suddenly sick inside only kitty/multi cat hsehld

I have an approx 5-6yr old spayed, vaccinated kitty. She was feral and was brought inside 4 yrs ago and has adapted very well in my multi cat hsehld. She has only had 1 known illness in the past, a UTI a couple of yrs ago.  She is normally very active, except of course for her normal kitty napping. She spends time on our screened in porch, there are several kitties and dogs in our neighborhood. She requests daily brushing several times a day, loves to ck out my plate at nite to see what I'm eating...just views and sniffs and has alot of personaility; she gets along well with all the other kitties.Last Sunday, she SUDDENLY stopped eating and drinking and stayed under the couch all day, which I thought nothing of at first because it had been raining and thundering and that scares her. The mucus membranes around her eyes were very pink and she progressively began tearing and then drooling over the next day. High temp 105. I tried Pedialyte and also giving her some Nutrical and water by syringe and she just foamed at the mouth. She had vomited some small amounts of green bile and had runny stools. I started her on a general antibiotic. Took her to the vet where she was examined and found to have clear lungs, heart sounded good, posture and behavior was promising as she was moving about, tail was erect and she was very cooperative. Bloodwork was good except for elevated glucose, so urine was cked and clear, (vet noticed a reverse sneeze when she turned her on her back, but I have noticed no sneezing) so it was attributed to stress. Mild UTI was found. Temp in 104's. Antibiotic shot given, 200cc's fluids, an anti-nausea med and was told to continue oral antibiotic. Set her up for dental and probable extractions today due to Stomatitus, thinking this may be root cause of issues. Was still not taking anything by mouth with other symptoms continuing and was more verbal that usual-crying. Took her in today for surgery and after xray and a more thorough exam, expected lesions and root damage because of suspected severe Stomatitus was not found. Did find a cple pockets around two teeth, teeth were cleaned and THEN her blood pressure suddenly dropped. The teeth with the pockets were not pulled because she was now unstable and this would have caused too much stress. It was decided Stomatitus was NOT the root of this issue. Bloodwork today was good except showed slightly lowered protein levels, but vet did not think that contributed to LBP. She was loaded up on fluids, given pain meds and I picked her up once she was awake and stable. I am giving her 2 diff pain meds, Benedryl, continuing oral antibiotic and an appetite stimulant. She had alittle warm gravy diluted with water and about a tablespoon of wet catfood, I was careful not to offer her too much this evening, but for the first time in several days she was interested. They found a mucus plug when they intubated her today (which the vet kept in case we decide we need to send it off) and since last night has gotten more congested, still her lungs are clear, so it is uper respiratory. My other cats are not symptomatic. I am basically out of funds at this point, as you can imagine and am praying that her temp breaks, appetite for food and water return, antibiotics kick in, tummy settles. Even the dr does not know what is going on, esp since her bloodwork was good. She is my heart, I love her so. I am so afraid I am going to loose her. One minute I see a good sign out of her and the next somethng not so good. The congestion scares me. Has anyone had a similar experience? Any thoughts? I hope I covered everything. Appreciate any help... purrs from Peek a Boo and thank yous from me. Renee

I've cared for a lot of cats over the years and I've not seen a respiratory illness that caused such sudden and severe symptoms before. Stomatitis, ARF, cancer, digestive and heart problems, yes. Respiratory, no.

Higher glucose would make me suspect diabetes. Lower protein would make me suspect IBD. Neither would explain her respiratory problem, unless there is something fundamentally going on that is lowering her immunity and her URI is just a result of that. Remember we're not vets and can only throw ideas your way to pursue with your vet.

If it were me, I'd have a repeat blood work up in a few weeks to see if any of her off levels have stabilized. I've got a girl right now who started with high ALT and low protein and at a follow up exam bad red cell count, and a third visit had very low platelet counts. We're waiting for a bone marrow leukemia biopsy results right now. While I'm not suggesting cancer for your baby, the change in blood work over the course of a month did point out what was causing her weight loss. Two relatively innocent readings on her first visit showed very early stages of another more serious disease.

Just a thought - have you had a recent FeLV test?

Please keep us updated on Peek a Boo.

Sending major vibes your way.

Thank you so much for your reply. Peek a Boo is hanging in there, but is far from the kitty I saw runnng around here last Friday and Saturday during the day. She has been up and about and coming over to me to be brushed (we usually do this several times a day). Her last temp this am was 102.2 and she is not tearing or drooling like she was. She was laying on her side and sounded like she was trying to cough this morning, was that a reverse sneeze...I don't know. She is congested sounding, but the Benedryl does seem to be helping. She has been having runny stools. She is eating on the light side and I have also offered her her usual dry, just to see if she was interested and she has had alittle bit; I have not actually seen her drinking. She also spent some time outside on the porch yesterday and was in and out on her own, but her temp went to 103.2 so I brought her in, much to her dismay. I have been trying to remember anythng unusuaI and I do remember the rims of her eyelids being very pink over the last couple of weeks. I kept thinking, "have they always been that pink and I just didn't notice" or maybe the pollen irritated her little eyes, no tearing or anything that I noticed though. Her eyes are much better looking now. I think you are on to something reference an underlying cause and a compromised immune system. Sounds like a good idea to run her bloodwork again in a few weeks. I am going to update the vet tomorrow on her progress. Peek a Boo was tested for feline leukemia when I brought her inside and was negative and then vaccinated. The vet has said that since our kittys are inside (even though they chill on our screened in porch), we do not need to keep up these particular vacs. I am so heartbroken for her and I would take her illness for her if I could. I sure hope everything comes back ok with your kittys test results. I am so sorry that you and she are going through something like this too. I will keep your baby in my prayers and sure would like to hear an update on her as well. Thanks again, Renee' and Peek a Boo ~