http://www.vetinfo.com/catindex.html

http://www.acmepet.com/club/bboard/index.html

http://www.austinspca.com/catscare.html

http://www.homevet.com/petcare/epilepsy.html

Example from one of the sites: (taken from www.vetinfo.com)

Kitten Stuff

Vomiting and blood in stools - Kitten

Worming Mom Cat

Puppies and Kittens..same food OK?

Injured Kitten

Sick Kitten

Vomiting and blood in stools - kitten

Q: Hi.. I have a 8 week old kitten..its been vomiting and there is blood in her soft stood...any ideas? I've been up all night with her..she hasn't figgured out her litter box too well yet...any info would be apreciated thank you Ann, Canberra, Australia

A: Ann- The first thing I'd worry about would be intestinal parasites in a kitten this young. Intestinal worms and parasites such as coccidia and giardia are common causes of diarrhea in young kittens. If you are feeding the kitten milk it may be leading to the diarrhea, as well. These are the simple things. There are a lot of other possible causes of diarrhea, including feline leukemia virus infection, corona virus infection, food sensitivities, malabsorbtion disorders and other bacterial and viral diseases.

If your kitten still has diarrhea it would be best to take her to your vet. Most of the time it is possible to control the diarrhea.

Worming Mom Cat

Q: I have a 6 year old cat who has recently had kittens. They are two weeks old. My son said he saw that Jingle, the mom, had worms. I am concerned about worming her. When is it safe to worm a nursing cat? Is it safe to use an over the counter wormer? If so what kind? I would appreciate any help you can give. My husband is disabled and I am a student, our income is very tight.

A: The answer to your question partly depends on the type of worms that were seen. Two types are likely -- roundworms and tapeworms.

Roundworms are generally white and tubular in shape and are about 3 to 4 inches long. They often are coiled when seen by pet owners. It is both safe and advisable to deworm Jingle for roundworms. This should be done twice with at least two weeks between doses. There are very safe over-the-counter dewormers for roundworms. Find one that has pyrantel as an active ingredient. Nemex and Lassie are two brand names containing this ingredient. It may say "For Dogs Only" on the label but it is safe to give these products to cats. The kittens should be dewormed when they are six and eight weeks of age.

People usually only see the egg carrying segments of a tapeworms. These are small rectangular segments about 1/2 to 3/4ths of an inch in length when first excreted. They are muscular and often move a great deal at first. The movement spreads the tapeworm eggs around. Once the segment runs out of energy it dries up and looks like a rice granule. These are often seen adhered to the hair around an infected dog or cat's rectum. Every now and then a cat does pass a whole tapeworm or they may show up in vomitus. The whole tapeworm tends to be 6 inches to a foot or so in length when this happens and is usually obviously segmented. There are no safe and effective over-the-counter (OTC) tapeworm medications that I know of. Most OTC medications that make any claim about tapeworm control say "aids in the control of tapeworms" which seems to be a way of saying "doesn't really work to kill tapeworms effectively". Your veterinarian can prescribe safe and effective tapeworm medications. If your cat has been seen recently by your vet, it is possibly he or she will dispense the medication without requiring another office visit. It can't hurt to ask. Praziquantal (Droncit Rx) is considered to be safe to use in pregnant animals and is approved for use in kittens and puppies of any age in one formulation so it may be the best choice. Epsiprantel (Cestex Rx) says it shouldn't be used in kittens and puppies less than seven weeks of age but the amount likely to pass in the mother's milk is small enough that it may not be a major concern to use it despite the fact that she is lactating.

Puppies and Kittens..same food OK?

Q: Dear Dr. Mike,

We recently got a new puppy and we currently have to kittens. Every now and then the kittens like to nibble on the puppy food. Is it safe for kittens to eat dog food? Also, our kittens love human food. As a rule I never give my cats anything I wouldn't eat nor do I give them anything too spicy. But we do sometimes give them shrimp, prawns and imitation crab. Is this okay, since they are meat eating animals? thanks

A:  It is safe for cats to eat small amounts of dog food. It is also safe for them to eat small amounts of "people" food or even to have diets formulated from people foods if done very carefully.

It is not a good idea to feed kittens either puppy food or adult dog food as their sole source of nutrition. Kittens and cats need some amino acids that dogs can make. This makes a cat's protein requirements more rigid than dog's and most dog foods do not meet the nutritional needs of cats. Over the long run, cats fed solely dog food are very likely to develop nutritional deficiencies and disorders asssociated with them.

People tend to let their cats train them to feed only a limited number of really "choice" tablefoods, which also results in poor diets when people feed too many treats or try to develop home-made diets for their cats. As long as you limit the treats to small quantities it is not going to cause harm to give your cat the occasional treat, though.

Injured Kitten

Q: I have a kitten that is about 1 1/2 months old. Two days ago she came in and was bleeding from a small gash in the forehead. I do not know how deep the cut is or the exact circumstances of the injury. She is not feeding since then (her mother also stays with her). she just sits quietly and cannot keep her head up for very long - she tends to let her head hang down when sitting. She can walk around slightly though - today she went out to do her toilet in the yard. Should I try to force feed her through a feeding bottle ? Is it OK for her to not eat or drink anything for a few days ? Can she choke if I try to feed her ? How ong will it take for the wound to heal - I do not know if its just a skin cut - can it be something more ? What will the vet do if I take her there ?

A:: It is very likely that this injury is more than just a skin injury based on the signs you are seeing. Most of the time, skin injuries do not produce a lot of other clinical signs such as not eating and seeming to be depressed. While there is no way to be certain without an exam, it seems likely that there is damage on a deeper level, even possibly to the kitten's brain. Your vet can evaluate the degree of injury and provide a plan to deal with it. If the kitten's injuries are severe enough to interfere with swallowing reflexes then feeding will be a problem. A kitten who is not swallowing properly can easily develop aspiration pneuomonia, a very serious complication. Please take your kitten to your vet for an evaluation and assistance in developing a plan to care for it until it heals. The good thing about young animals is that even severe injuries seem to heal better in young animals.

Sick Kitten.

Q: Dear Vets at Tiercom, One week ago today, Sunday, my husband discovered a stray kitten in the barn at our leased cattle pasture. We have a couple of wild barn cats out there; perhaps the kitten was attracted to the barn because of them. Anyway, my husband called me from the barn and said the kitten was clear-eyed, no nasal discharge or sounds, no "pasted" rear-end, appears to be cleaning itself OK. He also said it was pot-bellied and extremely thin. I suggested it probably had roundworms, and we could worm the kitten the next day. My husband fed the kitten dry food (we leave some every day for the barn cats), which she ate voraciously. Monday we consulted with our Vet about bringing the kitten to him, as we have a 6-month old housecat that has yet to have her leukemia and aids vaccinations. She will have these at her spay appointment this Tuesday, 1/14/97. She has already had her "indoor cat" vaccinations distemper, respiratory, etc. My vet did not feel that there was much risk to our housecat in bringing the new kitten home, provided our observations about her lack of symptoms were accurate. So, last Tuesday evening, 1/7/97, I confirmed my husband's observations of the kitten's apparent state of health, and brought her home. Since that evening, we have been watching the kitten closely. Here is what we notice/has occurred since then: 1. We believe the kitten is somewhere around 6-10 weeks old. 2. We wormed the kitten with Piperazine wormer for roundworms the night we brought her home. The dose for kittens 6 weeks and up is listed as 1/2 teaspoon (it's a carob-flavored liquid), which she wouldn't eat sprinkled on the food, but she drank it all when mixed with about 1-2 teaspoons of milk. 3. We are feeding the kitten Hill's Prescription Kitten diet (dry), which she is eating well. She also helps herself to the housecat's Meow Mix. I have also been rubbing 4 drops of Pet-Tinic liquid vitamin supplement into a front paw each day, which she is cleaning off thoroughly. 4. The kitten is drinking lots of water (but we don't think it's excessive). 5. We showed the kitten her own litter box that night we brought her home, and she has been finding it and using it without a single accident since then. However, her "aim" is rather poor, in that she digs a hole in one spot (or doesn't dig at all), then "goes" into another spot in the box. She also has difficulty covering it up -- she "finds it" accurately enough through smell, but then covers up another area of the box and leaves the feces exposed. For odor control, and sanitary reasons for the kitten walking into the box, I have been going in after her and covering up the "deed". Her urine appears normal in color and odor, and seems to be in a quantity consistent with her water intake. Likewise, her feces appear normal in color and consistency, and in enough volume to be consistent with her food intake. 6. The kitten is still clear-eyed and clear-nosed, no respiratory sounds at all, and has a very smooth-sounding loud purr. 7. The kitten was COVERED with lice and fleas, and all sorts of bug feces down in the fur and near her skin. I used Scratchex flea powder (Sevin dust and Pyrethrins) on her, rubbed it down into the skin, then brushed out all the excess I could get, as the label indicated not to use the powder on kittens under 3 months of age. I also bought her a kitten-safe flea collar a few days later and put it on. (I went ahead and used the powder despite the label warnings because I had an experience once with a peahen that became severely anemic from a very heavy lice/louse infestation. The kitten's infestation was also very heavy.) 8. The kitten had several small "sores" on her torso, perhaps from fleas, ticks or a small larvae of some type. They appear to be in the process of normal healing. 9. I believe the kitten has ear-mites, but after all the "poisons" I have given her so far, I am waiting another week or two to use Mite-Clear on her. 10. The kitten has been sleeping all day and night, when she's not eating or using the litter box, since we brought her home. She is not at all playful, although she is reasonably alert when she is awake. She is cleaning herself, to some degree, when she is awake. 11. The most disturbing sign: The kitten appears to have poor coordination of her rear legs. She walks very slowly and deliberately, and the hind legs stretch far out behind her body and do not step up underneath her -- the rear leg stride is very shortened. When she stands up and begins to walk, the front end walks out until the hind legs are stretched so far that she must take a step with one of them. Then the odd, wobbling gait begins. She has never fallen down, that we know of. 12. When the kitten sits, sometimes she sits like a "lazy dog" where the rear-end is flopped over onto one hip. Often the hind legs are not in the "correct" sit position, even if the kitten is sitting on both hips somewhat evenly. One leg may be way up underneath her, while the other is out to one side. 13. Often, when the kitten is sitting up, she will get drowsy after a time and her head will slowly lower until it reaches the ground, then the rest of her body will follow suit and she will slowly flop over onto her side. Then she will sleep. This is all done very "slow motion". 14. The kitten is remarkably resourceful. We found that a blanket on our couch, wadded up and made into a "nest", is where she prefers to sleep. Although laborious and time-consuming for her, the kitten CAN get on and off the couch, which is fairly high. Going down, she dangles her front end off the couch until gravity pulls her off. She uses her hind legs a little, to "push off", during this procedure. Going up, she reaches up to the cushions with her front end until she is stretched up as high as she can go. She then "digs in" with the front claws, and brings her back legs up onto the side of the couch as far as she can. She repeats this "climbing" process until she is back up on the couch Since my housecat is going to the vet in a couple of days for shots and spaying, I made arrangements to drop off the kitten to be examined and vaccinated as well. So, I will have my vet's opinion on the kitten's condition shortly. I am concerned that I may have inadvertently caused these seemingly-neurological problems in the kitten by the use of the Piperazine wormer and/or the Scratchex flea powder, since it is not for kittens so young. If you have an opportunity to respond, I would be most interested in your opinion of this new kitten's condition, and whether I may have caused her harm. If there is anything I can do that may be of help to her health or comfort, I would like to know that, too. Thank you for any help or information you may be able to give. I am always interested in learning from my mistakes, so that the next animal that comes to me may benefit. Thank you,

A:  I am hoping I'll remember to answer all your questions -- lots of detail to cover :)

One thing I noticed --- there is no vaccination for feline immundeficiency virus that I am aware of. This is the most common condition referred to as feline AIDS, although it is somewhat different from the human syndrome. It is possible that you are referring to feline infectious peritonitis vaccination, which is available. Currently, I think that there is still enough controversy over the safty of FIP vaccination that its use should be considered very carefully.

Piperazine is not a very effective dewormer and it is possible that some of the symptoms you are seeing, especially the continued lethargy, are related to inefficiency of the dewormer and continued worm infestation. A better, and safer, alternative is a pyrantel based dewormer such as Nemex. There are several over the counter brands of this deworming medication.

I think that there can be an additive toxic effect when piperazine and organophosphates are used concurrently but that is from memory. There is no question that organophosphates such as Sevin could cause the neurologic signs that you have seen. I can't tell from reading your letter whether or not the signs were present before you applied the ScratchX or not. Do you know for sure?

The reason I ask is that there is a condition that occurs in kitten exposed to panleukopenia virus in utero in which the cerebellar area is damaged and they suffer permanent problems with incoordination.(at least that is the theory I am familiar with) These kittens also have the same symptoms you describe except that I can't remember one of them falling asleep in the manner you describe.

I agree entirely with you that many kittens do die from the effect of flea infestation. There is a safer way to treat them, though. Ovitrol spray is approved for use in neonatal cats and dogs and appears to be safe if used according to directions. This consists of spraying a towel or cloth with the spray and then wrapping the kitten in it for approximately five minutes with its head out so that it can breathe, of course.

It is possible to treat earmites without using organophosphates, so your vet will be able to help with this even if a toxic reaction is going on.

Many kittens with the cerebellar hypoplasia problem appear to lead pretty happy lives. They do often have problems with litterpan coordination and often climb rather than jump -- but develop into great climbers.

You should take your list with you to your vet -- it is very complete and will be helpful in deciding what is wrong. Even though I think there may have been better approaches to some of the problems, you have tried hard to correct the problems you were aware of and the kitten is lucky to have found you.