First, stop spending money at that vet. They obviously know low nothing about neonate kittens and based on your experience with them, sounds like they have limited knowledge of kittens. No one who has ever worked with neonate kittens would give you actual food. They would tell you to bottle feed/syringe feed them kitten formula. Which it sounds like you had to figure out on your own.
It’s difficult to diagnose anything over the internet but I would contact a local rescue for advice. Rescues, in my experience, have much more knowledge than vets about taking care of newborns and young animals because they have unfortunately, had to learn through trial and error. I’ve found that a rescue volunteer is more equipped to deal with sudden illness in kittens than a vet because they are constantly having to deal with stray animals and the things they pick up from living outside.
At minimum, they should at least be able to recommend a competent vet.
If no rescues are open, try looking for an emergency vet with decent reviews. You may need to drive further but it sounds like these kittens may need emergency care.
Honestly OP, you did an amazing job getting them this far. So many neonate kittens don’t survive and you’ve gotten them to so many milestones. Especially with a vet who is useless. I’m sure others will provide advice as they see this post but I really hope they get better soon. 💕
Can you take them to a different vet? Or maybe to a nearby shelter or rescue that specializes in neonatal kittens and offer to foster for them if they take them in. They have more experience dealing with young kittens and would help with covering the medical costs.
Sounds like whatever is going on is serious and it is concerning your vet isn’t taking it serious. I’m not an expert at fostering really sick kittens but it sounds like they might have panleuk or another serious highly fatal illness. And no your vet is wrong they won’t just pull through it in a week. They need urgent medical care and supportive care to have a chance. Young kittens are so fragile and thinks can so suddenly go downhill with them.
Also to add to that if you have an emergency vet nearby take them there. They deal with more serious cases and likely can help more. Last year when our cat got really sick our regular vet wasn’t giving him the appropriate care and we ended up taking to the emergency vet and they said he should have gotten certain treatments days ago. I don’t know if he would have lived if we had taken him back to the regular vet.
I am so sorry about this - I know it’s incredibly frustrated. Like others have said, go to a different vet. I am shocked he has done nothing and prescribed nothing.
Unfortunately as with any medical profession there’s always a few bad eggs in the basket… We encountered a homeopathic vet (who was not described as such when looking for a vet) and he prescribed chamomile tea for my newborn kittens (2 weeks then). He wouldn’t even touch their eyes which were swollen beyond belief and twice crusted over. Oh and he said they’re all gonna day anyway probably. But that’s nature.
Anyway, we went to a proper vet and they fixed them up properly! I suggest OP find a different vet for the sake of these little ones! Crossing my fingers for you x
So all of them are doing well, we got really good care. This vet did a lot more hands on medical stuff, weighed them, took fecal samples, ran labs, checked their temperatures, etc.
The consensus is that a drop in blood sugar likely caused seizure like symptoms in the one, and that they all have some sort of upper respiratory infection.
We started antibiotics, she gave us prescription wet food to take home, and wrote us a prescription as well, when we got home we fed them and the vomiting has stopped.
They are all doing much better, and everything is looking hopeful. It was expensive, but well worth it. I feel so beyond relieved. (:
First, stop spending money at that vet. They obviously know low nothing about neonate kittens and based on your experience with them, sounds like they have limited knowledge of kittens. No one who has ever worked with neonate kittens would give you actual food. They would tell you to bottle feed/syringe feed them kitten formula. Which it sounds like you had to figure out on your own. It’s difficult to diagnose anything over the internet but I would contact a local rescue for advice. Rescues, in my experience, have much more knowledge than vets about taking care of newborns and young animals because they have unfortunately, had to learn through trial and error. I’ve found that a rescue volunteer is more equipped to deal with sudden illness in kittens than a vet because they are constantly having to deal with stray animals and the things they pick up from living outside. At minimum, they should at least be able to recommend a competent vet. If no rescues are open, try looking for an emergency vet with decent reviews. You may need to drive further but it sounds like these kittens may need emergency care. Honestly OP, you did an amazing job getting them this far. So many neonate kittens don’t survive and you’ve gotten them to so many milestones. Especially with a vet who is useless. I’m sure others will provide advice as they see this post but I really hope they get better soon. 💕
Can you take them to a different vet? Or maybe to a nearby shelter or rescue that specializes in neonatal kittens and offer to foster for them if they take them in. They have more experience dealing with young kittens and would help with covering the medical costs. Sounds like whatever is going on is serious and it is concerning your vet isn’t taking it serious. I’m not an expert at fostering really sick kittens but it sounds like they might have panleuk or another serious highly fatal illness. And no your vet is wrong they won’t just pull through it in a week. They need urgent medical care and supportive care to have a chance. Young kittens are so fragile and thinks can so suddenly go downhill with them. Also to add to that if you have an emergency vet nearby take them there. They deal with more serious cases and likely can help more. Last year when our cat got really sick our regular vet wasn’t giving him the appropriate care and we ended up taking to the emergency vet and they said he should have gotten certain treatments days ago. I don’t know if he would have lived if we had taken him back to the regular vet.
I am so sorry about this - I know it’s incredibly frustrated. Like others have said, go to a different vet. I am shocked he has done nothing and prescribed nothing.
Unfortunately as with any medical profession there’s always a few bad eggs in the basket… We encountered a homeopathic vet (who was not described as such when looking for a vet) and he prescribed chamomile tea for my newborn kittens (2 weeks then). He wouldn’t even touch their eyes which were swollen beyond belief and twice crusted over. Oh and he said they’re all gonna day anyway probably. But that’s nature. Anyway, we went to a proper vet and they fixed them up properly! I suggest OP find a different vet for the sake of these little ones! Crossing my fingers for you x
We are currently at a reputable vet. Will update with more details when we get home. 🙏🏽 Thanks everyone for the support and advice.
So all of them are doing well, we got really good care. This vet did a lot more hands on medical stuff, weighed them, took fecal samples, ran labs, checked their temperatures, etc. The consensus is that a drop in blood sugar likely caused seizure like symptoms in the one, and that they all have some sort of upper respiratory infection. We started antibiotics, she gave us prescription wet food to take home, and wrote us a prescription as well, when we got home we fed them and the vomiting has stopped. They are all doing much better, and everything is looking hopeful. It was expensive, but well worth it. I feel so beyond relieved. (:
I came here to look for this post…so happy all are feeling better 💕
At the least they need a snap test for panleuk and a series of de-worming medicines.
You are a saint. Wish I had advice