2 year old with elevated white blood cells--Long post

In mid-October, I adopted a young (about 2 years old) DMH cat from a
local shelter. We did blood work on his first vet visit, which
indicated that his white blood cells were high (specifically
neutrophils, monocytes, and eosinophils). He was developing a kitty
cold, so we figured the values were related to that. A fecal was
done, but I am not sure whether I received the correct results for my
kitty (the wrong name and age were on the print out). On 11/19, we
repeated the CBC and found that the WBCs were higher, and lymphocytes
were now elevated as well. We did an x-ray today which showed that
his intestines are somewhat thickened.

This kitty, Zek, runs around like crazy, has tons of energy and eats
and drinks normally. His stools are occasionally soft. We're going
to re-run the fecal as soon as I can get a sample, but what else
should I be looking at? The vet suggested running a toxoplasmosis
test and a urine culture, but that was prior to the x-rays coming
back.

The tests were done by Antech, so their reference ranges apply (I can
add them in if needed):

Test Name 10/18/2007 11/19/2007
CBC
WBC 22.8 40.7
RBC 8.4 8.2
HGB 12 11.7
HCT 38 37
MCV 45 45
MCH 14.3 14.3
MCHC 32 32
Differential
Neut 16872 28490
Lymph 4104 9768
Mono 684 814
Eosin 1140 1628
Baso 0 0
Platelet 378 271

From 10/18/07 only:
Chemistries
ALT (SGPT) 68
Alk. Phos. 37
Total Prot. 7.9
Albumin 3.1
Globulin 4.8
BUN 19
Creatinine 0.9
Glucose 68
Potassium 5.0
Urinalysis
Color Dark Yellow
Appearance Cloudy
USG 1.043
pH 6.0
Protein Trace
WBC/HPF 1-3
Squam. Epi. Rare
Fat Droplets 2+
All other urine values were negative/not observed

In addition to Zek, I also have one other cat, 13-year-old Odo. On
September 24th, prior to adopting Zek, I lost my 9 year old cat,
Willow, to FIP (confirmed through biospies sent to Auburn for triple
PCR). I don't know whether that is relevant to Zek's situation or
not. I hope not, but I wanted to be as complete as possible. I
would appreciate any thoughts on what could be going on or what other
tests to have run. Zek was supposed to be my healthy baby.


Edited to add:
The x-rays were sent to a radiologist for analysis (always done by my vet now). The radiologist didn't find any abnormalities. The only comment was basically to check for fecal parasites and maybe do an ultrasound to "rule out an occult focus of intra-abdominal inflammation."

No idea, but the white blood cell increase could be from inflammation, allergy, or infection -bacteria or parasite. Have the vet check for an increase in any bacteria in the stool. It can't hurt.
Hopefully it's nothing serious.

A few months ago I had to make an sudden early morning vet trip for Tomas because of vomiting and fever (after a bout of running around playing/acting fine). I was worried he ate something bad. His white blood count was up too and it turned out he had a lot of shigella bacteria in his fecal sample.

We're definitely repeating the fecal test--the trick is getting stool that I know belongs to Zek. I can't just lock him in a room as he would go crazy. He insists on sleeping on me for much of the night, and he would not take kindly to being locked in a room--neither of us would get any sleep.

Follow him around all day? -I know, easier said then done. When you see him heading to the litter box get whatever you're using to collect it and pull him out of the box before he buries anything.
Or you could try shoving the container under to "catch"... but your cat might give a very disturbed look for that...

He must go when I'm sleeping or at work. I knew I should have tried locking him in my room last night--then maybe he would have had to go this morning. I'll have to ask the vet how fresh the sample has to be, as they're closed on Sundays.

Just a quick update on Zek. I eventually got a fecal, which came back negative. He has been exposed to giardia (which I think he was treated for at the shelter), but that wouldn't cause the changes in the bloodwork. His toxoplasmosis titers were negative too. We're now going to try a round of Clavamox in case there is some other bacterial infection that we can't seem to find.

Are Zek's stools normal? with the thickened instestinal lining maybe IBD? That can be a cell mediated inflammatory response. It is odd that ALL types of white cells are elevated.

Usually... neutrophils hit bacterial infections, lymphs are viral, Monos are viral for the most part, eosinophils are almost exclusively due to parasitic or allergic reactions. They are often elevated in autoimmune reactions as well such as with asthmatics.

pan leukocytosis is puzzling to me.

Odo's passing due to FIP is a little concerning. FIP is such a tricky disease, so little is known for certainty about it.

I will see if I can find anything in some of my reference books that talk about panleukocytosis.

I am glad that Zek is at least acting happy and healthy.

The vet had thought his intestines looked thickened, but the radiologist said they were normal on the same x-ray. Zek is having some diarrhea sporadically, but sometimes his stools are normal too--I haven't been able to find a pattern yet. I too think it's odd that all the values are elevated. Apparently that can happen with toxoplasmosis, but his titers showed no exposure.

Actually it was Willow who passed from FIP. She was almost 9 years old. Odo, who I got as a companion for her in June 2006 after Spot died in April 2006, is about 13-15 years old. He's still alive and kicking. He's slowing down a bit, but he loves playing with Zek. They wrestle, and Zek drags a feather wand around while Odo chases the stick end.

Please let me know if you find anything or think of any other possibilities.

I am so sorry I got Odo and Willow mixed up. The description of Zek and Odo playing is priceless. Nothing better than kitty buddies!

How is Zek doing today? Better I am hoping. I found a link to fever in cats ( I know not what the original question is) but it talked about pan leukocytosis causing fever. It then when into some unusual agents that cause fever in cats. Since they list Toxo, I thought the others might be worth a look for you too.

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proce...A2002&PID=2616

Please let us know when you get any news.

He's acting the same--energetic as ever. Fortunately, he's learned to be good about taking his pills. He doesn't really seem to have a fever, or at least not most of the time, as I've taken it and had it be normal. I'll look at that site though--thanks.

Just wanted to update on Zek's high WBC. We gave 2 weeks of Clavamox and retested him on Friday. The vet called today and said everything is normal! We're going to retest in a month to verify that it stays normal. I guess there was an underlying infection that we couldn't find.