6 month old with very high white blood cell count

kittymcg

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Hi there,

I'm wondering if anyone has any advice regarding high white blood cell counts in kittens?

Background: I took my 6 month old male OSH to the vet today for neutering. They called me a few hours later and told me they did his bloodwork prior to operating and found his white blood cells to be 'through the roof'. They advised he should come home and forego the operation.

He seems totally fine, no lethargy (he is as full of beans as ever). He has no symptoms of any kind to be honest. Eating fine, drinking fine, litter box normal, playful, no objections to being picked up and no pain (that he is displaying anyway). His eyes are bright, the vet examined him all over and couldn't find anything concerning.

We have another cat who is also fine.

I asked vet to test for FIV today and it came back negative (twice).

He was on antifungal drugs for ringworm but came off those about 3 weeks ago after we achieved 2 clear cultures two weeks apart. I know these drugs do sometimes have implications. The vet couldn't say if this would be the cause.

End of the story is: the vet put him on antibiotics to fight infection (although can't say if he even has an infection). He needs to finish a two week course and then we can try the bloodwork again(and hopefully neuter).

His manhood will live to see a few more weeks but I'm worried this could be something serious.

Does anyone have any thoughts...?
 
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kittymcg

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Update: the antibiotics cleared up whatever it was he had, the vet couldn't say what it was but confirmed his cell count was back to normal. We finally managed to get him fixed

Hopefully whatever it was has gone for good.
 

mrblanche

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Yes, we occasionally see these "infections of undetermined origin" in cats. Without finding a bacteria and culturing it, you'll never know for sure what the problem is.

So, did he ever show any symptoms?
 
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kittymcg

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That was the weird thing. He was fine, totally fine. I can't even list a single thing out of the ordinary (and I'm a real worrier). The vet said his count was crazy high though (at the time).

I've decided to take him back to the vet in a few weeks and once the antibiotics are out of his system, just in case this comes back (it was after all, symptomless before). I would just hate to have been given a warning like that and then do nothing about it.

He's just fine now, tearing around the house in his ecollar!
 

cloud_shade

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I had a similar thing happen with my younger kitty. When I adopted him, my ex insisted that I have bloodwork done (I had just lost a cat a few weeks prior). The results showed a high white blood cell count. We ended up giving a round of antibiotics. It'll be three years in October, and there were never any signs of additional illness--he's doing just fine (though a bit overweight due to lack of exercise). Hopefully the same will be true with your kitty.
 
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kittymcg

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That's good to hear, I hope so too: I was freaking out thinking the worst.
As I said he seems fine but I'll go ahead with another check up in a few weeks once he's healed from the neutering and I'm forgiven for inflicting the lampshade collar on him

it's good to know these things can come and go and be benign in some cases.
 
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