My almost 9 year old orange kitty, Scottie, became ill suddenly on
Wednesday.  He was perfectly normal in the morning.  That night there
were outdoor neighborhood cats outside howling and Scottie seemed
peculiar, kind of distant and preoccupied, and I thought it had to do
with those cats.  He didn't eat his favorite treats and was very
subdued.  Thursday morning he was laying in exactly the same spot he
had been in when I went to bed Wednesday night.  He didn't get up or
eat breakfast.  I worried about him all day at work and left early and
got him into the vet.  He had a temp of 105.  They did all the
bloodwork and a chest x-ray and the vet wanted to keep him but I hate
leaving my cats overnight so I took him home with antibiotics.  Friday
we got the blood results, all fairly normal except a very high white
count.

Meanwhile he was not eating.  I syringe fed him Friday morning before I
went to work.  When I got home that night he was even more lethargic,
not even lifting his head. I syringe fed him again, he barfed a little
later.  Several hours later, I syringe fed him again and he promptly
vomited.

Today we took him back in and left him there on IVs (dextrose, B
complex, reglan, injectable antibiotics) and they are syringe feeding
him but also giving him reglan IV so he doesn't barf.  They might have
to tube feed him but I am hoping not.  I absolutely hate having one of
my cats at the vet.  It's not a 24 hour vet so there's no one there now
at night.  Someone will be in at 5 am and although they are closed on
Sunday, someone stays all day long and we will be allowed to visit him.
Poor little guy.  He's a former feral and doesn't do well at the vet
but he is so sick now that he isn't fighting them.  I worry that he
will get very fractious as he improves but, of course, I want him to
improve quick and get home.  His temp was 104 when they took it so
maybe he is slowly improving.  They are worried about hepatic lipidosis
which is partly why they wanted to keep him and also because they feel
IVs are the best protocol in these cases of fevers of unknown origin.

I feel sad when one of them isn't here.  Abbey, Scottie's little
sister, is very sad and confused as they are very close.  I worry about
stupid things like the vet clinic burning down or someone leaving a
door open and allowing him to escape.  I voiced my fears so the vet
knows I'm nuts now but I just can't help it.  I hate having them out of
my control.

We had originally had an appt. at the vet today for Abbey to have a
chest x-ray to see if she could discontinue her meds that she has been
on since last May for chylothorax.  I was excited at the prospect of
getting good news because Abbey had not been expected to survive last
May and now seems perfeclty healthy.  But instead, we took Scottie in
instead of Abbey.

Send him some good healing thoughts if you want, he could use them.  My
cats always seem to get seriously ill.

Candace