Update on FIV Rescued Kittens

Last May we rescued a litter of kittens that could hardly walk and one of the kitten's eyes was barely open. We found the kittens in a sack on the side of the road.  At first, we thought it was trash, and then saw movement, followed by a tiny kitten's head. 

 My husband and I rushed them home to hydrate and nourish them. We kept them safe, and warm and fed them for the next four critical weeks. During this time husband and I did not sleep.

Four of the Five kittens drinking KMR replacement milk

All of the kittens survived however they were very small.  When they were three months old the boys grew overnight but two little girl kittens were still small and seemed to have less energy; they slept more than the other kittens.

The small kittens needed some help getting food out of the bowl so we made up their own bowl and fed them away from the boys. Even with feeding them separately, they did not put on weight. My husband and I thought that perhaps we got a mixed litter (different queen cats).

8-week old kitten is smaller than the littermates

All of the kittens were tested for feline leukemia and AIDS. The small kittens came back positive for feline immunodeficiency virus FIV which means their mom was infected and passed it on to them. It also confirms that we found two litters of kittens. 

“ On rare occasions, infection is transmitted from an infected mother cat to her kittens, usually during passage through the birth canal or when the newborn kittens ingest infected milk.” http://www.vet.cornell.edu/FHC/health_resources/brochure_fiv.cfm

We did separate the FIV kittens from the boys because the boys were typical boys and were playing roughly with the girls. They did not allow them to sleep, pushed them out of the food bowl, and wanted to play hard. 

The boy kittens were gigantic at three months and the girls were very small.  The boy kittens were adopted but the girl kittens were passed by, everyone was fearful of an FIV kitten and said it would be too hard to love them, when their life may be shortened due to illness. 

We kept the girls and they have put on some weight and are growing slowly. Here is a photo of Sally our calico FIV kitten she is 8 months old in this photo. you can see that she is small and kitten like for her age, she looks like 12 weeks old. 

 

FIV kitten at age 8 months is small but healthy

Update: The FIV kittens are doing great, putting on weight and both have a shiny coat. They play with each other and with the family dog. Are normal as they can be. They are still small and sleep more than normal cats but that is okay with us.

Read the First post on this topic here

Health of FIV Cat Improves After 10 Days in Hospital

In December my FIV cat named Sam, woke up one day and was sick. He had a high fever and would not eat. We rushed him to the veterinarian, and they put him in the hospital for ten days.  Sam was given intravenous fluids, a shot of B12, antibiotics, and appetite-inducing medication. Sam was very ill and at the time the veterinarian did not know if it was due to FIV or something else.

We were told that Sam had renal failure and that his teeth needed to be removed due to feline stomatits but due to his infection he could not have his teeth removed because he lost too much weight.

View this youtube.com video to learn more about feline stomatits.  We were told that this condition is common with cats that has FIV, feline immunodeficiency virus.

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After 10 days of hospital care, Sam came home and he was put on a renal diet. Sam who loves to eat food, hated the new diet and refused to eat it. We tried 3 different varieties of foods and each one was not suitable for my junk food cat. 

 He liked Blue Buffalo Healthy Living Chicken and Brown Rice cat food mixed with Purina Friskies Senior Diet Salmon Dinner in sauce pate canned cat food. This food combination made my cat Sam sing.

So when I had to take away his favorite food for a plant-based diet LP by Royal Canin with very low protein my kitty was not happy. 

 Sam would not eat and was losing weight. He could not have surgery to remove the teeth that were causing him to have pain. The veterinarian wanted Sam overweight because the aftercare of this particular surgery meant a feeding tube.

While my veterinarian was researching for another food for Sam to try his blood work came back and it showed that his kidneys returned to normal function.

I am not sure why or how this occurred but know we are all very happy and Sam is ecstatic because he can go back to eating and loving his favorite foods.

Presently Sam is putting on weight and next week I will take him in for a veterinarian checkup to see if we can schedule him for surgery.

Veterinarian Checkup for Sam my FIV Cat

It has been 45 days since my FIV cat was diagnosed with kidney failure and put on a special prescription k/d food diet.  We were told that Sam could no longer eat animal protein because it was hard on his kidneys.  We had to feed him food that was formulated for renal health only.

We bought the Hills Prescription Diet k/d canned food and the dry kibble then mixed the two together and put them in his food bowl.  Sam played with the food but would not eat it.  

So I removed that food from the bowl and replaced it with k/d canned food only.  Mr busy cat went into the kitchen got a towel and put the towel on top of his food bowl.  I guess he hated it so much that he did not want to look at it. (lol)

Sam eats dry k/d food from the bowl

My cat has got to eat, I removed the canned food, washed his bowl, and poured Sam a bowl of the dry k/d special kidney diet food.  Sam grazed his food bowl and ate a few pieces of food.  Then he took every piece of food out of the bowl and put the kibble on the carpet.     

Our veterinarian suggested that we try Prescription renal LP by Royal Canin and again Sam did not eat the food. He grazed his bowl when absolutely necessary but other than that would not eat the special diet food.

The one thing that the veterinarian told us is that Sam could not lose weight. When he was checked it was noted that he lost 1 pound. The attending veterinarian said that his weight loss may be due to the FIV condition and I disagreed, I know it is because our cat does not like food that is made with no animal protein. Cats are carnivores, not vegetarians.

The veterinarian said that Sam cannot lose any more weight, so now they have ordered a new prescription for feline renal health food for Sam. We hope that this new food tastes better because I am sure that this is why our cat is not eating.

Sam is a junk food kitty eating Purina Friskies Salmon Pate for Senior cats mixed with Blue Buffalo spa selects and loved this food combination before he became sick and now he hates his kidney diet food.  

Hoping that this next prescription food will be one that Sam likes.   

My Cat Sam is Losing Weight

Forty-five days ago my cat Sam was rushed to the veterinarian because he had a fever and stopped eating. These two symptoms are cause for alarm when your cat has feline immunodeficiency virus. My cat was admitted to the animal hospital and stayed there for ten days. That is when we learned that his kidneys were not normal and that he had chronic kidney disease, his teeth needed to be removed, and that he was losing weight.  Pounds were lost while at the veterinarian hospital.

Sam hiding in the water container.

 Sam was losing weight; was a warning flag for cancer. 

Sam had an ultrasound and the results were negative, of course, this ultrasound could not see inside his internal organs and we have no idea if he has kidney cancer or what.

So we bring Sam home and he has to eat special cat food; Royal Canin veterinary diet Renal LP in gravy canned food for chronic kidney disease or renal failure.

The food gives him more energy but also reduces his food intake, plus Sam hates canned food.  He is a kibble junkie cat, and I guess he does not like the taste, eats only when he has to and I can tell he does not like it because he growls at his food bowl.

Yes, my cat hates his kidney diet food.  He eats when is starving and seldom licks the plate clean. I think this is why he has lost more weight.

The veterinarian says the weight loss is not due to the lack of kibble food but thinks it is due to some underlining medical condition.  I am a worried cat mom. 

We go back to the veterinarian on Tuesday for a checkup.