Hi, I haven't posted here in awhile, but I am in need of some advice from the wise posters here.
My cat, Penelope, has had a warm head and ears since early August. She was acting a little "off" as well - not finishing her dinner in 5 minutes (she can be piggy! lol). But she was finishing her meal, just more of a grazer. At any rate, after weeks of this warm head feeling, I talked my husband into taking her to the vet. I couldn't go as I am pregnant and trying to avoid the litterbox and other animals (more on that later). I made husband demand that they do a blood test. They thought if anything, she may have heartworm. But they noticed (as had we) that she was wheezing a bit. They gave her an injection of a steroid for that, took her blood, and home she came.
I called for the lab results today. They told me that she has the feline corona virus. She also has toxoplasmosis. Now I know the issues I have with the toxo, I am dealing with that. My worry now is the FeCV.
I know it can lead to FIP. What I didn't get from the vet, since they were focusing on the Toxo diagnosis, was the likelihood she could get full blown FIP. I've read up on it, and in my opinion, she doesn 't have the symptoms. Toxo can cause the respiratory issue, and personally, its not that bad. She wheezes a bit but its not constant and she's had breathing issues for over a year which we dismissed as allergies since it was prevalent when I was suffering as well from the elements.
She's still eating in portions, which is unusual from her typical behavior. But she has also gained 3 pounds since her last vet appointment in Jan 2007. She is currently 15 pounds. The warm head and ears is not constant. She did not even have a fever when the vet took the temperature.
Am I paranoid to think she has FIP now? I'm actually taking her next Monday for a second opinion with a different vet because I felt that they were not concerned about the FeCV in spite of my continued questions.
Any thoughts or advice is much appreciated.
My cat, Penelope, has had a warm head and ears since early August. She was acting a little "off" as well - not finishing her dinner in 5 minutes (she can be piggy! lol). But she was finishing her meal, just more of a grazer. At any rate, after weeks of this warm head feeling, I talked my husband into taking her to the vet. I couldn't go as I am pregnant and trying to avoid the litterbox and other animals (more on that later). I made husband demand that they do a blood test. They thought if anything, she may have heartworm. But they noticed (as had we) that she was wheezing a bit. They gave her an injection of a steroid for that, took her blood, and home she came.
I called for the lab results today. They told me that she has the feline corona virus. She also has toxoplasmosis. Now I know the issues I have with the toxo, I am dealing with that. My worry now is the FeCV.
I know it can lead to FIP. What I didn't get from the vet, since they were focusing on the Toxo diagnosis, was the likelihood she could get full blown FIP. I've read up on it, and in my opinion, she doesn 't have the symptoms. Toxo can cause the respiratory issue, and personally, its not that bad. She wheezes a bit but its not constant and she's had breathing issues for over a year which we dismissed as allergies since it was prevalent when I was suffering as well from the elements.
She's still eating in portions, which is unusual from her typical behavior. But she has also gained 3 pounds since her last vet appointment in Jan 2007. She is currently 15 pounds. The warm head and ears is not constant. She did not even have a fever when the vet took the temperature.
Am I paranoid to think she has FIP now? I'm actually taking her next Monday for a second opinion with a different vet because I felt that they were not concerned about the FeCV in spite of my continued questions.
Any thoughts or advice is much appreciated.