Hi all,

I've recently discovered this forum. We are first time Bengal keepers and we bought two kittens three months ago. Long story short, when we met the kittens they were kept in less than ideal conditions to my knowledge. The breeder had many cats (too many for him to care for properly in my opinion), he fed them on a wet dog feed called Chappie and they had very runny stools.

We did not go looking for Bengal kittens exactly, but we ended up seeing these guys and neither of us had the heart to leave them in the current circumstances. So we came home with a little brown boy and a little seal linx point boy (who had a huge scar from the top of his shoulder to the bottom of his leg).

We got them home that evening and they were completely riddled with fleas. The very next morning we dealt with the fleas and had them booked in for their first vaccinations with the vet.

They have both had horrid diarrhoea since we brought them home, but both been growing into strong and extremely playful yet mischievous boys!

These kittens have had no expense spared since they came home, we have spent around £500 on them probably more trying to get them right with the vet.

After going back and forth for three months to the vet, he took a feaces sample and told us they STILL had a dormant worm that needed treating. We treated them for five days as suggested by the vet with Panacur paste. This was two weeks ago.

With no help from the vet, we discovered that many Bengals have and Gluten intolerance, so we changed their feed a few weeks back too.

Since the Panacur, our little brown boy, Tyrion has gone off his food (we're lucky if we can get one meal a day down him - he was a greedy kitten before this, often caught stealing too) and his stool is beyond diarrhoea. It looks like stomach bile, but squirting from his backend as from a trigger with an acidic smell and he's dropping weight. Fast.

The vet suggested yesterday that he should do a blood test on Tyrion for Cat leukaemia and cat aids. To which he told us that euthanasia is the only answer if results are positive.
I did not sleep last night, but thankfully the results were negative today and now he has prescribed some antibiotic pills and a paste to help him gain an appetite.

I have probably left out vital information, but my typing cannot keep up with my mind. I'm so worried for our baby. He's the sweetest little boy, but he has no energy, no appetite, he no longer speaks to us when we make meals, he wants to sleep all day and saddest of all - has no interest in playing with his brother Bronn, who now towers over him and is almost a kilo heavier and still as mischievous as ever.

Our vet is less than helpful and we have tried three in the same practise, none of them seem to take the issue seriously and I even feel as though I am a nuisance to them now!

I have looked into other practices, but in a farming community I am struggling to find a vet interested in looking into our issue. We don't want to lose our boy.

Please help, am I doing something stupid and ignorant? Apologies for the confusing post.

All I can say about those conditions is dear god, one thing those two will be lacking straight away is Taurine also a ton of antibiotics and wormer can make tummies even worse if they aren't on something to counteract it killing all the good bacteria.

Get some nutrical I would recommend the kitten due to the taurine but you have no time. look for a food that's no grain no filler such as Thrive chicken varieties should be fine and they do a wet and a dry complete selection I've never met a cat turn their nose up at Thrive stuff I would stick to giving the wet kitten for now. Also get some prokolin paste to settle their tummies and put the natural Bacteria back in. Also get some beef and Turkey mince for them and mix it into their food most kittens can eat it raw without an issue otherwise just sear the beef and cook the turkey if you feel better about that. What helps is the blood to encourage them to eat.

What you really need is for them both to eat and lots of it mix in the vitamin paste and the Taurine supplement. At least if they only eat the paste and some food you are getting some calories into them both.

https://fetch.co.uk/protexin-pro-kolin- ... -279190011 Prokolin for the good Bactria and to stop the runny tummy

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TOMLYN-PRODUCT ... s=Nutrical Make sure you buy from an UK based seller who has it in stock. This should be what you use to build them up mix a pea size amount in their food if they won't take it from the the tube.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002Y0CETO/ ... +nutri-cal Nutrical kitten to buy for later on as I would keep the on the supplement but you sadly have to wait on US postage for it but the kitten has Taurine which cats need it works out easier to give this instead of the adult cat one so you know they are getting that Taurine if they aren't eating well.

Thrive kitten wet complete food https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrive-Percent ... ive+kitten complete wet kitten food so you don't need to worry about a dry with it

Thrive also do great cat treats which are just freeze dried meat and crumbling them over food makes them eat anything usually

Bengals are super susceptible to stress (it's possibly due to the wild blood) they don't always show it but their body usually does so get some Feliway (travel spray and the adaptor plug in)
https://fetch.co.uk/feliway-starter-pac ... -283388011

Also I've found that Zylkene mixed into their food works wonders for extreme stress
https://fetch.co.uk/zylkene-20-caps-75mg-229722011

Im hoping this should at least stabilise them and get some weight on.
Also love the names I have an Arya myself. Hope you get them both through this.

_________________

- Sarah
Arya 24/04/16 - Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal
Griffith 16/04/16 - Silver Seal Lynx Point Rosetted Bengal
Mina (in my avatar)- 1999-2016 - Seal Mink Spotted Bengal (Snow) - run free at rainbow bridge

You need the vet to do a full faecal test with three days worth of samples of whatever is coming from his backside. They need three days as not all parasites 'shed' every day.

I am currently going through this with Hendrix. He started diarrhoea last Friday, not unusual for him, he has a sensitive tummy. It got worse over the weekend and he had mucus just coming out of his backside (which is probably what is happening with your boy) and also started to be sick.

Basically I was told he has a highly inflamed large colon which is why the mucus was just coming out of him and he couldn't control it. He started being sick also because of the inflammation - it caused a reflux reaction as he was basically regurgitating undigested food.

They need to test for Giardia and also something called TF and whatever else it could be. I won't get the results for Hendrix until next week. Meantime, he has been put on Metronidazole to reduce the inflammation (it may be what your boy has been prescribed??). If he has Giardia it will kill that too I think.

He was hospitalised Monday night as the vet was so concerned about the mucus just pouring out of him. He was given two anti-nausea jabs and a probiotic paste.

Start collecting samples (gross I know). Put shredded paper in a litter tray, get a sample pot and a pipette to collect the sample from your vet and then take it in and ask him to do a full faecal test. I think he'll have to send it away. Meantime, as Seraph said, Thrive food is excellent and has plenty of fluid as the main worry with kittens is becoming dehydrated.

Sounds like you need to insist on this panel being done with your vet, I can't believe how unhelpful he's being.

I wish you luck and keep us informed.

PS I would add, Hendrix is improving now after the treatment at the vet and now being on the metronidazole.

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Excellent advice above. I feel for you, you must be desperate. I would phone around and see if you can find a vet whose special interest is small animals. The protexin prokolin is amazing stuff and should help enormously. Zylkene is great too as it is a milk protein and mimics the relaxing and happy effect the mother cat's milk has on the kitten. I feed Oscar Canagan which is grain free. It literally looks like its fit for humans. It looks like shredded chicken in a broth which gives the much needed moisture your poor kitty needs and more importantly has all the added essentials a cat needs like Taurine. Can you pipette some moisture into him if he won't eat? Good luck. I will be thinking of you and hope he pulls through. Hugs x

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

Try this site - findavet.rcvs.org.uk/find-a-vet/

Hopefully you can find a vet who can help you.

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

I also feel a test for TF is necessary. Most vets cannot test for it in their offices and have to send the sample to a special lab. Here is some information on it. http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/dig ... richomomas

Thing is, it's not easily cured except with one medication and it can take quite some time to get rid of it. And if you have two kitties, it can cross contaminate over and over again. One member here had to leave both her cats at the vet for a couple of weeks so they could be separated and treated.

Whatever is going on with your baby -- it's not fun for him either. I would definitely seek out another vet and I say that because euthanasia is not the end all for all diseases. Feline leukemia is a fatal disease and cats usually go downhill pretty fast. FIV is different! Cats can live a long life even if they have it. Their immune system is compromised and it's more difficult if you have a non FIV cat in the same household, but euthanasia is not necessary in that case. But, since your kitty doesn't have either, that's good!

There is definitely something in the digestive systems that needs to be worked on. It's necessary that your baby eat enough food. You can syringe food into a cat's mouth. Sarah has offered up some great tips, but I'm seeing that the vet is missing something crucial here. Your little one deserves a fighting chance to beat this. Something is zapping the energy out of your boy -- and I believe a broader spectrum of tests will be required to figure this out -- and a better vet. This may mean traveling to a larger town, but if you are not happy with your vet, there are a ton of others who will care a lot more and try to make sure your boy gets the treatment he needs -- and FAST! Kitties reach a point where they cannot be saved no matter what you try. Good luck!

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The little monsters 3

We need an update on this baby!