Would taking this kitten in pose a risk to my cats?

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Joe_Danger
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Would taking this kitten in pose a risk to my cats?

Post by Joe_Danger »

There's a very tiny kitten in my neighborhood with a severe eye infection, one of its eyes is white/blind the other is ok but both are very crusty and it can barely open them.
I was considering taking the kitten to the vet but I don't know if it's already been treated by someone or not as people in my neighborhood tend to take care of stray dogs and cats and I haven't been able to find anyone who knows.

All three of my cats have had their shots and everything, would the kitten still pose a risk? They take well to kittens if that one Milla sort of picked up couple years back is any indication. If say Milla or Kala starts licking the kitten and cleaning its eyes would that pose a huge risk for them?

I know what diseases it could have but I do believe my cats have had shots against all of those, so would they still be at risk?

The gunk/crusts on its eyes is yellowish not green, from what I understand it's bad if it's more of a green color
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Lilith
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Re: Would taking this kitten in pose a risk to my cats?

Post by Lilith »

Hi Joe :)

I think you need to ring your vet about this. If all your guys are up to date with shots they ought to be immune, and kittens, especially neglected ferals like this one, can be prone to sticky eyes due to teething/low grade infections - but of course there are always rogue viruses, new strains of flu etc out there ... crafty little suckers.

Have you a room in your apartment in which you can isolate Kitten?

Do hope you manage to rescue the little guy - good luck!
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fjm
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Re: Would taking this kitten in pose a risk to my cats?

Post by fjm »

If you do take it in, I would certainly plan on isolating the kitten, preferably somewhere my cats do not go. As Lilith says, there are diseases that cannot be vaccinated against, plus parasites and other nasties - several weeks of quarantine would be needed for peace of mind.
Joe_Danger
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Re: Would taking this kitten in pose a risk to my cats?

Post by Joe_Danger »

The problem is that I have no way of isolating it.
But this morning I couldn't find the kitten, however now the other kittens are starting to get the same eye infection. We always have litters of stray kittens in our neighborhood but I've never seen them with infections before. This poor kitten was brought in by someone it seems as it wasn't from the same litter and appeared two weeks ago. The first week it was fine, the second (last week) it got the infection.

Now that one really beautiful gray kitten who is very agile and beautiful is getting the eye infection too. Now these cats are taken care of by the neighborhood that I know, so I'm not too worried but this kitten who knows.
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Lilith
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Re: Would taking this kitten in pose a risk to my cats?

Post by Lilith »

Very sorry to hear; you must feel powerless, but you can't put your own cats in danger. :(

Is there a friend who could take this kitten in, temporarily, and you could nurse it through the infection? Even bathing eyes with salt water can make a huge difference - and of course disinfect thoroughly before you come into contact with your own cats.

All paws and tails crossed here for these little ones.
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Don't take it in - catch & RSPCA a treatment voucher

Post by Catotum »

There is a system with the RSPCA where they will issue codes for vet treatment for any suffering animal. If you can catch one of the kittens, keep it maybe in a cat carrier, then ring the RSPCA & explain it is sick, they will give you a code to give to a vet. You take the kitten to the vet, they treat it free (the RSPCA code allows this) & then the RSPCA will take over as regards further treatment, neutering & rehoming. Don't take it in yourself as the disease could be worse than just an eye infection AND communicable. Even a vaccinated cat can catch a disease against which it has been immunised, although the effects are not then usually deadly.

An RSPCA inspector might be able to track down the originator of all these kittens & get them & the adults neutered but dealing with the kittens one by one will be a start. Tell your friends!
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Re: Would taking this kitten in pose a risk to my cats?

Post by booktigger »

Unfortunately Joe doesn't live in the UK
Catotum
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Re: Would taking this kitten in pose a risk to my cats?

Post by Catotum »

Oh dear, I didn't know that.

Maybe there is a cat charity that does un-neutered cat round-ups? One that takes in sick animals?

Difficult.
Joe_Danger
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Re: Would taking this kitten in pose a risk to my cats?

Post by Joe_Danger »

Good news is the kitten is doing great, but it's way skinnier than the other cats
that other gray one is also doing well but it got away from the shot
viber_image_2019-07-22_20-18-323.jpg
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There's a ton of kittens in our neighborhood like this, they generally grow up to be healthy cats and move on.....I REALLY want to take this one in...well all of them lol but this one is so damn adorable

but THIS one might be jealous
gscBeoH.jpg
the girls loved that other kitten I brought home couple years back, she grew up to be a gorgeous cat btw, Casper liked her too but the moment she came close to a litter box he started hissing at her

I'm really happy to see the kitten doing well
it's still skin and bones tho
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