I have had the honor of caring for many sick and injured cats over the years. Even as I write this, I am on a crazy medication schedule of 8 times per day, 2-7 meds each, for 7 kittens. They all have horrible eye infections, and I’m trying to save their sight. If that’s not all, one of the nursing mothers developed mastitis, so she’s on meds as well. My house is a mess, and my social life is on hold but, hey, I’m losing weight with all the exercise.

When I was first given charge of two nursing queens (mother and daughter) and their litters, we had no idea how critical was the condition of the kittens’ eyes, as they were glued shut with a dark discharge. We thought it was the usual URI (Upper Respiratory Infection) so common in feral kittens, and began treating the older, five-week-old ones with antibiotics and an eye ointment. It soon became apparent that it was much more. A trip to Dr. Schmidt, a veterinary ophthalmologist in Arroyo Grande, confirmed our fears. They all had the herpes virus in their eyes which was attacking the corneas; this accounted for the dark drainage.

One kitten, Donna, was expected to lose sight in one eye and possibly the eye itself. Her other eye and those of her littermates were terribly inflamed with swollen lids. Severe corneal scarring with limited permanent vision was diagnosed. It was a daunting task that Dr. Schmidt set before me, with orders to medicate these poor babies for 21 days with a series of two oral medications, four different eye drops and an ointment.

I sequestered one mother and five kittens upstairs. The other family I arranged in the garage. These little ones were only about 10 days old, and their eyes had not yet opened. We hoped for the best, although we knew there had been cross-nursing going on. Four days later, I was driving them up to A.G. They, too, were put on meds, although not as many nor as frequently administered since we had caught the infection early. Interestingly, these tiny ones were the hardest to deal with, as their survival skills involved intense gyrations of their bodies. I had to wrap them in a towel to quell their flailing, but even then trying to put drops in their eyes was difficult.

Then I discovered that their mother had developed mastitis in two of her mammary glands. This is a serious and painful condition for any nursing mom. Through a phone consultation with our vet, I was advised to start antibiotics, apply warm compresses and bind a cabbage leaf (no kidding!) to her breast. She did mention that the latter was an old wife’s tale, reportedly worked, but had not tried it herself. Well, it does indeed work, and after only 36 hours. It is fortunate that both mothers and kittens are easily handled, or I would indeed have become the crazy cat woman by now.

Then the diarrhea started upstairs, due to the meds. Difficult enough to deal with, but multiply that by five, and you’ll get an idea what I saw when I opened the door that morning. Luckily, I had some canned pumpkin on hand, and immediately started mixing it with the wet food. Within 24 hours, it was over, but I’ve continued the pumpkin just in case.

Per Dr. Schmidt, the kittens were all infected with herpes in the birth canal, even though the mothers showed clear eyes. Being carriers of this virus is just another problem our feral cat communities face.
The latest check-up shows great improvement in all the eyes, including Donna’s which may yet be saved. The prognosis is bright, and it is gratifying to know that all my hours of toil have not been in vain and that soon they all will be available for adoption. Donna is a beautiful creamy Siamese with soft gray points and blue eyes, if any one is interested….