Vibes for Houdini!

I just received worried that the rescue is worried about my newest foster Houdini. He is much smaller than the rest of his litter, and has a distended belly, that has them worried. They fear it could be FIP (I think it stands for feline infectious parasite) which is almost always fatal. They also said it could be b/c he was so emaciate when he was rescued, that it's his body hasn't caught up with his belly, but they don't think that's the case. They told me that they don't think the outcome will be good. Keep an eye on him and watch for a fever, b/c it's downhill from there. As you can see from the pics, he's got hughes eyes, which at first, seems like, just big beautiful eyes, but that's not the case. It's b/c his head is sooooo small, his eyes appear huge. He's got no body fat.

Need your spare vibes if you can, that whatever is meant to be for him, happens. I can only hope that if he doesn't stay with us long, that he feel happy, secure and loved.

I am sending "be well" vibes to your little foster boy. WHAT a little cutie!

FIP stands for Feline Infectious Peritonitis, and there is no treatment. However, there is also no way to know that it is FIP other than via autopsy. The symptoms you have described do not fit any clinical description of the "signs" of FIP, though that doesn't mean anything. The only way they could really be worried about FIP is if they know that his mom or some other cat from a colony or home from which he was rescued had FIP.

Do you have other cats or other fosters? If so, they should have informed you to keep him totally separated from any other animals, as if it turns out that he does have FIP, he could infect the others.

A little info on it if you're interested: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/fip.html

A distended belly sounds like parasites or malnutrition or both, and is rather normal in kitten rescues. I hope you are feeding him a diet high in protein and fat to help the little guy gain weight. And was he de-wormed? We assume he has no fleas or ticks at this point.

Did he see a shelter vet? Can you afford a vet visit to a vet in private practice? Even if he saw a shelter vet, if you can afford a visit to a private vet, that is something I would recommend.

This is what Flowerbelle looked like after 2 1/2 weeks spent in the hospital after she was first rescued. She was completely parasite-ridden, had to be tube-fed, and the vet gave her a 50/50 chance of surviving her first night:



And look at this head! Ming Loy didn't have a distended tummy, but she sure had that huge head:

To help kitty gain weight, you can give him kitten glop: http://www.thunderkatz.org/glop.html

You can also add chicken baby food to whatever you're feeding him. You can also boil chicken (with nothing added) and feed him small bits of chicken and the broth.

I REALLY hope Houdini doesn't have FIP. Most kittens last only a few days with FIP.

If it does turn out to be FIP, I'm so glad he's with you, and has had the chance to know play, love, and good food.



Laurie

Awww, poor Houdini I am sending many many prayers for him that he will be okay and maybe its not FIP

on a side note: Laurie, that Ming Loy has a huge head!! Holy moly!

Darlin' Houdini, be well...

Wow! Thank you for all that info. He saw the rescues vet tech. We had a vaccine clinic at the home of the foster coordinator. He tested neg for FIV/FL. They opted to not vaccinate Houdini (4-way) due to his health. They thought would make things worse right now. They took his temp and it was normal. They want to see him in 2 weeks, or earlier if he worsens. They didn't say for sure they thought it was FIP, it was a possibility. They also said it could be a liver issue too. He's currently on Nutro Max for kittens, but was suggested I switch to Royal Cannin for high risk kittens. He currently doesn't have a problem eating. He'll eat anything! and has a strong appetite. He was treated for parasites with dorontal (sp), and will follow up with Strongid in 14 days from his first dose. Has been treated for fleas and is flea free. His mother was a ferrel that was trapped, spayed, and returned. Her litter was kept and bottle fed. I have his brother, and he's fine. He's also on Albon for coccidia which is clearing up nicely. No more yellow stools, but stools are still semi runny.

I hope all turns out well for Houdini; what a sweet little baby.

Originally Posted by AuntSewissa

Wow! Thank you for all that info. He saw the rescues vet tech. We had a vaccine clinic at the home of the foster coordinator. He tested neg for FIV/FL. They opted to not vaccinate Houdini (4-way) due to his health. They thought would make things worse right now. They took his temp and it was normal. They want to see him in 2 weeks, or earlier if he worsens. They didn't say for sure they thought it was FIP, it was a possibility. They also said it could be a liver issue too. He's currently on Nutro Max for kittens, but was suggested I switch to Royal Cannin for high risk kittens. He currently doesn't have a problem eating. He'll eat anything! and has a strong appetite. He was treated for parasites with dorontal (sp), and will follow up with Strongid in 14 days from his first dose. Has been treated for fleas and is flea free. His mother was a ferrel that was trapped, spayed, and returned. Her litter was kept and bottle fed. I have his brother, and he's fine. He's also on Albon for coccidia which is clearing up nicely. No more yellow stools, but stools are still semi runny.

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This all sounds like great news! If he's eating and doesn't have a temperature, then things sound like they're going really well.

Just an FYI: we haven't rescued a cat or kitten yet that didn't have at least round worm. There's often tape worm, and we've also encountered lung worm. Our vet's first line of defense was - used to be - Drontal. It's easy to administer because it's a pill. The problem is that the round worm around here seems to have become resistant to Drontal.

If the shelter's OK with it, or you can go to a private vet, I'd suggest taking in a stool sample from Houdini. Of course, he's going to be treated with Strongid the next time, and that may work. With luck, the Drontal worked.

The life-cycle of worms is that the poison (Drontal, Strongid, Panacur) kill only the adult worms in their stomach/intestines. That's why it needs to be administered again in 2 - 3 weeks (our vet does it after 3 weeks). The eggs that are already in their systems mature, and thus the second dose - though often it takes more than that.

We had to use a combo of Panacur and Strongid and it took about 6 months to completely rid the parasites from our crew (we kept having new fosters coming through).

I still don't understand why they're worried about FIP, but if there's a concern, the little guy does need to be separated from the other animals. Of course, if he could have it, his brother could too, so they can be kept together.

To help keep them parasite-free, you need to scoop the litter boxes as often as possible. You also need to dump the litter each week, bleach the boxes, and then refill them with new litter. This needs to be done until the poop has no parasites in it. The good news is that you can take the poop to the vet for them to look at, you don't need to take the kittens.

...and I gotta say, again, WHAT a cutie! I'm still sending those "be well" vibes, and I sure hope all continues to go well!

Laurie

Thanks!

Good news this evening. I noticed his belly is smaller and softer! Hope that's a good sign!

Regarding the litter box, I use plastic liners, easier to change. There's so much poop in there, scooping really doesn't make a difference. I usually change it twice a day. If I use plastic liners, do I still need to rinse with bleach?

Can you see parasites in their stool like you can with dogs? B/c I have to tell you, I don't see any parasites in any of their stools..........

He really has touched my heart. This might be the one foster that turns resident in my home.......if I can get DH to agree!

Just checking in -- glad to hear that he seems better... and that he may already have found his furever home!

Poor little baby. Glad to hear he is a bit better, i hope the ball of fluff can make a full recovery *hugs*

OMG Houdini is so cute! I hope he continues to get better.

I doubt very much you'd see worms in the poop. Vets use a microscope.

With the liners, you shouldn't have to bleach. We couldn't use liners - they just end up getting shredded.

Sounds like things continue to go well for Houdini! Keeping up the vibes!

(And if you can post any more pics in the Furr Pics Lounge, please do! )

Laurie

Well things are not bad, but they are interesting. I posted last night that I saw a decrease in the size of his belly and that it was softer. This morning, I noticed it was back to being large and firm. This evening I watched him unload a HUGE bowel movement and his belly was smaller and softer again. luckily, he did it on the puppy pad and not in the litter box, so I was able to take a sample, and will take it to the vet tomorrow to test.

When he was finished, I cleaned him up. He jumped out of my hands (I was sitting) and onto the floor and I heard water movement in his tummy. Not sure what that means. He's due for his Strongid update tomorrow. Hopefully the vet can tell us more from the sample.