems,they are both improving slowly on Natures Menu kitten food and Royal Canin kitten dry food, and nothing else !!!! the conjuncivitus has cleared up in one (he has now got a runny nose and sneezing) but now the younger one has a runny eye, she is so skittish I am unable to adminster the eye cream, the only time we tried she scratched us both badly and weed on my husbands lap, poor girl ! Best of luck


Sue x

[Fran]

Oh Sue, sorry to be reading this :( and how strange that both you and the op both have Bengal kittens :?

Have you tried wrapping your kitties firmly in a towel, so that they are unable to get their legs out to adminster the eye cream? I do so hope your babies get better soon x

[dinahsmum]

it's sad to hear of someone else having trouble with their bengal babies.
I hope they are soon fit and fine and driving you insane!

[leo_phoenix_slo]

Just an update the kittens are still ill. It turns out they have chlamydia and we have been continuing with some other eye drops which are really hard to get in them. They also both have heart murmours and 1 of them vomits quite a lot and has blood in his toilet. We sent him back to the vets and he was tested for various things , parasite , food intolerence etc. Those tests came back negative we have him on a priscription diet which seems to stop the sickness but not the blood in his toilet. As you can imagine we have spent hundreds in the vets, they are insured but you still have to pay upfront and you lose the excess each time. Other than that the kittens are putting on weight all the time and now have been micro chipped and love being in the garden. The breeder told me a few weeks ago that she thought the kittens had chlamydia before she sold them and the father of one of them also has blood in his toilet. I feel so angry because she never told us this to start with.

[dinahsmum]

I share your anger at this 'breeder'.
Leave aside all the financial bit (and it's not so easy to leave aside on a personal basis, and more and more cases like this put up general insurance costs for everyone) it's such a shame that the kits are having their babyhood inhibited by illness and you are going through all the stress when your major worry ought to be that they are abseiling up your legs :?
As well as Rustyducko talking about her bengal babies here, our long standing member Jac has had terrible trouble with her raggie baby Caspurr who has been ill with calici (I think) virus, from the breeder.
Grrr, for you all and spiiiiit to the bad breeders :(