Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I adopted two four-moth-old kittens from the same litter about three weeks ago, from an animal rescue association. They both had a bit of a cold when I got them, with third eyelids up and mild sneezing.

I gave them four drops of echinacea tincture and four drops of goldenseal twice a day for seven days, along with some vitamin C, and now one of them is perfectly fine, but the other is still sick. Her third eyelids are not so bad, but she started sneezing more often, with just a little clear and watery nasal discharge. She has had very liquid diarrhea for the past two days, no matter what food I give her (Innova dry food and wet food, they are used to having a little bit of each every day)

They have not been tested for FeLV/FIV yet, but will be very soon.

What would you recommand to alleviate my kitten's diarrhea? I thought of fasting her on chicken broth, but I wouldn't want her to get weak.

She has very good appetite, drinks a lot (probably normal with dry food?), plays a lot with her sister and doesn't seem feverish or dull in any way. Her coat is shiny and I inspected her bottom for worms but didn't see any traces of them.

Thanks for your help!

PS: I've been feeding them the Innova dry food because that's what the rescue person recommanded, but they have half and half with Innova canned food, plus some fresh, raw turkey every day.

I read up about the raw diet possibility, and am planning on switching them to Dr Pitcairn's raw diet recipe very soonly.

The lady that rescued them said she had dewormed them, but she has dozens of cats in dubious hygiene conditions in her house... I have some homeopathic worm medicine called "Homeopet Wrm Clear", would you suggest I use this on them just in case they might have been re-infected by worms before I got them?

It would not hurt to deworm them. As for the diarrhea, stop all commercial food and feed them raw hamburger, the cheapest you can find, as it has the most fat. The diarrhea should be gone within 4 days.

Thank you so much for your comforting advice!

I have fasted them on homemade chicken broth for about 20h, and fed them only raw turkey and chicken this morning, by small quantities. I will go get them hamburger today. I usually sprinkle a softgel of cod liver oil on their meat once a day, would you recommand that I keep on doing it, or should I wait til the diarrhea is gone?

I read in one other thread that you did not recommand including any grain in a raw food diet, what then should be the proportions? 80% meat and 20% vegetables with vitamin and mineral complement?

What are signs of worsening in an upper respiratory infection? The cat doesn't cough, her third eyelids no longer show, she is very active and eats well. She does sneeze often though, most of the time spraying only watery discharge, but on occasion there will a little bit of green mucus. Will this go away on its own? What can I do to help her heal?

As far as food goes, meat and bone is fine for a cat, but it is also helpful to grow some wheat grass for the cat to chew on, if it wants so. Many cats also like to chew on Spiderplants. If you have leftover vegetables, put them down for the cat to pick through. Do not grind up meat and vegetables together, for then the cat may refuse all if there is one thing it dislikes.
As to the sneezing, homeopathic Arsenicum album 30c, given twice a day, should clear this in a few days.

Thanks a lot, I will try that. How many pellets should I give each time? Two?

I gave her Podophyllum twice (morning and night, twice pellets ecah time, the day before yesterday), would that be compatible with using Arsenicum Album?

It is better to use only one remedy at a time. Arsenicum album is often indicated in situations where the cat has diarrhea.