Sick Kitty
Late in April, Greebit came in from outside a little stiff. Over the course of the night, it became apparent that it was his leg that was injured and unhappy and I eventually found a hot swollen spot where he had a wound - a bite from another cat. Took him to the vet the next day and the vet gave me antibiotics, told me it was infected, and we scheduled an appointment to have him fixed so that he wouldn't want to go outside and fight with other boy cats anymore. Greebit had just turned a year old in April.
Antiobiotics administered, he recovered nicely and when it came time to get neutered, he had the surgery done and a handful of vaccinations brought up to date, including his rabies vaccine. When I picked him up from the Vet's office they told me that he was a little slow waking up from the surgery but was otherwise fine.
Since then, he's been a little lethargic, a little less affectionate, a bit less playful, and a bit pickier with his food.
A few days ago, I noticed that the lymph nodes under his jaw were swollen and the usual lethargy (since the surgery) was more marked. There was one night last week where he was laying on the floor by my feet and he started yowling and panting. His heart was racing and he pooped on my thigh while I was holding him. After he pooped, he seemed much better, if really freaking tired, and he was okay for a day or two. I didn't take him to the vet then because I didn't know how to explain what was wrong with him. He spiked a fever the next day and was sometimes very tense when we picked him up. It was intermittent though, so while I was watching him very carefully, I wasn't ready to whisk him off to the vet. He had been off his food a bit, so I was feeding him a big ol' can of tuna every day, which he was quite happy to chow down on. I knew he wasn't drinking much water, but hoped the water the tuna was packed in would be enough to keep him healthy.
It wasn't. He spiked another fever and was showing signs of dehydration. Not severe dehydration, his eyes and mouth were still moist and he was still peeing, but he'd lost a lot of the elasticity in his skin - when you pinched up a section of his skin it took a while to spring back to the normal cat shape. The yowling and then struggling to make a poop thing happened again, while my mom was here. Again, after that poop he seemed much recovered and his panting and fast heart rate settled down. The next time his fever spiked, I got a syringe (not hypodermic, just the syringe) and carefully squirted water into his mouth. That's when I noticed that his tongue was extremely pale and my first thought - and as it turned out apparently correct thought - was anemia. He was willing to swallow and took 6mL of water and showed an almost immediate improvement. We gave him more water later and it triggered one of those attacks of panting and stiffness and wild heartbeat. He pooped again, soft and small this time, and recovered.
I got him to eat some raw hamburger, hoping the red meat would help with his iron. Getting water in him helped with the color of his tongue and gums too, but they were still only pale pink (instead of almost white) and not the deep pink that a healthy cat has. I thought we might lose him that night, but he made it through and the next day was a *lot* better, frisking around and acting like his usual self. Then he had another attack - this time it was much more gradual and much longer lasting, without the pooping that seemed to relieve him before.
We've been giving him water and his appetite has been better - he ate a fair amount of chicken breast today (about half of a KFC-sized breast) and even drank some water on his own this morning. He hasn't drank since, so I gave him another 6mL of water via the syringe and now he's curled up sleeping peacefully on Jay's laptop.
After I'd seen to him and settled him down, I went to look up anemia in cats. After a few general-knowledge things, I came across a really good site about Feline Infectious Anemia. And that's where we are now. I found on another site that it causes enlarged lymph nodes as well and that's what clinched it for me, and I'm sure it's what he has. If Jay takes tomorrow off (which he wants to for an entirely unrelated reason) then I'm going to be taking him into the Vet's. The prognosis for recovery from this is pretty good, especially with good home care (which he's already gotten and will continue to get) and antibiotics.
The acute phase of FIA lasts for 2 to 4 months, so it may be that long that I'm having to give him water by syringe and strip chicken into tiny easy-to-eat bits for him. Intermittently during that time, he could have these attacks where he pants and his heart races and he's all sore and feverish. After that time, he'll no longer show symptoms of it, but he'll be a carrier for the disease. It's not known how long they carry it - could be years, could be for life - but it does mean that Greebit will be my only kitty for as long as we have him. I wouldn't want to risk getting a new cat, him biting the new cat, and then the new cat having to go through all of this again.
So... yeah. Neuter your boy cats. Before they're old enough to want to fight with other kitties. I have always, and may even continue to be, very hesitant to do a medical procedure unless it is needed. I very much tend to prefer to not change the natural order of things until it becomes a necessity, but if I'd gotten Greebit fixed 3 months ago, he might not be sick now.
Antiobiotics administered, he recovered nicely and when it came time to get neutered, he had the surgery done and a handful of vaccinations brought up to date, including his rabies vaccine. When I picked him up from the Vet's office they told me that he was a little slow waking up from the surgery but was otherwise fine.
Since then, he's been a little lethargic, a little less affectionate, a bit less playful, and a bit pickier with his food.
A few days ago, I noticed that the lymph nodes under his jaw were swollen and the usual lethargy (since the surgery) was more marked. There was one night last week where he was laying on the floor by my feet and he started yowling and panting. His heart was racing and he pooped on my thigh while I was holding him. After he pooped, he seemed much better, if really freaking tired, and he was okay for a day or two. I didn't take him to the vet then because I didn't know how to explain what was wrong with him. He spiked a fever the next day and was sometimes very tense when we picked him up. It was intermittent though, so while I was watching him very carefully, I wasn't ready to whisk him off to the vet. He had been off his food a bit, so I was feeding him a big ol' can of tuna every day, which he was quite happy to chow down on. I knew he wasn't drinking much water, but hoped the water the tuna was packed in would be enough to keep him healthy.
It wasn't. He spiked another fever and was showing signs of dehydration. Not severe dehydration, his eyes and mouth were still moist and he was still peeing, but he'd lost a lot of the elasticity in his skin - when you pinched up a section of his skin it took a while to spring back to the normal cat shape. The yowling and then struggling to make a poop thing happened again, while my mom was here. Again, after that poop he seemed much recovered and his panting and fast heart rate settled down. The next time his fever spiked, I got a syringe (not hypodermic, just the syringe) and carefully squirted water into his mouth. That's when I noticed that his tongue was extremely pale and my first thought - and as it turned out apparently correct thought - was anemia. He was willing to swallow and took 6mL of water and showed an almost immediate improvement. We gave him more water later and it triggered one of those attacks of panting and stiffness and wild heartbeat. He pooped again, soft and small this time, and recovered.
I got him to eat some raw hamburger, hoping the red meat would help with his iron. Getting water in him helped with the color of his tongue and gums too, but they were still only pale pink (instead of almost white) and not the deep pink that a healthy cat has. I thought we might lose him that night, but he made it through and the next day was a *lot* better, frisking around and acting like his usual self. Then he had another attack - this time it was much more gradual and much longer lasting, without the pooping that seemed to relieve him before.
We've been giving him water and his appetite has been better - he ate a fair amount of chicken breast today (about half of a KFC-sized breast) and even drank some water on his own this morning. He hasn't drank since, so I gave him another 6mL of water via the syringe and now he's curled up sleeping peacefully on Jay's laptop.
After I'd seen to him and settled him down, I went to look up anemia in cats. After a few general-knowledge things, I came across a really good site about Feline Infectious Anemia. And that's where we are now. I found on another site that it causes enlarged lymph nodes as well and that's what clinched it for me, and I'm sure it's what he has. If Jay takes tomorrow off (which he wants to for an entirely unrelated reason) then I'm going to be taking him into the Vet's. The prognosis for recovery from this is pretty good, especially with good home care (which he's already gotten and will continue to get) and antibiotics.
The acute phase of FIA lasts for 2 to 4 months, so it may be that long that I'm having to give him water by syringe and strip chicken into tiny easy-to-eat bits for him. Intermittently during that time, he could have these attacks where he pants and his heart races and he's all sore and feverish. After that time, he'll no longer show symptoms of it, but he'll be a carrier for the disease. It's not known how long they carry it - could be years, could be for life - but it does mean that Greebit will be my only kitty for as long as we have him. I wouldn't want to risk getting a new cat, him biting the new cat, and then the new cat having to go through all of this again.
So... yeah. Neuter your boy cats. Before they're old enough to want to fight with other kitties. I have always, and may even continue to be, very hesitant to do a medical procedure unless it is needed. I very much tend to prefer to not change the natural order of things until it becomes a necessity, but if I'd gotten Greebit fixed 3 months ago, he might not be sick now.