Advice

[Riddick]

The vet has came up with that conclusion because it could be other things along with pneumonia since she has had this for over a month now. She has seen that before with other cats and upper respiratory infection leading into pneumonia. This will be Sarabi's 3 round of antibiotics but the last 2 times the drugs were more tailored to the nasal and throat passage not in the lungs. As of now I do not think the breeder will help pay for any vet bills but I have not asked. I think she would be more inclined to just send her back and let her take care of it with her own vets she uses. We got Sarabi at almost 5 months old so she had already bonded pretty tightly to the breeder and her other cats. The breeder had thought she would be just fine with the transition and bonding with us. I think you might have read in other threads that is another problem I have had. Sarabi has a better bond with my girlfriend (still not a good one) then me even though I am the one who feeds her and takes care of her. As of now she is very skittish around us, more so being me and will sometimes run if either of us walk by. She does like to play with feather toys. She will not eat any sort of treat out of your hand and really has no interest in them. These are things im not sure will change when she feels better or if she will always be this way due to being a little older when we got her. That is the hard part because the longer we have her the more we will get attached and if she would be better off living with the breeder where she is happier we want to do the right thing.

 

[Carykd7kau]

Hard decision, but I think you are right about her happiness. You sound like someone who is more interested in the happiness of the kitten than your own. A very honorable attitude.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I think it comes down to what you can bring yourself to do. Given how Sarabi has been ill, that you have trouble catching her to medicate and you don't feel she is bonding to you as she should...then the logical thing to do would be to return her. BUT, I've never been able to do that myself, so wouldn't blame someone for deciding to keep her...but in effect deciding to keep her takes on the risk that she might be chronically ill for the rest of her life. I think without doing a PCR there is no reason to think that this pneumonia can't be cleared and Sarabi will be fine. Still, there is a risk and keeping her you take on the responsibility of her care for life.

 

[Patti]

Sorry to continue to harp on this, but I would STRONGLY recommend you run an upper respiratory PCR panel on Sarabi. I suspect your vet is thinking she probably has an underlying herpes or other chronic viral infection that is untreatable, and the pneumonia developed as a secondary infection because of her compromised immune system. If this is the case then there is a strong likelihood that the breeder has other cats that have the same chronic infection. Now with herpes at least, most cats get over the initial infection and are completely healthy but continue to be carriers, so getting another kitten could still be an option but at least you would be informed of the possibility up front (if Sarabi's PCR comes up positive I would recommend having a PCR run on any kitten you consider getting in return, even if you have to pay for it yourself).

One other thing, if Sarabi has had a vaccine recently this might give you false positive results on the PCR.

 

[Riddick]

Patti, I have ordered the PCR test. I am still waiting to hear back from the vet so I can lean more about it. Will this test show me if she has curable and no curable infections? We have decided that if she has something that is not curable and will be a life long threat it would be in her best interest to be with the breeder since she has a close bond with her and she will be home all day. If it is something that can be cured we are still going to give her another month or so to see if she will ever come to be attached to us. I am really hoping these antibiotics work. I know how I act when I am sick so I am hoping there could be something the same way here.

 

[MM3]

To keep them off the counter, try the SSSCAT can. It is a motion activated blast of air. Scares the bejesus out of both them and you. There is also a Scat Mat - clear mat that has a mild electrical charge. The best part of that one is that it comes on randomly so one time Rafiki sniffed and pawed at it with no ill effects and it didn't go off until she had all 4 paws on it. Holy jumping Savannahs, batman!

Or, just deal with them being on the counters! I am only fanatical about her not being on the counter where the stove is. Other than that, when I have guests staying for long periods of time that I don't want to offend (translation - my mother!), I will use them for a week or so before company arrives and she will generally behave for a week or two (the cat, not my mother).

I should add that before I had a SV, I couldn't believe that people were unable to keep cats off the counters. Silly me.

Love your humor! My kitty trained me very quickly. Like you.....only off no zone is the stove! The rest of the counters........ kitty is everywhere.

 

[Riddick]

Love your humor! My kitty trained me very quickly. Like you.....only off no zone is the stove! The rest of the counters........ kitty is everywhere.

Think you might be on the wrong Thread

 

[Rafiki]

Think you might be on the wrong Thread

Sorry, this was a side comment in answer to a question posed by Nicaboli on the first page of this thread regarding cat training. I know how concerned you are about Sarabi and humorous comments aren't appreciated when you have a sick kitten.

 

[Patti]

Patti, I have ordered the PCR test. I am still waiting to hear back from the vet so I can lean more about it. Will this test show me if she has curable and no curable infections? We have decided that if she has something that is not curable and will be a life long threat it would be in her best interest to be with the breeder since she has a close bond with her and she will be home all day. If it is something that can be cured we are still going to give her another month or so to see if she will ever come to be attached to us. I am really hoping these antibiotics work. I know how I act when I am sick so I am hoping there could be something the same way here.

The PCR tests for the most common upper respiratory infections including mycoplasma, herpes, calici, bordetella, chlamydophila, and influenza. Of all of these herpes is the most common, and about 90% of the cats who are exposed become lifelong carriers after infection (symptomatic or asymptomatic).

However mycoplasma and chlamydophila are also quite common and can be treated with antibiotics. Bordetella (kennel cough) doesn't seem as common in my experience but can also be treated with antibiotics. Calici is often a 'childhood' illness and one we vaccinate against - cats can also become carriers of calici but can also shed it and be cured. I've never heard of a cat with influenza but I imagine as with humans it runs its course and then is gone.

If the PCR comes up completely negative and the antibiotics she has been on hasn't resolved her issues then I am stumped and would probably request an internal medicine consult to see if they might have anything else to offer.