My kitten is sick, and the vet is stumped...

akrismom

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This is my kitten Akri... last Thursday night he was playing and having fun. He was running around and playing with some balls of different sizes, normal behavior for him. Then Friday morning, he started limping. Saturday he was still limping so, since he is white and when wet his fur is almost invisible I gave him a bath and couldn't find an injury. I scheduled an appointment for him with the vet online and just took care of him and made sure he didn't jump or anything. 

Then Monday when I got up his leg was swollen, (see the picture). I had several doctors appointments myself so as soon as I got home I called the vet that I had scheduled the appointment with and told them he was no longer just limping, and his leg had swollen. They asked if I could bring him in first thing Tuesday a.m. I did. The vet asked if it was all right if he shaved his leg to better examine it. I said of course. He shaved it and proceeded to examine his leg.

When he brought Akri back to the exam room, he explained that in his entire career he has never seen anything like this.

#1 - He shaved his leg, expecting to find a bite wound or puncture of some sort, to cause the reaction in his leg. There was none.

#2 - He drained some of the fluid from two different spots, expecting to find pus from a cyst. Wrong again. 

What he did find and I observed as it continued to leak and I used a paper towel to prevent him from licking it was a clear liquid the fluidity of water, with a yellowish tinge similar to urine. However, it had no odor at all. Being disabled and on a fixed income the vet said we will take it one step at a time and prescribed Doxycycline to treat a possible bacterial infection. It has taken me 3 days to find anyone to loan me the money to pay for the prescription but I will be picking it up later today.

New development. Now at the upper part of his thigh, on the inside is a cyst. It is not hard at all, rather squishy, so probably this same liquid, but it is alarming in size as he is only 4 months old today. The cyst is 1¾ inches by 2 inches by 2¼ inches.

The veterinarian is a feline surgical specialist and has been practicing veterinary medicine for over 20 years. Yet he has never seen this before, ever, not even in medical school. Does anyone have a clue what this might be?

Thanks so much...
 

vball91

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I apologize if you don't receive many responses as I have never seen or heard of anything like this. I hope some other members will be able to offer you insight.

Many many vibes for you and Akri. I really hope the vet can figure this out.
 

stephanietx

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What did the vet say about the cyst?  I'm wondering if that's what was causing the pain and perhaps it's leaking??  I've no experience with that, but wanted to help you think out loud.
 
 
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akrismom

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The vet said it wasn't a cyst as there was no particular spot that was larger than the rest, his entire leg was double in size as you can see in the picture. It was completely full of fluid from hip to toes. As he is white and that leg was shaved, you can see the yellowish color through the skin, but nowhere else on the body is there a yellowish color at all. Of course now when he goes to the bathroom, he avoids the litter box, which could be due to the fact that the sides are a little taller than his legs. He never had a problem before this, and at first he still went in the litterbox. Now he pees outside of it on the floor. It looks like it is darker than normal, it is a brighter yellow. I know when a cat avoids the litterbox, it is usually due to a UTI.

Also, he does not seem to be in pain. He doesn't cry at all, and yesterday I started force feeding him with a 3 ml syringe that the pharmacy gave me. He will take about half of that in water, and I also feed him the liquid part of canned food, as I know he needs to get some nutrients.  Then I give him a little more water to make sure that if his throat is tighter than normal, the water can wash the thicker liquid down. He is not happy when I force feed him. He tries to fight it. Pushing away with his claws extended. But finally last night after all this time the past week, he wouldn't sleep on my bed or in my bedroom, but last night he stayed on my bed all night. At first I feared that he may be giving up, and not wanting to fight to live. It terrifies me to no end.I may have only had him for a little over a month, but I have already become extremely attached to the little guy.

It is time for his daily antibiotic treatment. It is Doxycycline, which is for bacterial infections. Today is day two of treatment, and the vet said he wanted to know after three days of treatment if there was an improvement. He also just came back in my room from the bathroom, as if he knows it is that time...
 
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