# Desperately worried about Lucy



## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Apologies to those who have heard this already:

Lucy produced five kittens 14 days ago. She is six years old and obviously this is not her first litter, she has never had any problems at all before, has fed the kittens well and still maintained her condition.

This time, she had an infection after kittening, became lethargic and started discharging pus. This was two days after the birth. I took her to the vet who said she could feel something hard in her uterus that was not large enough to be a kitten. She gave antibiotics and within a couple of hours Lucy had improved dramatically, two days later she was completely back to normal except that she had little milk. Obviously I was feeding the kittens.

Like a fool, because she was so much better, the discharge had stopped, and she was being very difficult about taking pills, I stopped giving her antibiotics after a couple of days. Six days after that, ie. nine days after the birth, she became ill again. She was so dehydrated that I honestly thought she was in end stage kidney failure and did not expect her to last the night. I resumed the antibiotics immediately and by the next morning she had picked up enough to take some interest in the kittens and start eating a little. We went back to the vet who administered more antibiotics and told me she could feel urine in the bladder and that the kidneys felt perfectly normal. We went home with lectade and instructions to return in two days, which was yesterday. Yesterday although Lucy had no milk and was still slightly (but not seriously dehydrated) she still seemed to be on the mend so we got more antibiotics and we are to return to the vet tomorrow. However now Lucy has stopped eating altogether as far as I can see. She will go and look at the food but will not actually eat it. She will drink and is drinking a lot but it is not easy to get her to take either lectade or liquivite as she just waits until I let her out of the kitten pen and then goes for the bowl of water in the kitchen. Also although she is happy to settle down with her kittens, she does not now appear to be washing them. In short, she seems to be getting worse again.

What could be wrong?

As for the kittens, one of my other girls kittened yesterday morning and produced only three, she was absolutely full of milk and so this morning I decided to try the two smallest kittens of Lucy's in with them, that seemed to be going fine (at least the poor little things got cleaned up properly, the queens can do it so much better than we can!) so I have put the other three in there too so that Dotty now has eight kittens, five of which are 14 days old and the others one day. I am not sure this is a terribly viable position in terms of the youngest ones getting fed, perhaps I need to take Lucy's kittens out a few times a day so that the younger kittens have a chance to get milk, or keep supplementing the older ones so that hopefully they are not taking so much milk from Dotty?

All suggestions, short of my husband's suggestion that stick insects would be easier, are welcome.

Liz


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## Guest (Aug 14, 2008)

Think I would be re-visiting the vets again,. and trying to get tho the bottom of the problem, Does not sound if the AB's are working, sounds like something is going on in the background, Sorry I do not know much about cat health, but could it be any of the probs that dogs have with the uterus, if the vet felt something initially what could it be?? is a scan out of the question.
regards
sue


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## Saynamore (Feb 28, 2008)

Hi Liz, I have a kitten at the moment that is dehydrated and showing no interest in any type of food. I know there is a huge difference in ages here, but I am having to syringe both food and Lectade into the kitten. The Lectade and feline a/d every one to two hours. If your queen will not take these for herself, this may be your best/only option. 

The dehydration will be making her a bit lethargic and this could be the reason for not washing the kits. 

Hopefully the fostering will work, I would be tempted to top up the younger kits and also take the older ones away like you are doing for short times, to give the little ones a chance.

Good luck with everything. C.x.


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Nothing's out of the question as far as I am concerned.

Liz


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## Selk67U2 (May 5, 2008)

*Oh Liz, i'm sorry you are having all these problems. Did the vet scan your cat ? If not maybe that would be an idea, just to put your mind at rest there is'nt anything left in the womb. My vets do this automatically. It's not expensive either......well not here it is'nt. I think it's a great idea to foster the kittens onto the other queen, but as Chrissy said take them away for a bit to give the newborns a chance. You could top up the older ones too, i'm sure it would'nt hurt. I would also put the lectade in all the dishes of water or maybe just have 1 bowl for now. That way she won't have a choice but to drink it. Not sure if any of that is any help for you.*


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## Siamese Kelly (Jan 6, 2008)

Liz,since she is drinking maybe give her sugar water( a touch of salt,with a touch of sugar)this will help keep her hydrated and finish the AB course,also as Chrissy has said i'd top up the younger kitts as the others are 14 days old and though mum still has milk it's not got the first days good stuff(can't spell the proper word sorry),and see what your vet says tomorrow as it could be a number of things, i sincerely hope Lucy returns to her normal self and when she does she'll resume being a fab mum,good luck with everything,i'd stay off the liquivite/A&D for now as sometimes this can make matters worse,try her with a some white chicken/fish/sardines with a slither of honey across it (for energy)


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## LousKoonz (Feb 9, 2008)

How's she doing now Liz?? xx


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## cats4eva (Mar 21, 2008)

I would remove the larger kitts and let the tiny ones suckle on their own for abit and also top the little ones up.

Mum has been through alot and is still abit poorly so its no surprise if she doesnt feel like eating...you know yourself when we are ill we go off our food. Also antbiotics can make you feel c**p aswel.

Hope she starts picking up soon Liz. xxx


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## nicki2202 (Jul 10, 2008)

I cant really give advice to you but just to say hope all goes well 4 u lot. xx


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## Rraa (Apr 15, 2008)

Hi Liz - how is your queen Lucy now? I think you know best what to do so will not preach at you - you seem to have the matter pretty much under control, know that a course of antibs needs to be completed and have a plan to have your queen Dotty give some assistance with suckling Lucy's kittens. Carry on the good work - will be rooting for you. 

Main thing is Lucy is well hydrated and finishes her antibs. Kittens can be with Dotty, as you say, but let Dotty's kits have priority of milk-bar time and top up the older kittens. 

All the very best with the nursing and hope that Lucy perks up very soon.


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## Saynamore (Feb 28, 2008)

On a positive note Liz, I was telling you about my kitten on Lectade and a/d, she started her antibiotics 12 hours ago and then she was quite lethargic. Tonight I've got home from work and she has been playing with Victor and trying to drink water on her own. So the antibiotics must have kicked in within the space of one day. Keep up with her treatments and I am sure things will turn around for your queen. C.x.


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Well, this afternoon Lucy has shown enough interest in the kittens to wash them. That could be because of the sheer quantity of cimicat spilled on them perhaps (they were desperately hungry just a couple of hours after removing them from Dotty to give Dotty's babies a chance, so maybe they're not getting much from Dotty either - and just to make things even more interesting Dotty now has diarrhoea, I guess she will be at the vet tomorrow as well). But then, if she wants to lick Cimicat that is fine by me. She has also taken some liquivite, and just a couple of mouthfuls of sardine.

Oddly enough she wants to go out and is most insistent about it. I did let her out this morning under close supervision, mainly because I wanted to know what she would do ie. whether she was going to potter about or whether she was looking for somewhere to crawl off and die. Fortunately she just wanted to potter about.

Liz


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## Saynamore (Feb 28, 2008)

Things are looking a bit better then Liz, the washing of them is a brilliant sign. I had one queen that didnt wash them and had to do it myself with damp cotton wool, as they were getting 'crusty' and feeling quite cold. Lets hope this is the turn around for her


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## Rraa (Apr 15, 2008)

awww - sending more positive thoughts Liz - hope both your girls feel better soon so the babies can thrive.


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## Siamese Kelly (Jan 6, 2008)

Hope things continue to improve for both gals and her kitts and it sounds like they are turning a cornerCan i ask was Lucy the pregnant gal you bought in or am i getting you mixed up with someone else? Thanks for keeping us updated


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Well, I don't know whether you are mixing me up with someone else or not. I did buy in a pregnant girl six months ago who lost her kittens and had a nasty infection but that was not Lucy (that girl is pregnant again so I am hoping everythign goes well this time!) I bred Lucy myself.

We were back at the vet's this morning, they have kept her in and have her on intravenous fluids and intravenous anitbiotics. Ultrasound and X rays both showed nothing abnormal. The blood test showed a sky high white cell count and very low red cell count,which gave two possibilities, an overwhelming infection or FeLV. Lucy is vaccinated against FeLV, but the vaccination was only done in February for the first time and we did not do a blood test first, so they tested for FeLV and FIV - both negative. They are sending a sample off to Glasgow veterinary school's virology department to be doubly sure but the more likely scenario is infection. Her temperature is still normal. They say it is possible that there is a tear in the uterus but they would expect that to lead to peritonitis which would cause a high temperature. Still obviously it seems highly likely that the infection is centred on the reproductive tract but Lucy is too ill to be spayed hence the treatment is focussed on hitting the infection hard with antibiotics.

Liz


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## Siamese Kelly (Jan 6, 2008)

Good luck with both gals Liz,i really do hope for a positive outcome for them and you


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## felineadorer (Jun 12, 2008)

Fingers and toes crossed for a positive outcome for Lucy


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## nicki2202 (Jul 10, 2008)

Fingers crossed....my thoughts are with you xx


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## Saynamore (Feb 28, 2008)

lizward said:


> Well, I don't know whether you are mixing me up with someone else or not. I did buy in a pregnant girl six months ago who lost her kittens and had a nasty infection but that was not Lucy (that girl is pregnant again so I am hoping everythign goes well this time!) I bred Lucy myself.
> 
> We were back at the vet's this morning, they have kept her in and have her on intravenous fluids and intravenous anitbiotics. Ultrasound and X rays both showed nothing abnormal. The blood test showed a sky high white cell count and very low red cell count,which gave two possibilities, an overwhelming infection or FeLV. Lucy is vaccinated against FeLV, but the vaccination was only done in February for the first time and we did not do a blood test first, so they tested for FeLV and FIV - both negative. They are sending a sample off to Glasgow veterinary school's virology department to be doubly sure but the more likely scenario is infection. Her temperature is still normal. They say it is possible that there is a tear in the uterus but they would expect that to lead to peritonitis which would cause a high temperature. Still obviously it seems highly likely that the infection is centred on the reproductive tract but Lucy is too ill to be spayed hence the treatment is focussed on hitting the infection hard with antibiotics.
> 
> Liz


Right Liz, you may have put me on your ignore list and have not replied to any of my advices, but I may have one for you here.......................

I had a very reliable queen that on about her fourth litter abandoned the kittens as she birthed them all around the kittening room which was so out of character. Turned out she had an infection of the womb which could turn to peritonitus. She went in for surgery and had to have everything removed, still then it was touch and go. She was kept at the vets for about 5 days before they said she could come home, she had been on a drip and having the womens bit treated every day. After the 5 days, they said it would be ok for her to come home, and gave me all the medications but she died on the bed at the side of me the very same night!

So if they do decide to keep her in and do the full hysterectomy make sure they keep her in until she is 100% ok again. My girl obviously wasnt after 5 days and I still blame the vets for not trying with her for longer! She was fine when I picked her up but I think they should have kept up with the professional stuff for a lot longer


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Saynamore said:


> Right Liz, you may have put me on your ignore list


Huh? No! Why would I have done that? I'm just rather busy! I've read everyone's post and thank you for your advice. I'm not taking any chances with Lucy. That must have been dreadful for you especially after the vet had discharged her, do you know what happened?

Liz


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## Saynamore (Feb 28, 2008)

It went to Peritonitus, the womb infection had got through to the internal organs.  How is your girl doing now and the kits?


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Saynamore said:


> It went to Peritonitus, the womb infection had got through to the internal organs.  How is your girl doing now and the kits?


you would think they'd have spotted that wouldn't you? 

The last update I had on Lucy was yesterday when the news was that she was eating and quite bright. The kittens are very lively - climbing out of their box - and feeding very well, they are just so dirty and of course I can't bath them.

Liz


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## Saynamore (Feb 28, 2008)

When I had the prob with dirty kittens due to mum not washing them, I got a warm damp pad of cotton wool and used that all over them then got the hairdrier on them after on a slighly warm setting, that did the trick


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Saynamore said:


> When I had the prob with dirty kittens due to mum not washing them, I got a warm damp pad of cotton wool and used that all over them then got the hairdrier on them after on a slighly warm setting, that did the trick


Well if that worked for persians I guess it ought to work for mine!

Liz


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