Health based early pick up

[Amanda Hughes]

Hello everyone, I wanted to post this and see what everyone thought. I will begin by saying that I know that no matter how well a cat is taken care of, they sometimes catch a cold, no big deal. But I thought this might be a good question to ask in case anyone ever experience this.

Most people know a kitten shouldn't leave their mother before 12 weeks. I've read that doing so can possibly lead to behavioral problems among other things. But what if there's a situation where let's say you have a kitten you're buying that's maybe 5-10 weeks. But what if a cat at the cattery gets a respiratory infection? If a breeder gives the option to pick up the kitten sooner than 12 weeks so it won't get sick. What's the best thing to do?

I know this question is pretty random and this isn't something that's likely to ever happen. But it randomly came to mind and I couldn't really find any answers for such a circumstance based question so I thought I would ask you guys what your opinion is?

 

[admin]

Hello everyone, I wanted to post this and see what everyone thought. I will begin by saying that I know that no matter how well a cat is taken care of, they sometimes catch a cold, no big deal. But I thought this might be a good question to ask in case anyone ever experience this.

Most people know a kitten shouldn't leave their mother before 12 weeks. I've read that doing so can possibly lead to behavioral problems among other things. But what if there's a situation where let's say you have a kitten you're buying that's maybe 5-10 weeks. But what if a cat at the cattery gets a respiratory infection? If a breeder gives the option to pick up the kitten sooner than 12 weeks so it won't get sick. What's the best thing to do?

I know this question is pretty random and this isn't something that's likely to ever happen. But it randomly came to mind and I couldn't really find any answers for such a circumstance based question so I thought I would ask you guys what your opinion is?

If a cat in a cattery gets a URI, that cat should be quarantined and away from any kittens or other cats...so, no, no reason to send a kitten home early because of that.

 

[Amanda Hughes]

Cool. I know a URI isn't all that bad. I thought about it cause my last cat had a URI briefly. I'm certain all breeders would automatically start quarantining a cat that's ill with it. But one day when I'm no longer in the military I may start breeding Savannahs so it was, as I said, a random question that came to mind. I always ponder the 'what if' questions. I do it so much it sometimes annoys my boyfriend, lol.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

My kittens do not contact my other cats (other than the mom) until they have been vaccinated at least once, and then only one of my cats before they have two vaccinations when I might introduce to the others if I am not placing them at that age (generally they have their 2nd vaccine at 12 weeks when they may well be leaving home soon).

Hence if a cat in my home gets ill it should not be in contact with my kittens. I would hope my procedures were such that it would not spread and yes a sick cat should be isolated and treated.

Now if for some reason the mama cat gets ill with an URI, then the kittens sadly are already exposed. So sending them out is not going to help but would only stress their systems and make it less likely they can fight off the virus (if that is what it is).

I question the motivation of a breeder wanting to send out that kitten so young for that reason. It sounds more like a flimsy excuse to sell kittens early than anything. I'm finding hard to find a reasonable scenario where this would be the best case scenario for the kitten.

 

[Amanda Hughes]

My kittens do not contact my other cats (other than the mom) until they have been vaccinated at least once, and then only one of my cats before they have two vaccinations when I might introduce to the others if I am not placing them at that age (generally they have their 2nd vaccine at 12 weeks when they may well be leaving home soon).

Hence if a cat in my home gets ill it should not be in contact with my kittens. I would hope my procedures were such that it would not spread and yes a sick cat should be isolated and treated.

Now if for some reason the mama cat gets ill with an URI, then the kittens sadly are already exposed. So sending them out is not going to help but would only stress their systems and make it less likely they can fight off the virus (if that is what it is).

I question the motivation of a breeder wanting to send out that kitten so young for that reason. It sounds more like a flimsy excuse to sell kittens early than anything. I'm finding hard to find a reasonable scenario where this would be the best case scenario for the kitten.

It's not something that's actually happening . This is nothing more than a curiosity/hypothetical question. So if a mama cat and her babies do get sick. Can you you medicate the kittens too along with mom, and that's if the kittens aren't nursing? i know there's a limit to when a kitten can be treated.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

It's not something that's actually happening . This is nothing more than a curiosity/hypothetical question. So if a mama cat and her babies do get sick. Can you you medicate the kittens too along with mom, and that's if the kittens aren't nursing? i know there's a limit to when a kitten can be treated.

It highly depends on what the illness is. There are some bacterial illnesses that would be easily also treated in the kittens with mild antibiotics. There are others that need stronger antibiotics that might be harmful to kittens hence you would need to carefully consider the severity of the illness before prescribing for babies. Then there are viruses and those depend on those that respond to antivirals and those that don't. There's no firm answer to that question.

But when it comes to respiratory bugs, once the mom is sick chances are the babies are already exposed. So uprooting, separating and traumatizing by moving to a new home at such an early age...I still cannot see a scenario where that is a good idea. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist, I just don't see it.

 

[Patti]

Agree with the above - either the kittens have been exposed to an URI from mom and need to be treated before leaving for their new homes, or they have remained quarantined so should not be at risk of exposure and can leave home at an appropriate age.