>I've got a big problem. Princess developed mastitis yesterday. I >noticed it last night. It was not obvious in the morning, however, late >yesterday afternoon, I noticed that she seemed to be totally drained and >later in the evening I noticed around one of her nipples she was getting >pretty swollen, about an hour later the area turned real dark with red >around the perimeter of the swelling. I immediately took her babies from >her and started her on amoxi, 30 ml. Her babies (8 of them) are not >quite three weeks old. They will be three weeks on Sunday. >Question #1: Am I giving Princess enough Amoxi? 30 ml. twice a day. Pat - I would need to know the strength of Amoxi. Plus, the dosage of 30ml makes no sense - is that 30 mg. BID, and how much does she weigh. For mastitis, which is usually due to coliform bacteria - 20 mg/lb twice daily is what I would do. >Question #2: What else should I be doing for her? Watch her carefully. Look for other areas turning blue-black. You may put warm compresses on the site for 5-10 minutes a day - which will help bring the inflammation to a head. >Question #1: Is the kitten milk enough for right now? You'd do better to talk to someone who fosters a lot of babies - I know there are some breeders on the net who have a lot of experience here. >Question #2: Are we at risk of losing the babies? Yes, for several reasons - 1) - if they get malnourished, or 2) if they drank infected milk. Bacterial infections can be passed in the milk, and can also be passed in the babies nurse from an infected mon - and then they can pass the infection to another nursing jill. >Question #3: Is there anything else that we should be doing for the babies? See question 1. You have to supply adequate warmth, food, etc. Antibiotics for the newborns are probably not a good idea - you can upset the normal flora of the intestine and cuase more damage. >Question #4: Is there a risk of any of the babies getting sick due to nursing on mom while mom was getting sick? Yes, but there's not that much we can do in these situations except watch and wait. If the animals start showing signs of illness, then I would hit them with Amoxi too, but not if they are acting otherwise healthy. Bruce Williams, DVM Department of Veterinary Pathology [log in to unmask] Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (202) 782-2600/2602 Washington, D.C. 20306-6000 [Posted in FML issue 1045]