TLDR: one very sick kitten is feeling better, two possibly sick kittens are fine except loose stool. How long should I continue to wear gloves while handling them? When can I safely bring them all back together since it is unclear if the other two ever had Panleuk?
The more information version of it helps:
I have a litter of kittens who ended up with Panleuk. We found out after one kitten suddenly crashed and couldn’t be revived and a second one started looking poorly. They did a snap test and it came back inconclusive which, in light of her sister passing so suddenly, they took as a positive. The shelter gave me an arsenal of supplements for the sick kitten and I immediately quarantined her from her two remaining siblings. Two days later her brother didn’t look right and had diarrhea and didn’t eat breakfast so I took him in too. They didn’t do a snap test and just sent me home with more meds for him too. He immediately started improving. So he and the last kitten have really only had diarrhea as a symptom this whole time. Everything else is normal. I kept the two healthier ones together and my very sick girl on her own. I had five days that were very touch and go but now she is clearly feeling so much better!! I’m so pleased she made it when the statistics are so dire but now I have questions.
How much longer should I wear gloves while handling them? I sanitize with Rescue on all commonly touched surfaces. I wear fresh gloves and a smock every time I care for them. I clean the poo out of their litter boxes 6-8 times daily to bring down any tracking. They are confined to playpens and I do my best to socialize them in this strange sanitized environment. I have already made peace with the fact that there is no possible way for me to properly kill the Panleuk on every single surface that they touched or that I touched after caring for them. As such I know I will have to take a break from fostering to prevent any future kittens from suffering and possibly dying.
When is it appropriate to put all three together again? They are in the same room but different playpens and don’t share any items. I have no idea if all three had Panleuk because it’s unlikely they weren’t all exposed at once or in the days following. But the other two have been doing mostly fine.
Any seasoned foster parents out there that can shed some light on this would be greatly appreciated as this is my first time dealing with Panleuk.