Conference misery::feline_v1

    That sounds alot like what Francis had a month ago. He lost  his
    appetite, was listless (lay on the dresser for hours never moving), 
    ran a fever of 105.8 and spent from a Thursday to the following 
    Monday at the vets. He received LOTS of fluids and various antibiotics
    - one at a time until one was found to work. He continued on his 
    antibiotics for a week after his release. The vet had x-rays taken
    because the she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was making him ill. 
    No abcesses, no internal growths- apparently he had picked up a virus 
    somewhere (he is an indoor only cat). But the good news is - after
    spending time at the vets his temp came down to 102 and stayed
    there for 24 hours. Because he was eating and looking alert, he
    was released, with instructions to bring him back if his condition
    changed - or if his temp went up. But he kept improving and after a 
    couple days at home, he was back to his own self.
                         
    Possibly your cat has the same thing.

    I just went through this last week with Kallite.  He spiked a fever
    of 106.6.  At 108, there can be permanent brain damage.  There is
    a drug that the vets can give the cats to bring a severe temp down
    in a hurry.  It is called Dipyrone, and is given as an injection.
    
    Kalliste's white count was 28,000.  We took in a urine sample and
    they found crystals, but cystitis usually won't cause that high
    of a fever, or that high of a white count.  We put him on Ditrim
    and I monitored his temp at home for a few days.  It started to
    rise again so we changed his antibiotic to Cefa-tabs (Cephalosporin).
    He is doing much better.
    
    The vets that I have consulted about this described a syndrome in
    cats called "fevers of unknown origin".  They say that we may never
    know what caused the fever.  But, there are two things that we could
    do to try and identify the bacteria that is causing his white blood
    cell count to go up, maybe you would consider them.  First, they
    can culture a blood sample and then identify whichever bacteria
    grows from it.  This is helpful because they can then perform
    sensitivity tests to determine which antibiotic will be most effective
    against it.  The second thing they could do is culture the urine
    sample, then do the sensitivity tests on it.
    
    If the cat is on medication for 48 hours and shows no improvement,
    then the antibiotic should be changed.  Do be afraid to call your
    vet and express your concern if your cat is still not feeling better.
    
    It may take a day or so after the cat starts feeling well before
    it will start eating again.  Kalliste fasted from Saturday to
    yesterday, but he was still drinking plenty of water.  Sounds like
    your piglet has enough reserve to keep her going for a day or two
    without food.
    
    Jo

    Another thought, a full blood panel would show if there were any
    kidney or liver function problems.  Also, did they take a urine
    sample?  The sore abdommen sounds like some kind of clue.
    
    Ask them if they did just a CBC or a full blood panel.  If the fever
    is still high, then maybe the dipyrone would help her.
    
    Jo

    I had the same experience with Payday last December. She was listless,
    no appetitie, verrryy dehydrated and high fever for several days. She
    also received subcutaneous fluid injections and stayed at the vet's
    for 2 days. 
    The vet never discovered what caused the illness. Some type of flu
    bug was the most logical guess she could make. The biggest dangers
    were the dehydration and not eating. The injections at the vet took
    care of the dehydration and I bought a supplement called Nutracal
    at the vet to give Payday while she was not eating. I recommend
    using this when kitty is losing weight. It really helped her get
    her appetite back and she was eating baby food in no time.
    Good luck. Lots of fluids and try to get kitty to eat! :)
    Kim

    Re: #2 - you reminded me that Francis was put on a liquid
    Cephalosporin pediatric medication when he came home too. -for
    about a week.                                           

    About 3 years ago Gonezo had a mystery disease.  We went to the vet for
    the yearly check and he weighed in at 18+ lbs.  The vet said he was too
    heavy.  So, we tried putting him on a diet and my husband tried doing
    "kitty aerobics" with him (what a sight!!).  About a month later, I
    noticed Gonezo was limping so off to the vet I go only to find nothing
    wrong with him.  A week later I was back... his temp was about 105, he
    wasn't eating, and had lost about 1.5lbs.  His coat also lost all
    shineyness to it.  The vet couldn't find anything wrong, but with the
    temperature and weight loss, she kept him for 2 days and ran all sorts
    of tests, and everything came back normal.  The only thing she had a
    question on was a chest x-ray in which something abnormal looked with
    his heart - like it was lying in the wrong position or something.  She
    ran an EKG and that showed something weird.  By this time, I was with
    another vet who liked dealing with cardiac patients.  Dr. Liebl
    suggested I bring Gonezo to Angell Memorial for an ultrasound of his
    heart.  Of course, anything to save my "first child".  I got the
    appointment for 3 weeks later and by that time, Gonezo seemed normal
    again.  But to be on the safe side in case this happened again, we made
    the trek into Angell.  His ultrasound was normal (he loved it... tummy
    time with a vibrator!) so I took him home.  He's been ok ever since.
    
    My point is, maybe this "mystery disease" with your cat will take it's
    course and everything will be normal (after a mega-buck bill) in a few
    weeks.  I think Gonezo was just looking for extra attention and didn't
    like being told he was fat (although he's 20lbs now!).
    
    Good luck and let us know how everything turns out.
    Mary
    

    re: Ultrasound.  You mean i dont have the only "Vibra-kitty"?

    
    Thank you all so much for your replies. As of this morning Momcat
    hasn't responded to antibiotics -- fever still 105, although she
    is eating well again. I visited her last night; she looks pretty
    ratty and has a gummy eye, but she purred when I rubbed her. But
    her weight is up a pound from the food and subcutaneous water.
    
    The vet is going to do two more tests: Feline Infectious Peritonitis
    and Feline AIDS. Both are fatal and highly infectious, which means
    we could lose all our cats, a possibility I won't let myself consider
    at the moment. I've been scared to death we'd lose Momcat (my favorite,
    of course). We've lost three others to FeL in the past five years.
    
    Thanks again. I'll share what you've sent with the vet today.
    Keep your fingers crossed for Momcat.
    
    Ken                                                           
    

    
    
    Made copies of your info and took them to the vet at lunch.
    
    Just called him again. He started Mom on cephalosporin (sp?) this
    morning. Bad news is that she still has a temp of 105 and her appetite
    is off again. *Good* news is that her white count has fallen from 
    28,000 Tuesday to 16,000 this afternoon. He indicates that 12,000 
    is upper normal. (He also said he found your notes "interesting").
    
    Keep your fingers crossed. 
                                      
    Ken
    

    Ken, the lowered white cell count is a good sign.  That means that
    the antibiotics are working.  I have also found that my cats will
    eat better when home with me.  My vet doesn't feed the same food
    that I do, so my cats aren't that interested.
    
    Did the vet have any comments about the dipyrone to reduce her fever?
    I know that it just brings the fever down, doesn't help to fix the
    problem.  They usually use it only in extreme fever cases.  I don't
    know that all vets think 105 is extreme, probably not.  It sounds
    extreme to us, but to them it probably isn't that bad.  
    
    Good luck with Momcat, hope she is feeling better soon.  Any word
    on when you can bring her home?
    
    Jo

    re: .10
    
    Jo,
    
    Whenever I have to leave a cat at the vet's, I also leave some
    if its favorite food.  Often, they just don't eat when they are
    sick, but sometimes they'll do a little better with favorite
    treats than with the "standard supply."
    
    By the way,  I have twice had a similar "mystery illness with
    high fever."  Both times I was very worried about losing the
    kitten.  Both times it happened when they were about 6 months
    old.  Both times they recovered fully, and we never did figure
    out what it had been.
    
    	Pennie

    re: 10,11
    
    Yup, last baby I had to leave overnight at the Vet's moved into
    to her new housie with the following: (don't think I didn't get
    laughed right out of the Vet's office)
    
    1 round bed
    2 dishes - one for dry food, one for canned food
    1 can of very special treat canned food
    1 baggie of favorite crunchies
    3 catnip toys
    1 litter box (small)
    1 baggie of litter (taken from house litter box so home scent would
                        still be there)
      If the kitty going in is a show baby, a rosette will be prominently
      displayed on her/his cage - this reminds the folks at the vet's
      office NOT to shave an excessive amount of hair off the area being
      worked on !!  That usually gets a chuckle or two also!
    With this last one had to leave, I stayed with her for almost 2
    hours just to make sure that she ate and had something to drink-
    she hadn't been out of the house for about 7.5 years!  Healthy little
    bugger - by the time I left, she was feeling very comfortable and
    had eaten all her food and settled in for a nap in her bed.  I sort
    of rolled around (as much as I could) inside her cage so my scent
    would be there also - I think it helped - she was very relaxed for
    the entire visit, but VERY GLAD TO COME HOME!
    
    E.T._silly_me !

      
      As of this morning her temp is still stuck at 105. However, vet 
      said she has been eating, which is good. Her white count had 
      come down a lot yesterday afternoon. For the past 24 hours she's 
      been on Cefa-tabs. 
      
      It's hard to say when Momcat started feeling sick. She doesn't 
      like to be picked-up from underneath (probably because she's so 
      fat), so sometimes she cries when you do it anyway. But she got 
      very sick very fast. Last Saturday she was fine. Sunday morning 
      she was very listless and off her appetite (very unusual for her 
      -- we feed them all at the same time and she normally finishes 
      off 2 or 3 bowls of food for breakfast). She did not come in 
      Sunday night, which is a first for her. She never stays out. She 
      showed-up Monday morning, looking peaked. All Monday and Monday 
      night she lay on a carpet, not eating or even moving much. She 
      was the same Tuesday morning, so I took her to the hospital on 
      the way to work.
      
      The vet says the FIP and FIV tests may be back this afternoon. I 
      wouldn't be so worried if her fever would just come down. But 
      perhaps it takes more than 24 hours on Cefa-tabs to do the 
      trick.
      
      We had all the cats vaccinated for FeL last year, once the serum 
      became available (we'd lost 3 to FeL previously). We did not 
      have them tested for FeL because we couldn't afford it at $40 a 
      test plus $25 a shot, and we know that if they are already 
      positive for FeL, the vaccine won't help. But as I've already
      said, Mom's tested negative for FeL.
      
      Maybe I'll know more later today.
      
      Ken
      
      

    re: .12
    
    Elaine, I can just imagine you rolling around in a 2 ft x 2 ft
    cage...What a dedicated Mommy!
    
    I forgot to mention in .11 that I also leave some material that
    smells like me (e.g., a towel, a sock [dirty=better!]).
    
    When little Hopey was left in the hospital on short notice for
    his heart surgery, I scooted home and got one of my unwashed cotton
    turtlenecks and a dirty wool sock.
    
    Hopey was *so* pleased with these items, that he...
    
    				immediately peed on them!
    
    I like the idea of bringing used litter...I'll remember to do that
    in the future.
    
    Both times in the past when I had a kit with the mystery disease,
    I spent the entire weekend (yup, 2 full days) in the vet's private
    office, sitting in a rocking office chair, rocking the sick one
    in my lap!  And singing sweet nothings.  B_o_r_i_n_g.

    re:14
    
    Gimme a break, Penn - you know what I mean by 'rolling' - just
    sorta with my arms to have my scent in there.  Everything I
    brought was clean - it was really amazing to see her relax
    after I'd been there for a while - she saw me and heard me
    still there after about 1/2 hour and really just sort of
    settled in, good girl that she is !!
    
    I love my vet dearly, BUT, I really wish he would use litter
    for the cats - they use newspaper under the grate on the cage.
    I keep trying to explain that the cats won't go on that, but...
    they are used to me bringing my own!  They don't complain.
    
    E.T.

    
    Still a mystery, but ...
    
    Pathology report came back negative. All her internal organs are
    functioning OK and results of the FIP and FIV tests are also
    negative. (Whew!) She's been on cephalosporin for about 30 hours 
    now, and temp is *still* at 105. So, he's going to add an additional 
    med to help fight the fever.

    It's now officially a "fever of unknown origin," but I feel a 
    little better knowing the three most deadly possibilities have 
    been eliminated.

    It's been a long four days.

    Ken
    


    Ken,
    
    The first time I heard "fever of unknown origin" I burst out laughing,
    I thought it was a joke.  But, now that I have experienced it, it
    isn't quite as funny.  You probably won't ever know what it was,
    unless you do a blood culture or something.  I was thinking about
    the blood culture with Kalliste, but the stress of having the blood
    drawn again changed my mind.  So, since he is doing better now,
    we are just gonna take it as it comes.
    
    Hope that Momcat starts feeling better soon.  She seems to be on
    the mend.  Also, cats can show an elevated temperature when they
    are stressed.  Maybe being in the hospital is adding to her stress
    level, and thus keeping her temp up.
    
    Good luck over the weekend.  Are they going to let you bring her
    home?  Let us know how she is doing on Monday.
    
    Jo

    
    They gave Momcat dipyrone last night, and this morning her temp
    was back to normal. My wife and I visited her and she looked a lot
    better. Coat was shinier and she was clearly more active and feeling
    better. Vet is going to keep her on cephatabs over the weekend,
    and if she's still doing well Monday she'll be coming home.
    The cause of the fever remains unknown.
    
    Thanks for all the support.
    
    
    Ken
    

    Thank goodness!!! I'm so glad to hear the good news!! I know
    how HAPPY I was when Francis' temp went down - and stayed down -
    so I know just how you feel. These fevers of unknown origins are
    so frustrating. I had never heard of them until Franny's incident,
    but after reading the replies in this note, I am relieved to find
    that they are not uncommon. And even better - after reading this
    file - the cats generally recover. 
    
    Again, I'm so pleased that she's doing okay. 
                              
    Pat

    
    Well, it seems to be over. Momcat's temp is still normal, and she's
    "eating well," which for her is 4-8 bowls of food per day, plus
    Little Friskies "snacks" every hour or so. The vet is sending her 
    home today with meds for another 10 days, but it looks like all's 
    well at last.
    
    We've only had one other cat suffer this "fever of unknown origin"
    trial, and it only lasted two days. This episode with Momcat was
    terrifying because it lasted a week and seemed to defy treatment.
    We tend to believe that today's medicine can cure anything in 48
    hours. Well, at least we know now she doesn't have FeL, FIP, or FIV.
    
    Thanks again for all your support through this. It meant a lot to
    my wife and me.
    
                
    Ken
    
    Ken