Conference misery::feline_v1

    Hi!  The runny eyes are an indication of an upper respiratory
    infection, this needs veterinary attention immediately.  If this
    is allowed to continue, the kitten will be a cat with cronic infections
    and will never be fully over it.   The symptoms are indicitive of
    Chlamydia.  The eye infection is also transmissible to human
    companions. About 10 days on a good antibiotic will clear this right
    up!
    
    About the litter box...well, we always recommended our clients use
    unscented clay litter.  Not that green chunky stuff either.  This
    upper respiratory could cause the box problem, however, we have
    found in practice that worms and urinary tract infections will also
    cause broken training.  
    
    Be patient with Opus, see a vet and I think your problems should
    be solved!
    
    Please keep us posted!
    
    Jean
    

    Send the Pet Shop the vet bills!!!!!  I would like to say more
    but will not do so here regarding pet shop kits or cats.
    
    E.T.

    Cats have an extremely refined sense of smell.  Many of them object
    to the deoderizers in some cat litters.  I would suggest, as did
    .1 that you try an unscented, undeoderized kitty litter.  As long
    as you keep it clean it won't smell.
    
    And by all means see a vet about the sniffles.  You can't be too
    careful with a kitten's health.
    
    Good luck,
    Karen, Tristan and Tenzing.

    Well, I just talked to my boyfriend, and he bought new clay variety
    litter. He put it in the box, put the cat in the box and watched
    the cat walk over to rug and pee there. 
    
    Uh-oh.
    
    Michelle_whose_boyfriend_is_getting_frustrated
    

    It looks like she's getting better, her eyes are hardly running,
    but if on Sunday she's not better, she goes in on Monday.
    
    Michelle
    

The kitten has a great sense of smell - having marked the rug, Opus will
return there unless:

1) the kitten is confined to a small room away from the marked spots, with
   litter box, food, and water for a few days while you...

2) Get to a pet store and buy a chemical scent remover and thoroughly treat
   and dry out the rug or floor anyplace that has been marked.

Do the above, once the kitten has been checked for worms, infections, etc.
Opus really needs a check-up, eye problems or not.

Make sure you or your boyfriend spends time with the kitten while it is
confined, but limit it's range until the litter is reliably used for
a few days.  Once the litter is being used, f�reedom around the place is
ok.

This has worked for me...good luck!

    Good point about marked carpeting!  I read, and tried, using rubbing
    alcohol.  This acually takes away the odor!  It is also far less
    expensive than a comercial preparation.  Another step is to moisten
    a q-tip in the alcohol, and let the kitten sniff it, do this while
    wetting the spot on the floor, and he'll catch on in short order
    that that behavior is unacceptable.
    
    And, DO NOT wait till Monday!  Virus infections are incidious at
    best!  The kitten could look good now, and have rumbling lungs
    tomorrow. Treating an infection now will beat trying to pull a small
    kitten out of a bout of pnemonia...if you can...
    
    Don't wait!  The consequence are not worth it!  And by all means,
    forward the bill to the pet shop.  I agree, I won't get into it
    either,(nuff said?) but they should be aware they sold an ill kitty!
    
    Please, call the vet and let us know!
    
    Jean
    

    Please, please bring Opus to a vet ASAP.  It sounds like he could
    have a virus and, left untreated, it could take a kitten's life
    in a matter of hours.  And there is a lot of it going around lately
    (see note 1859).  Not trying to be an alarmist.  Just don't want
    you to loose your kitten.
    
    J
    

If the human resident of the house does not own the house (or apt. or condo),
I would be very leery of using rubbing alcohol on a strongly colored carpet.
the less expensive brands can have noticable color changes from the alcohol.
That's why I suggested a commercial product - more likely to be safe for
colors of carpet.

    Well, it's been three days straight, and Opus has been using the
    litterbox. We bought an odorless litter and took out the scented
    liners, and what do you know---It took him a few hours to get the
    idea--When Opus would start eating, Dean would watch him to see
    when he finished, and then he would carry him down the stairs to
    the box and dig Opus' paws in the litter. After a couple of hours
    of this, whenever Opus would snack and Dean walked by--Opus ran
    down the stairs and started digging in his litterbox--all the while
    looking up at Dean as if to say "Is this right Daddy-but why?"
    
    He figured it out though, so we are happy again. As for the vet,
    that is an entirely different matter--but I think I'll be able to
    convince Dean to get him there within the week. 
    
    Michelle (Whose_boyfriend_doesn't_believe_a_healthy_looking_and_acting_
    kitten_should_still_see_the_vet)

    Just like babies, kitten's need to have a check up along with the
    customary vaccines.  Please advise your boyfriend to take Opus to
    the vets for these most needed vaccines.  No cat looks ill even
    though they are, they are not like dogs that do show when not feeling
    well.  So please advise him for Opus's sake.
    
    

    
    I agree with .12 - my wife and I just picked up a kitten in the
    last 2 weeks.  We took it immediately to the vets, even though he
    was happy and bouncing around.  The vet had to keep him overnight
    and said that if the kitten had been brought in a week later, he
    would not have made it.
    
    Kittens need vaccines to protect themselves from several diseases.
    It is not wise to save a few dollars in the short if it means that
    you would have to put the kitten to sleep or spend a lot to make
    him healthy again later.  The vet stated that it does not take much
    for a kitten to become seriously ill.  Ours is doing great now and
    there has been a noticeable improvement (even though we thought
    he was fine originally).
    
    Good luck, Rick
    

    I can't believe it took me this long to convince my boyfriend to
    bring Opus to the vets. He went in last night, got all his vaccinations
    and is basically healthy (he has ear mites & worms)
    
    He was amazingly well behaved also. The only times he complained
    were when they took blood samples and his temperature. 
    
    They gave us medication for Opus too, which Dean had to give him
    last night and he said that Opus was fine about taking it!
    
    Thanks for everyone's advice
    
    Michelle