Sick cat, unknown sickness

My cat Sebastian is almost two. He has been sick for six months and my veterinarian doesn't know what's wrong with him. I've taken him into the vet about twenty times and have spent thousands of dollars. His platelet and red blood cell count have been really low. Steroids used to help, but don't anymore. Antibiotics don't help. He never swallowed anything toxic that would be causing this. He had minor weight loss, bruised ears, blood in his mouth. His bone marrow is producing the cells just fine. Something else is killing them. He's otherwise perfectly happy and active. He's going to have an ultrasound done next week to check on his spleen.

If that was me i'd be taking my cat to another vet to get a 2nd opinion

The symptoms that you have described sound like the Feline leaukemia Virus. I know it sounds scary, and it may be something completely different, but have any of the vets ever mentioned it?

Originally Posted by Dragoriana

The symptoms that you have described sound like the Feline leaukemia Virus. I know it sounds scary, and it may be something completely different, but have any of the vets ever mentioned it?

Click to expand...

I don't know the symtoms of Leaukemia, when our cat Houdini was diagnosed with it, we noticed he wasn't eating, but when we carried him to the vet he found it right away.

If that was me i'd be taking my cat to another vet to get a 2nd opinion

Click to expand...

I totally agree; there's obviously something serious going on. Hopefully, the ultra-sound will help pinpoint the problem, but I'd definitely get a copy of Sebastian's labs & get another vet's input.

I'm not a vet and can't give a diagnosis, but I have a couple of thoughts which may be useful - as well as testing for FeLV as others have mentioned, I would have the vet test your cat for Feline Infectious Anaemia (in which a blood parasite destroys the red blood cells) and Auto Immune Haemolytic Anaemia, which is caused by the cats own immune system destroying the red blood cells as if they were a virus. The test for AIHA is called a Coombs Test.

FIA is treated with antibiotics, and chronic AIHA is usually treated with an ongoing course of strong steroids to suppress the immune system (usually over a period of months). If they are ineffective then chemotherapy is an option.

I would ask your vet if these diseases have been tested for and discuss treatment options - with either your existing vet, or with a feline specialist (if possible).

I agree that you should make sure the vet has tested for all those things listed above and if he can't seem to find anything, then perhaps another vet or specialist might be able to help?

Sending lots of positive wishes to your dear Sebastian. I hope you can find out whats wrong and help him soon.

It sounds like Epona knows whereof she speaks! I would do just what she suggested, and if you haven't already consulted a few different vets, I'd say it's time to do so.

Sending healing light and love to your darlin...

Originally Posted by nekosan

My cat Sebastian is almost two. He has been sick for six months and my veterinarian doesn't know what's wrong with him. I've taken him into the vet about twenty times and have spent thousands of dollars. His platelet and red blood cell count have been really low. Steroids used to help, but don't anymore. Antibiotics don't help. He never swallowed anything toxic that would be causing this. He had minor weight loss, bruised ears, blood in his mouth. His bone marrow is producing the cells just fine. Something else is killing them. He's otherwise perfectly happy and active. He's going to have an ultrasound done next week to check on his spleen.

Click to expand...

Maybe he is hemopheliac (like humans) they bruise very easily and if his mouth bleeds maybe the food he's eating is too rough. Just give soft foods. If he doesn't have any other symptoms or acts ill I would not put him through a bunch of more tests. Seems he's had plenty already. If they can't find anything then there is nothing to find. It's a thought, something to check into anyway. Hope he feels okay and stays well.

What are his other blood values (like white blood cell count)? Does he have signs of jaundice (yellowing of the skin)?

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_imha.html

Other possibilities:

http://www.petplace.com/cats/bruisin...ats/page1.aspx

I recently met (and became friends with? ^^) Sebastian's owner (^.^) and have posted the OP and this for them in an attempt to gather information and learn. Upon researching into the realm of veterinarian practices and pet health care, searching for clues relating to Sebastian in an attempt find a cure or remedy to relieve the pain and to make my friend happy, I came across the sad story of USDI ( http://usdislife.com ). It was very heartfelt and touching, and I could relate considering the similarities to Sebastian. Further research and reading replies to my original post (posted on several forums) I became worrisome about the potential outcome considering others' experiences and noticing subtle similarities. I took notes and prepared some information I felt would be informative to make aware to my friend the next time I had the opportunity. Little did I realize, I was too late. I share the following notes (compiled as a checklist) as a reference for anyone who is interested:

_ make sure your veterinarian is officially licensed
_ ask for a "patient information sheet" which includes detailed descriptions of each drug, usage and storage, administration, signs of possible overdose, possible side effects, possible drug interactions, possible food interactions
_ un-monitored steroid therapy is deadly
_ initial treatment may be the cause of continued sickness whereas without treatment to begin with, deadly sickness would not have resulted i.e. money-making scheme for vets
_ vets may not know how to administer drugs safely
_ your veterinarian (like anyone else) is not trustworthy by default
_ 30 years of experience as a vet does not make a veterinarian trustworthy/reliable/honest by default
_ confirm by researching on your own (wikipedia is a valuable resource) if a drug or operation makes sense
_ if your vet doesn't know what else to do, they may have been greedy and caused more suffering or even death for your pet at your expense (hence your continued returning to them)
_ a diagnosis should be the first thing a vet/doctor should do which consists of at least a blood and urine test (if necessary, this step is usually overlooked and forgotten)
_ in addition to diagnosis/tests, the results of such a diagnosis should be made available in no more than 24 hours
_ always question any medication administered by your vet if uncertain
_ never assume anything
_ if your pet is on any type of steroid therapy and hasn't been diagnosed/tested, demand these tests no matter how much you trust your vet
_ drugs administered to your pet may be the cause of continued or new diseases

Shortly after informing my friend of my research, here's what she said:

February 23rd
I feel I should inform you of Sebastian's current situation. At 2am I took him to the kitty ER. He wasn't in critical condition as far as I could tell, but he just wasn't acting normal at all. when I got there, the doctor told me that he needed fluids and another blood test done and to stay overnight for observation. Then a different doctor called me this morning at 9 saying that Sebastian's blood levels were super low, and if he didn't get a blood transfusion he wouldn't make it for very long.
So I agreed to that, obviously, and the doctor said that Sebastian's abdomen ultrasound that was scheduled for Wednesday would be done today instead. He called me back after that saying that all of his organs look fine, but he has several enlarged lymph nodes that they're going to biopsy.
He's currently in an incubator because his body can't stay warm on it's own. I haven't heard from the doctor since his blood transfusion. His blood test is going to be sent to Colorado for further testing I guess. The doctor guessed he would be contacting me again between 4-6. I'm getting very anxious. It's after 6 now.
This has been the most expensive day of my entire life....

February 24th
Sebastian didn't make it. The doctor called at around quarter to 2am saying that Sebastian went downhill since I left, and that they were losing him. i went there right away, but he had died only minutes after the phone call. I'm going to have the biopsy looked at and he's having an autopsy and then he's getting cremated.

Oh no; I'm so very sorry to hear about Sebastian. Poor little man. You have my deepest sympathies.

I am so sorry to hear that about Sebastian too

Oh no! I'm so sorry!

Honey, I am so so so so so sorry for your Sebastian. He will know he was being cared for, he knows. My beloved Sasha died from a diffused form of LymphoSarcoma, and he had almost identical symptoms, though he was shedding weight a bit faster. It was very, very hard to diagnose. Your guy knows you tried, he knows and you must have peace with that.
Namaste~
-E.

I'm so sorry about your Sebastion. Im sorry we couldn't help more. I hope you are ok A little piece of me breaks when i hear someones beloved pet has passed away because they are such an important part of our lives. Sending you lots of hugs and vibes.

Some of this is the same that Tuffy went through. All his blood work said he was anemic and something about his red blood cells were to small, He started to have blood after he pooped and the vet tried allot of different things with him but nothing helped much, after a month or two after the bleeding started he was getting fevers, so the vet had me take him to a expensive hospital to get looked at. They had him in intensive care for about two days giving him fluids intravenously and they did a ultra sound and saw the big lymph nodes and other things that didn't look right and then did needle biopsies because they felt he was to sick to be able to handle a exploratory surgery. The biopsy's showed problems but still no real answers. Anyway after eliminating all the things they could test for that might be the problem the specialist figured it had to be FIP.

The dr was going to look into a experimental med for FIP but not used in the USA and she didn't know if she could get any of it or how much it would cost, but Tuffy died before she could find out much about the new med. I don't mean to imply your kitty also had FIP but like I said some of what you and your kitty went through sounds allot like what Tuffy went through. It was real hard to spend that kind of money but if there was any chance of them finding out what was happening and maybe helping him get better it was worth it. If the dr could have said he for sure has FIP and he is going to die soon then we wouldn't have done all the expensive tests, but there is no real test for FIP other than a autopsy after they are gone.

I don't really know where I am going with all this, other to say I know how hard it was to watch Tuffy get so sick and not able to help him much and I know how hard it must have been for you going through the same stuff. I was up the whole night with Tuffy trying to make him more comfortable and had his vet on the phone at 1:00 in the morning and she was telling me what to do for him to get his fever down so he could at least sleep his last night on this earth, the same vet had to put him to sleep that next morning at 9:30. I never cried so hard in all my life as I did that morning, I am crying again as I write all this. I was so angry at god for taking my Tuffy away from me, but I knew he was at last at piece and not suffering any more.

I am sorry for stealing you tread with Tuffys story. People are probably tired of me going on about Tuffy all the time. I probably just should have said how sorry I was that this had to happen to your kitty and left it at that. But reading your story reminded me of all that we went through here with Tuffy and how hard and sad it all was.

It just means you understand, Tom. It's the experiences that we all go through with our own animals that allows us to be able to relate to others with the same kitty problems.