Elliot is just over 3 months old and I brought him home from the shelter 9 days ago. He started sneezing heavily two days after I got him and the vet put him on amoxi, and terramycin for his weepy eyes. Up until Wednesday afternoon, he continued to eat well and play strongly with his brother and sister. On Wednesday evening I found him listless and without appetite so I took him to the emergency vet. They said that since the cold was caused by a virus, the amoxi was only helping to hold off any secondary infections and that the cold virus would get worse before it got better. Well, it keeps getting worse and worse and I'm wondering if I should take him to the emergency vet and leave him with them. I've nursed kittens with colds before, and cats, but I've never seen one that has lasted this long or that keeps deepening.
I've been force feeding him since Wednesday evening which is very distressing because, as when I give him the amoxi and nose drops, he feels he is being suffocated. I do it very slowly, one cc at a time, rest, another cc, etc. I've been using Little Noses since Monday. On Thursday evening, I noticed that he had a little blood on his nose. I remembered one of my vet's techs remarking some time ago that when kittens sneeze a lot, they can get bloody noses, so I accepted it. This morning I gave him nose drops and he, of course, did a lot of sneezing and a good spray of blood came from his nose.
I talked to my vet on Thursday to check I was doing all possible. Then I stopped by my vet a short time ago, about half-an-hour before they close to ask advice. I really wanted to take him in for a check-up but knew that would be stressful for Elliot and the vet wouldn't want a highly contagious kitten in the practice if not necessary. Unfortunately, the vet was leaving early as he had no late appointment and his responses were rather brief and distracted. He just said that nose bleeds were not usually seen with colds and agreed I should stop the nose drops.
So my questions are:
Are small nose bleeds normal with kitten colds?
Are the nose drops to blame (they are non-alcohol so non-drying) or is it the sneezing?
I've had a borrowed humidifier running since yesterday evening. Should it be run all the time?
His breathing looked so odd a while ago that I nearly rushed him off to the emergency vet again. I saw his lower chest/abdomen rise and fall very slightly a few times, then he'd open his mouth and give a big breath, then nothing for several seconds, then another gasping breath. He's breathing more normally now or I'd be on the road.
When will this break? I long to see one small sign that it's starting to get better.
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