Hello all. I'm brand new to this forum. I've got 4 cats, the youngest of whom, Sherman, is a 19 month old neutered male Maine Coon. He's been having some serious health issues, and we're still a bit stumped. I hope this isn't too long, please bear with me.
In late November, I found a couple of fleas on him (all cats in the house are strictly indoors and the two dogs are treated with monthly Frontline). There was no evidence of fleas on any of the other animals, but we treated with biospot since it was of course late on a Saturday night we found this - and figured a trip to Petsmart was warranted, not a trip to the e-vet. He seemed to get a bit depressed after this - nothing specific, but generally not quite right.
In early December, I took him tot he vet for a regular appointment. We found that he was down to 13 pounds, 2 - 3 below his normal weight. He also had a runny eye, which on closer inspection was the start of uveitis. The vet was afraid it might be FIP, but the blood work only showed an increase in white blood cell count, consistent with an infection. She put him on a 10 day course of Clindamycin. He responded well to it but it killed his appetite and he lost nearly another pound. However, within a day of completing the course, his appetite returned with gusto and he began gaining weight, back up to almost 13 pounds again. But the eye looked worse, so she recommended another round of Clindamyacin as well as a trip to the opthamologist. We considered the possibility of Bartonella but the results were not definitive.
He tanked. No appetite, lethargy, and was having a hard time with the antibiotics. The opthamologist suggested switching him to Azithromyacin, which my regular vet supported. He started that and there was no improvement. It got to the point that the only way he'd eat was if I force fed him. He got down to 11 pounds. He developed severe congestion and his gums became alarmingly inflamed. However, the eye began to improve.
Last week, I took him in again and left him overnight for IV fluids; they also gave him an anti-nausea medication and some decongestants. I brought him home and he immediately went to the kitchen where he ate a small amount on his own for the first time in over a week, maybe two. We pulled him off the oral antibiotics when his blood work came back with normal white and red cell counts. But he did have slightly elevated (5.6) globulin. So FIP was back on the table.
He still barely ate so I suplemented with active-culture plain yogurt enriched with powdered KMR (vet's suggestion) for calories and to try to "reset" his GI tract. He's also on triple antibiotic with dex nosedrops twice a day. His eye is nearly completely cleared, still a little swelling around the surrounding tissues but the cloudiness and discoloration in the eye are gone. His congestion is considerably lessened, and his gums are returning to normal. But because I couldn't come close to meeting his full nutritional needs via force-feeding, his weight has continued to decline, now down to just over 10 pounds which is dangerously thin.
But he's eating more on his own, so I leave him in a room by himself with lots of food bowls during the day (so the other kitties, all of whom have remained completely healthy, don't eat his food). His energy and activity levels are slowly returning to normal. Throughout all of this, his temperature was only slightly elevated at most, usually normal.
I think we are finally getting him back, but I still don't know what the cause of all this is. I plan to get him into a specialist but since there is improvement right now, I'd kind of like to give him a chance to build up a bit of strength before he is subjected to more stress.
Ideas? Do you think that if it is FIP that there might be a period of spontaneous remission and I'm about to go through the crushing heartbreak of watching him deteriorate again? Or is that so unlikely that this was probably all caused by something else? Has anyone experienced something similar?
Sorry this is so long, and thanks for your replies!
In late November, I found a couple of fleas on him (all cats in the house are strictly indoors and the two dogs are treated with monthly Frontline). There was no evidence of fleas on any of the other animals, but we treated with biospot since it was of course late on a Saturday night we found this - and figured a trip to Petsmart was warranted, not a trip to the e-vet. He seemed to get a bit depressed after this - nothing specific, but generally not quite right.
In early December, I took him tot he vet for a regular appointment. We found that he was down to 13 pounds, 2 - 3 below his normal weight. He also had a runny eye, which on closer inspection was the start of uveitis. The vet was afraid it might be FIP, but the blood work only showed an increase in white blood cell count, consistent with an infection. She put him on a 10 day course of Clindamycin. He responded well to it but it killed his appetite and he lost nearly another pound. However, within a day of completing the course, his appetite returned with gusto and he began gaining weight, back up to almost 13 pounds again. But the eye looked worse, so she recommended another round of Clindamyacin as well as a trip to the opthamologist. We considered the possibility of Bartonella but the results were not definitive.
He tanked. No appetite, lethargy, and was having a hard time with the antibiotics. The opthamologist suggested switching him to Azithromyacin, which my regular vet supported. He started that and there was no improvement. It got to the point that the only way he'd eat was if I force fed him. He got down to 11 pounds. He developed severe congestion and his gums became alarmingly inflamed. However, the eye began to improve.
Last week, I took him in again and left him overnight for IV fluids; they also gave him an anti-nausea medication and some decongestants. I brought him home and he immediately went to the kitchen where he ate a small amount on his own for the first time in over a week, maybe two. We pulled him off the oral antibiotics when his blood work came back with normal white and red cell counts. But he did have slightly elevated (5.6) globulin. So FIP was back on the table.
He still barely ate so I suplemented with active-culture plain yogurt enriched with powdered KMR (vet's suggestion) for calories and to try to "reset" his GI tract. He's also on triple antibiotic with dex nosedrops twice a day. His eye is nearly completely cleared, still a little swelling around the surrounding tissues but the cloudiness and discoloration in the eye are gone. His congestion is considerably lessened, and his gums are returning to normal. But because I couldn't come close to meeting his full nutritional needs via force-feeding, his weight has continued to decline, now down to just over 10 pounds which is dangerously thin.
But he's eating more on his own, so I leave him in a room by himself with lots of food bowls during the day (so the other kitties, all of whom have remained completely healthy, don't eat his food). His energy and activity levels are slowly returning to normal. Throughout all of this, his temperature was only slightly elevated at most, usually normal.
I think we are finally getting him back, but I still don't know what the cause of all this is. I plan to get him into a specialist but since there is improvement right now, I'd kind of like to give him a chance to build up a bit of strength before he is subjected to more stress.
Ideas? Do you think that if it is FIP that there might be a period of spontaneous remission and I'm about to go through the crushing heartbreak of watching him deteriorate again? Or is that so unlikely that this was probably all caused by something else? Has anyone experienced something similar?
Sorry this is so long, and thanks for your replies!
