Amber has mastitis

[Shelley123]

Poor Cat, at least her temp is normal and she's eaten a little. Would it be worth trying some Whiskas cat milk, mine love it and it has vitamins in.

[kado]

I use lactol from pets at home. Not all the nipples on my maisey produced milk. They also have there favourite ones and always go for that one.

[James]

Hmm .... I have to be careful here as I do not wish to sound as if I am criticising the veterinary profession (on the contrary, having trained almost alongside vet students (medical students and veterinary students start off on a similar basic course), I have the highest respect for them). However, although I am a human doc and NOT a vet, I wonder how it is that a cat carer is given a prescription, but seemingly little advice on side effects and possible complications arising from the health problem itself (if I have misread here, please correct me). Antibiotics do have side effects, but in themselves do not usually affect appetite whereas one of the side effects - nausea does (the retching may be associated with the nausea).

The advice from other members here is very helpful - I would add that as she is a nursing mother and taking medication which may cause diarrhoea and vomiting, it is especially important to make sure she does not become dehydrated.

In typical mastitis it may useful to apply warm compresses. In terms of medication, has there been any mention of anti-inflammatory and/or pain medication?

[lizziejayne66]

the vet never mentioned pain meds or flannels to me at all.
just said her nipples cant be painful or they wouldnt feed
2 of her nipples are bone dry, but milkin others and they seem to be feeding ok
mum last night ate a couple o fmouthfuls of food herself and had a drink so thats a start and this morning at 7 i heard her drinking and crunching on a couple of biscuits so at least she is trying. maybe the antibiotics are working

i weighed them again last night 2 doing well with weight gain other 2 slow
fird night the small tortie girl weighted 98g, last night 99g
curly tortie girl was 1299 then now 135g
red boy 1 was 114g now 115g
red boy 2 117 now 128g
are these weights ok? there now 4 and half days old mum seems to be taking good care of them
how come 2 are gaining lots of weight and other2very little?

alsoive had trouble getting the antibiotics into mum, she spits it right out, took 5 attempts lastnight to get her to swallow it
i l keep you all posted and thanks to all

[angieh]

Just catching up with this thread. IMO poor Amber will be very uncomfortable if not in pain. The warm compresses would help if you can manage it. I too am surprised that the vet has not prescribed a pain killer, but maybe that's because she is still suckling the kits. I do hope you see some quick improvement in her.

[Shelley123]

Glad things are ticking along. Just a thought have you tried putting the tablets in pieces of chicken. I have to medicate Tom everyday and the chicken never fails.

[dandysmom]

Good idea, Shelley, or ham. Even the pickiest cat can't usually resist a nice piece of ham.....

[smudgley]

Excellent comments & advice from James.

Mastitis is a VERY painful & can be VERY dangerous condition, even potentially life threatening as the body can go into shock. The key thing however is to catch it early which hopefully you have done.

I know it's difficult to comment with out seeing her, but I'll bet my bottom dollar that she will is/was refusing food because she feels so ill & is in pain.

You must milk off the teats - even if it's hurts her, it's vital that they don't get totally blocked.

Make sure the kittens feed from all her teats & she doesn't favour one side, by always lying on the same side when feeding them.

Hot compress is excellent advice, water as hot as your hand can stand it, without burning her, on a flannel & lay it on her abdomen, this will eliviate some of the pressure & release some milk.

Once her temperature is down & stays stable, she should start to feel better & she should eat more normally too.

The antibiotics will help but may take 36/48 hours to kick in.