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A tough respiratory virus has hit the valley this season, possibly due to all the wind blowing around. If the kitten starts to sneeze and gets a crusty nose they probably have it. They are kind of like us, it takes a week or so to get over it. The important thing to do is to keep the nose cleaned with cotton balls dipped in warm water. If a kittens nose gets plugged, they will stop eating and drinking and will dehydrate. Watch the kitten carefully, They may need a vet visit for an antibiotic if the mucous turns green, or if they dehydrate. You can recognize dehydration by pulling up on the skin between the shoulder blades. If it doesn't spring rapidly down into place, they are dehydrating and you must force fluids and get to a vet. If you are encouraging a kitten to take liquids, you should place them on their stomach with their head up a little and push a small amount of fluid in the side of the mouth across the tongue. (I use a small syringe for this.) It will just drain out if they are not ready for it, and they will quickly learn to swallow it. Also watch for any sign of diarrhea. A young kitten is like a baby and will dehydrate rapidly. You must get them to the vet. 

Never give a kitten cows mil, only usie KMR (kitten formula). Sometimes a newly weaned kitten will need a kitten milk for a while if they get sick. I find I can transition them back on to food with canned fancy feast chicken.

I have found that if an older cat develops diarrhea, the best thing to feed them is cooked chicken breast. I chop it up. This will usually stop the diarrhea even if it doesn't cure the problem. Sometimes the problem is just stress.

Good food is required as the bengal is a muscular, active and high energy cat.  I grind raw chicken with skin and fat removed. they get calcium from the ground bone. I add pumpkin, yoghurt, wildtracks vitamins, vit c and L-lysine.  My cats however, are breeders and under more stress than the average cat.  I have changed my opinion on this question. I believe cats are carnivors, not omnivors like dogs are. Carnivors have a short gut, and are unable to absorbe much nutrition from carbohydrates. They need meat! A cat in a field or in the wild will eat mice, etc, and will eat them raw and whole. They will not chew on the grass. Nature gave them teeth to tear raw meat, and they swallow much without chewing. I use a commercial grinder and buy roasts, steaks, what ever I can find on sale. I also use rabbit, organic chicken, a little heart. This is all ground up raw with the bones left in the chicken and rabbit. No, it will not hurt them. Cats gorge eat, a large amount and then may not eat for a day or two in the wild. They do not need dry sitting around to snack on, and this is what is causing diabetic cats. If I had the money (we all can dream right?) I would feed my cats nothing but fresh raw meat. I do add a supplement to the raw diet and they get calcium from the ground bone.  They all get raw for dinner.

In between raw meals I will fill in with friskies canned. This seems to be a good middle of the road food, I would refer you to Elizabeth Hodgkins new book which has good info on how to analyze the different foods.