Some of you may remember that we adopted two kittens, Pepsi and Skittles, a couple of months ago. (We already had an eight-year-old cat, Ace.) Both kittens came from the same shelter and were originally feral, although Skittles had been bottle fed from when he was about three weeks old.
Anyway, here’s how it’s all shaking down. Skittles took right to life in the house. He loves people, and he loves other cats too. He’s very playful and just has the best personality. If I could only get him to stop jumping on the table …
Pepsi, OTOH, was scared of us and would hide whenever she got the chance. If we picked her up, she’d hiss at us, although she was fine once she actually got in our arms. (She used to do this thing where she’d hide her face in the crook of my elbow, which was sad but somehow also very cute and endearing.) She fixated on Ace and would not so much follow him as try to occupy the same space. He got tired of that, of course, and would bat her ears and such, but Pepsi’s not one to take a hint. Finally, to combat her fear of us, we bought a harness and leash and pretty much kept her on it all the time for a few weeks. At last, she’s coming around. She’s not scared of my husband at all (he works and goes to school from home, so he’s always here), and she’s only a little bit scared of me if I’m walking.
And after a period of adjustment, Ace now tolerates the kittens. I have a sneaking suspicion that he actually likes them. Well, Skittles, anyway.
So, all is happy in Kittyland, except that a few weeks after we brought them home, Skittles started sneezing. It stayed on an even keel for a few weeks, but the other day his left eye started swelling up (in fact, all the cats had goopy left eyes; very weird feeling when they all looked at you at the same time). He was sneezing a lot and felt hot, and obviously did not have his normal energy. He never went off his chow, though. (The other kitties were sneezing a bit too, though not nearly as bad.) I called the vet Wednesday, and the vet tech told me that because Skittles was probably exposed before they were able to give him his shots and because he was so young, he’d gotten it worse than the other cats, who’d most likely been exposed before. (Ace was an outdoor cat for five years before we got him.) She said to bring him in early next week if he didn’t get better. Well, when I came home Thursday evening, I heard the familiar buffalo stampede down the hall, and Skittles went flying between the bannister railings into the living room below. (We have a split-level home.) Now he’s pretty much back to his old self. We are putting antibiotic ointment in his eye every day, though, just to be safe.
Anyway, here’s my question: how long can I expect the cats to be sneezy? Their eyes look almost normal, and Pepsi and Ace never got very sick in the first place. I’m not worried, really, since they’re all eating, playing, etc. Unless I should be worried. Should I be worried?
Do you think if it doesn’t resolve in all our kitties that they should all have rounds of antibiotics? I mean, if it’s bacterial, they could pass it back and forth. Do they give cats shots of antibiotics like they give people? You know, one shot and you’re done? I know if they do it would probably be more expensive than oral, but I don’t want my kitties to be sick, and I’m sure they feel the same.