Awwww ... we four are purring for him ... hope all turns out well.

I used to 'care for' all the cats that would come to the house (how do
they know?). At one time my vet was giving me a 'quantity discount' - I
was 'caring for' - I counted one day as I put plates of food down -
TWENTY ONE 'street cats'.

It was for the most part satisfying and very entertaining - countered
by very gut-wrenching events - sometimes having to 'make decisions'.

(one sad story - from a LONG time ago but I remember it so vividly)

There was a little TINY black kitty that appeared on my steps one day
(again, how do they know?). Just a TINY little thing that took to me
immediately. She had a thick black coat and orange-colored eyes.

"Shasta" had a cute little face and was obviously young, and pregnant
and READY. She wasn't REAL fat but, I could tell.

I fixed up a place for her to feel safe and comfortable and let her get
used to it.

I came home from work one day and as soon as I got out of the car,
Shasta came FLYING out of the house just talking like crazy, no longer
pregnant. She was SO talking to me and I could tell she wanted me to
follow her.

We went into the house, to her bed where I was expecting to see some
newborn kittens - however (as my eyes still tear up thinking about it)
- the only thing in the bed was a little underdeveleloped fetus. Shasta
climbed into the bed and layed next to it, purring proudly.

(I need a kleenex)

A couple of days later she was very lithargic with extremely labored
breathing. I rushed her up to my vet who, was very surprised, and just
could not believe that she was still alive. The little girl was just
eaten up with cancerous tumors and feline leukemia. He had no choice
but to immediately put her down.

I broke down on the drive home.

But there are LOTS of happy stories as well - like seeing eight or ten
cats in my rear-view mirror bouncing and running, following my car as I
drove up the driveway - thats really something to see.

Or 'Scruffy' who I truly thought that he truly thought that he was a
'human'. He would actually sit on the couch next to me, FLAT on his
BUTT, with his back against the cushions, hind legs straight out. We
would sit together and watch TV or nap on weekends - if I timed it just
right, when he would sit like that he would always groom his stomach -
if I talked to him he would look up at me (with his light mint-green
eyes), his tongue still sticking straight out (and he really disliked
being laughed AT).

Jeez I could go on all night ...

This was the only drug available on short notice and without a vet visit.
I'm hoping it will work. If I don't see improvement in 48 hours he will go
to the vet.

Here's a question:  Is 250 milligrams of any antibiotic a large dose for
a cat? I remember being sick in the past and starting out with 500 mg of
antibiotic initially and then dropping it to 250 mg for each subsequent
dose every six hours.  I weigh 160 lbs and a cat usually weighs less
than 20 lbs.

21st of this month.

If he was not improving steadily, he would have seen the vet today. But he's
gettin gbetter. See the update I posted earlier today. If he gets worse in
spite of the care he is currently getting, then he'll see the vet.