Bubba has had a relapse

I guess if he has been off the pred for some time, then it isn't a problem for him, but usually in people too, it is tapered off rather than abruptly stopped.  5mg isn't a really high dose.

So he seems like he is cured?  That's great!!  I thought bartonella was a big deal.

I don't think they're ever cured. Just in remission. It can, and does come back. Then I will have to go through this again. At least the vet finally got him on the right medication. My other concern is with the rest of my cats. They can also get it from him. I'm going to read more on that. At the time I was focused on the treatment. I have 6 more healthy cats. I guess the new stray kitten is mine now! I've been feeding him and he's finally letting me pet him. I haven't named him yet. Just call him little buddy. I thought about naming him Gilligan, but that would be hard to say when I'm calling "Here kitty, kitty, here Gilligan"! I'm getting Bubba fixed next week and getting his shots. He tested negative for feline leukemia so I definitely need to get that one. Callie had it and so did Oreo. I hope you're doing okay.

Huh!  At one point when Kinney was new to the house, we thought he had bartonella.  He was tested for it  but it came back neg.  He had brought something highly contagious into the house and I had all of the cats separated with me washing hands everytime I went between rooms.  In the end, maybe it was something as simple as cat flu - but everybody was sicker than that.  My vet had suspected bartonella, but then after the negative test results, I never thought much more about it.

I was just re-reading about bartonella.  Very mysterious if it is gone or not..  Gee, not to make you nervous but I would be worried it was contagious to the others.

I guess at some point you could have him re-tested for FIA and see if it was still there.  Yet, anemia is so scary and invisible

Dan32, I really am worried about the other cats. If I'm not mistaken it can be transferred from the bite of an infected cat. Bubba most likely got it from a tick. They don't have any fleas but we have tons of ticks. Frontline doesn't seem to be working as well anymore. It's almost like the ticks have become immune to it. Some cats are carriers, but never show any symptoms. Mother cats that have it or are carriers can pass it to their kittens. I'm going to talk to the vet when I take Bubba in to be fixed this coming week.There has to be something I can do to protect the other cats without giving Bubba up. Undoubtedly it stays in their system. Stress can cause it to resurface. Right now he's doing better, but I check his gums everyday. I want to catch it before it gets as bad as it was before. There hasn't been a lot of medical studies on it because it can't be cultured. It can't live outside of the cell wall. I either read on your thread or you told me in a post about how sick your kitties got. I think two of them passed later on. I have a lot of questions for the vet. I'm writing them down so I don't forget.

I went back and re-read your original thread.  I didn't see where you ever said how his dx of FIA was arrived at.  Did he have a blood test for FIA?  There must be such blood tests because I paid for one 3 years ago when my vet thought that Kinney might have had it.

My point being that if he had had a FIA blood test originally and it was positive, maybe he could repeat the test after the Doxy has worn off to see if he tests negative now.

The vet did do a blood test. Sorry, I should have put that in there. He just did a normal one to start with. I had to request that he do a special one because the parasites aren't always there in normal blood work. They would have to keep doing the test over and over until they got one that had a bunch in it. I guess they stay attached to the cell wall and aren't always swimming around in the blood. I think the test was called a PCR. It's a specific test for feline infectious anemia. I'm getting him fixed this week and I'm concerned about a relapse. If stress can make it come back then I might have a problem. If getting neutered isn't stressful I don't know what is! Plus he's going to be stressed just going to the vet after being there for 3 days when he was so sick. I do want to find out what the chances are of my other cats getting it.

Hi Roxie, I hope the cat i am caring for, Henry, does not have this too! His red count is at the lowest end of normal and he throws up all his food. I have finally gotten him to keep down Hills Prescription I/D. The vet recommended I give him Panacur in case he has parasites. I have not seen any and his stools are totally normal, but he throws up pretty much everything other than the I/D.

In two weeks we will re-test him for the red count and the vet said maybe also do an abdominal x-ray. But his physical and blood test were normal. They did not test him for leukemia bc he had a normal test when he first came in. If he continues to have symptoms I will also test him for FeLv using Alisa or whatever that test is called.

Barb, they can test for the parasites that cause bartonella! Why aren't they testing for those? Panacur doesn't kill them. Typical protocol is steroids and Baytril or Doxy - the Baytril or Doxy don't necessarily kill all of them, just like Doxy doesn't necessarily kill Lyme... but it usually kills enough that you can then wean them off the pred and their immune systems take over to keep things in check.

Hi Laurie,

I don't think they are at the point yet where they think he has this illness. They said his exam and blood test were normal other than his red count being at the very low end of normal which they would like to recheck in two weeks.

I think they are recommending Panacur just in case he may have a resident other parasite, but his stools are totally normal which makes me doubtful that he has a parasite.

Oh gotcha. :rub:

It was just a little confusing. :anon:

BarB, I hope Henry's red cell count goes up. It's really scary when they get anemic. It happened so fast with Bubba. One day he was fine, a couple of days he didn't eat his normal amount, then he didn't eat at all for about a day and a half. The following day he was so weak he could barely stand. He must be feeling better now. He got neutered on Wednesday and hasn't been a happy camper since. They used glue on him instead of the dissolving sutures. He looks so funny! He's suddenly gotten brave again too. He hasn't wanted to go outside since he got sick in August. He used to stay out all the time before that. He wanted out yesterday, but I wouldn't let him go out. I wanted him to heal a little more. I opened the door to let his sister in late this evening and he ran out. Our screen door in the front of the house is all glass. When I call him to come in I hold it open because he comes flying in like the devil is chasing him! It was dark when he came back in tonight. I had the door open just enough to call him because Mosquitos were coming in. I was going to open it wide as soon as I saw him. He came flying out of nowhere and ran smack into the door! I didn't even see or hear him coming. They all have collars with bells on them. It scared me at first, but he ran in and started eating. He seems fine. He may have a headache though! He's not the smartest cat around here. I love him though. I hope Henry gets better soon. I hope it's something simple.

Bubba is doing great! Happily neutered, at least I'm happy, and healthy. Thanks for all the support you all gave me.