Am I doing the right things?

Hi everyone. So our cat, Sammy (3 yo. Long hair mixed breed) was not his usual perky self last Wednesday. Normally he's energetic and loving and adventure seeking but that was definitely not the case. We took him to the vet and his temp was about 104. They gave him amoxicillin and a bag of steroid, higher dosage antibiotics and an appetite stimulant and he did perk up that evening and the next day. He ate a little more and moved around a little more but then Thursday it was back to lethargy. 

Took him back to the vet on Saturday morning where they did bloodwork and xrays as well as an additional ultrasound probe. His white blood cell count is elevated and his lymph nodes were slightly swollen but he is running a fever and has tested negative for FIV, Leukemia, etc. The xrays showed no URI but they did show that his intestines were squished up together. (so $600 later...)

This is weird because for all that Sammy eats, he doesn't eat foreign objects and never has. We don't have toys with string that he could have ingested or ribbons that he would have consumed. The most is that he's an outdoor cat and when he isn't looking for a chipmunk to be his friend, he'll eat them.

He stopped eating but he did take a little water yesterday and did urinate but we haven't had any bowel movements until, apparently, this morning where there was some excessive diarrhea all over the dining room. I did syringe some water with a little clam juice in it into his mouth (We're doing half a cup of tater to about 2tsp of plain clam juice since all of our chicken broth has onion powder in it) and I'll be giving him some more water in a little while. He's laying in the sun with the breeze -- it seems to make him feel better watching everything outside.

We are back at the vet tomorrow for the ultrasound specialist to do a full scan on him but in the mean time I have no idea if the new diarrhea is something to be scared of. He is NOT vomitting and he is still taking water although very reluctantly but he feels much cooler this morning (we have him on 1.5ml of Verflox(sp?) and he'll get a second dosage today).

Should I continue on as normal or...? I just want someone to tell me I am making the right choices when it comes to him. Why are all the vets closed on Sundays?!?!

Did they say he has a blockage?  What did they think was the cause of the intestinal problem?

They weren't able to determine anything when I brought him in on the follow up on Saturday so that's why we're doing a full ultrasound on Monday. The only thing they were able to see was that his intestines are scrunched up. Our Vet had no idea what could be causing this. Right now he thinks it might be an internal abscess but he's said he wasn't comfortable saying that would be the only reasons his intestines would be like that, since they should only be scrunched if there's some kind of blockage. So he upped us from amoxicillan to Veraflox.

I have no idea if that makes any sense, sorry. Our vet was really puzzled by it. The only thing that was even remotely out of the ordinary was the swollen lymph node but we ruled out FIV and Leukemia and he said that with his fever and higher white blood cell count he isn't surprised by that.

I just gave our little buddy his second dose of antibiotics (which he wasn't happy about) and since it clearly left a bad taste in his mouth I tried to see if he would drink water on his own. Nope, he just went under the bed.

I'm wondering if whatever is the cause of the intestinal problem is what's causing the infection.  Something obviously isn't right and I think you're doing the right thing to find out what's going on.  Sorry I can't offer any more help, but please keep us posted on his progress.

I have been in a panic the entire weekend because everything I look up about scrunched up intestines points to eaten string or ribbon and that there should be vomiting and there just hasn't been. He perked up only slightly after his diarrhea (but he hasn't eaten anything in just over two days now so there was very little solid) but he's back to limp noodle status.

You've definitely offered help just by replying -- it's helpful to know that I'm not making him worst at least. Hopefully it really is just a hairball from hell or half digested molerat stuck somewhere. My biggest worry is just making sure he makes it to tomorrow afternoon. 

If he hasn't eaten in 2 days, I would syringe feed him some food in addition to the liquids. You can use any high calorie smooth pate type food and blend with some water to make it easier to syringe. I would just be concerned about fatty liver disease developing in addition to whatever is going on with his intestines. Many vibes for Sammy to make a quick recovery.

Can Fatty Liver disease develop within a day? Right now I'm trying not to cause him any more anxiety because him and the syringe are not buddies.

He did have another bout of diarrhea but no where near the level he had this morning, just a liquidy spot on the carpet like he urinated -- and he did actually go to the catbox to urinate. I got about 2.5ml of water in him and just sat down to check my email when I heard some sounds at the water bowl and he IS DRINKING. I just about cried when I saw that. Now he's settled up beside it for whatever reason. Maybe he likes the spot, not sure.

What I might do in the morning is take him in when the vet opens and ask if they can just keep him until his ultrasound at 3:30. They're going to have to put him under and after the past few days he's had, I'd feel a lot better if they made sure he was fully stable.

Hard to say since every case is individual, but on this forum there have been reports of HL developing within 48 hours of not eating. It is more of a risk with overweight cats, but it can happen with any cat.

Best wishes for Sammy tomorrow . I sure hope they find the problem and get in resolved. Hopefully you were able to get some food into him as vball91 suggested. He sure is a pretty guy.

That is good to know. He's Normal weight for his size and the blood panel came back with nothing wrong (except the slightly hire white blood cell count but given the situation it was to be expected). I'll try get something in him if I can. I just put some of his dry food out in case.

i think you're doing about all you can. And I agree with taking him in as soon as they open. Maybe they can give him some subq fluids to ward off dehydration. I think you're exactly on track with wanting to make sure he's completely stable before being put under.

So, yes, I think you are doing the right things, and pretty much exactly what I'd do.

It's obvious that you love that little guy.  The only other thing you could do is get him to an ER vet if you're overly concerned with him.  I do think getting him to the vet first thing in the morning is a good idea.  They could get him hooked up to an IV and give him IV nutrition.  Syringe feeding him is a good idea, too. 

Thank you for the encouragement guys. It's really helping with the panic that has been pressing down for the last few days.

I did check on his gums and eyes when I was giving him water earlier and I didn't notice any odd discoloration. So we just have to get through the next twelve hours.

Any updates?

Just got home from work!

This morning Sammy ate some treats and after feeding him some more water he did jump rather gracefully off my lap so I felt better not taking him in first thing in the morning. So my mother took him in for his ultrasound. It turns out yes, there is some blockage but they have no idea what it is so he is scheduled for surgery tomorrow (they aren't sure when because there is another cat that has surgery first thing). He has lost 7oz this weekend but he was very affectionate and eating at the vet -- I think he thought that if he showed he was eating, my mom wouldn't leave him. So they're giving him fluids and monitoring him over night.

The ultrasound specialist was also surprised by the fact that he hasn't been vomiting with this blockage. Had he been vomiting this probably would've been figured out a little sooner I'd think. Anyway we're good and I'll be about $2000 (or more depending) in debt but we'll find out what it was he ate. Sam isn't the type of cat to eat foreign objects. He doesn't chew on clothing and we don't have ribbon toys or threads but he is a longhair so it might be the Hairball from Hell and/or some small animal he ate on Tuesday.

We'll bring him home post surgery tomorrow. I'm paying extra for them to use the laser on him. I was told this will help minimize some of the pain but they said they will be providing antibiotics and painkillers for him. I haven't had to take care of a post op cat before -- Prissy was spayed 14 years ago and I don't recall us doing anything special except that her belly was shaved and she was annoyed by this. 

Glad he's going to have surgery to find out what's going on. Hopefully it's nothing too serious and hope he's home recuperating soon!! 

So they did surgery today and found.. a hairball.

The vet who performed the surgery was also just as confused because they could not see any type of abscess or perforation that should have given the 104 temp that Sammy's been running and there aren't usually fevers with foreign bodies so they are checking him every six hours. He's on an IV right now and they will try food and water in the morning. Provided the fever doesn't come back and he doesn't have any adverse affects, he should be home tomorrow

So now I have a couple things to figure out:

1. How can we prevent (or at least minimize the risk) of this happening in the future? Right now our cats are on Blue Buffalo but should we add anything else to their diet? (like Salmon oil?)
2. We do try to brush the cats but Prissy, our medium hair who MASSIVELY SHEDS, has never had this problem and Sammy,  who is a long hair, doesn't shed much. Obviously we should brush more.
3. Because this has now happened, should we be prepared for this possibly becoming a new issue for him? (Like he'll be prone to intestinal blockage with hairballs).
4. Should I look into pet insurance for him? (as part of the previous question). I did consider it before and my $2500 vet bill is laughing at me right now.

Wow!  This is the second incidence of a hairball causing a problem like this with folks here on TCS in the last couple of weeks!  Glad it wasn't something else more serious.  If you're not feeding wet food, I'd start adding that to their rotation and make it a major portion of their diet.  If you're not feeding grain-free, that might help, too.  Here's a recent thread on Egg Yolk Lecithin for hairball help.  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/266178/...using-egg-yolk-lecithin-to-dissolve-hairballs   Hope your baby's fever stays down and that he's able to come home tomorrow.

Thanks! I'll check that out. Prissy never much cared for wet cat food so we never bought it and a couple years ago we switched from Iams to Blue Buffalo to eliminate the filler. We do free feed but we have moved to a smaller bowl and with two cats they're only getting at most half a cup each, per day (as in we only ever have to refill in the morning). I was also looking at adding pumpkin or at least Salmon oil to Sammy's food (in addition to increasing brushing regimens).

Thanks!

You did not say whether or not Sammy tends to groom Prissy, but just in case, it would probably be a good idea to brush her more often as well.