Yearly pre-summer sickness aka fever of unkown origin, need advice.

Hi guys I am new here and I had a question about one of my cats. My baby Butter is a ragdoll and is about 5 years old. It all started in late may/early june of 2011. Butter wasn't moving much, not eating or drinking unless forced, and he had a massive case of diahhearea. I took him to my regular vet and they checked his temperature and sure enough it was in the upper 105 degrees. They told us to go straight from there to the Emergency vet where they made us believe he was going to die. Thankfully there was nothing wrong with him and it was just a fever of unknown origin.

My whole problem is this was repeated again in 2012. The only thing they found was that he was overweight (19 lbs) and his blood levels were showing that he was possibly getting a fatty liver.

Now its happening again. He's still eating and drinking and moving around and socializing, but he has bad diahhearea, and looks matted up (i keep up with brushing). Oh and I noticed he was sort of drooling. I could be completely wrong and he could have just been licking his lips or dunked his chin in the water. I don't have a thermometer but his ears feel nice and cool.

I really can't afford another visit to the ER vet for $1000-$1500 . Is there anything I can do to protect him from getting any worse? Could it be because of the heat? If its the heat, would getting him shaved help? Any answers or advice would be greatly appreciated. I love my boo-boo and want to make sure he's ok, lol.

Sorry Buster isn't feeling well.

Blood tests won't cost 1000s of dollars, and can tell you a lot, including FLD or diabetes.  If an infection, antibiotics (not expensive) may clear it up.

Licking his lips a lot can be a sign of nausea.

The heat wouldn't cause diarrhea.  Does he go outdoors?  Worms can cause several problems, including diarrhea.

Why did he get fatty liver disease--that usually occurs when the cat stops eating.

Why go to the ER Vet? It's not the weekend and it doesn't sound like what I'd deem an emergency.  Make an appointment with your normal vet in the morning, for tomorrow if possible.  

If your regular vet just takes his temperature and then tells you to see an ER Vet, then your regular vet is seriously subpar and you have to find a new one.  My vet office deals with anything, including emergencies, as long as it's normal business hours, and I think most vets are the same, at least in today's day and age.

I'd recommend blood tests and an exam by your normal vet.  It will set you back a few hundred but  not thousands and then you can rule out a lot of things that would be serious (and possibly have a diagnosis which helps too).  

Good luck.