Probable FIP diagnosis - I don't think I can bear this

The vet isn't trying to diagnose FIP through the ultrasound, she wants to look for anything else abnormal that might be the cause of the fever.  She is looking for more 'pieces of the puzzle" so he can rule out various things, or maybe actually find a cause.  I'm so on the fence about the ultrasound, but I guess if I want to be thorough, I have to do it.  I hate to put her through all this if she does have FIP and is just going to get really sick and die in a week or month. 

Last weekend is when I noticed her acting odd. I was leaving the house on Saturday and couldn't find her. Turned out as hiding under he bed.  Not like her to hide, but I thought, well cats like hidey holes. But then she didn't want to play, sleeping all the time, didn't want to eat.  Vet wasn't open.  She almost went to the eVet on Sunday, but DH convinced me that she would probably get better care if we took her to our regular vet on Monday.  We've been to the eVet with our other cat, and wasn't always pleased with the experience.  On Monday her temperature was over 105.  Scary. That's when she did the blood panel, Xrays, and general check up, and started her on antibiotics.  We went back Tuesday morning to check again and it was down to 104 something.  But later that day she vomited three times, and vet felt it was the clavomox.  That's when we started her on the amoxicillin.  It's been around 104 something since then, although once it was up to 105 again.  Today it was 104.7.  She's had sub Q twice, and vet started her on Pred Saturday.  Over the weekend, she perked up, eating, vocalizing, wandering around, interacting with us and Swanie (our other cat), etc.  We were hopeful, but figuring it was probably the Preds.  When Cindy, our Rainbow kitty, first had the  mass in her abdomen discovered, vet put her on preds and she perked up some too.  Not as dramatically though.

I do what you  mean about the eyes, I have some of my Cindy when she was dying that are painful to look at - and it was painful to see her like that at the time.  Here are two pictures of Darcy I just took.

I saw this thread and wanted to post that I am thinking of you.  I hope Darcy is improving.  I thought I would mention that, if Darcy is mostly licking the gravy, you might try giving her some chicken or turkey baby food to get some calories in her.  It was all my cat would eat when he had a bout of heavy vomiting from some medication he was allergic to recently.  It has like 85 calories in a small jar, I think.  Can warm it to get some of the scent to her nose, and she might just basically drink it up.  With fever and not eating that much, the baby food might help keep off dehydration.  My vet said it was fine to use for a few days during illness, just not more than say 5 or so days because of the taurine cats need.  The other thing you could do is pure' canned food.  I actually have one of those hand mixers I have used exclusively for pureeing cat food.  I got it for $20 or so at Walmart. Also, Greenies treats also were the first actual solid food my cat wanted to eat.  I think they have the same thing as Fortiflora in it.  Your vet may have Fortiflora.  You could maybe sprinkle some in baby food or on canned for to try to get some down her.  If you are syringe feeding, I am guessing that is helping, but for both you and her, it would likely be a relief if she would eat more on her own. These are just suggestions.  I do hope and pray she is improving and that her prognosis turns out to be a good one.  I totally understand how you love her.  My 3 cats are all rescues (their mother left them in the back yard for me when she weaned them), and I was in love in days.

Please keep us posted.  Thoughts are with you.

By the way, when my cat was ill recently, it took about 5 days for him to start eating in the kitchen (3 days of me feeding him baby food and taking it to the chair where he was sleeping basically all the time), and he was not moving around and jumping on stuff, etc.  for a week or so.  I think he was actually afraid to eat real food at first, so I did frequent small amounts of baby food.  If you work, during the day, that might not be possible, but you could try offering a teaspoonful every hour or so in the evening.   When my cat did start eating canned food, we started with something I knew he loved, though not the best quality (Fancy Feast chicken), and I fed small amounts to build his confidence and get his body adjusted to eating again.  You likely have thought of all of this; I am just wishing I could help you.  It was a long 5-7 days for me and him.  Again, please keep us posted.

I am very sorry to hear about your kitten Darcy and hope she is improving.  Two things jumped out at me.

Firstly, I am reading what is going into her but (unless I missed it) I am not seeing anything on bowel movements or urination or litter box behaviours.  Secondly, the hair on my neck went up when I saw Amoxicillan and my only reasoning for that is that antibiotic has been known to make people quite sick.  It doesn't affect everybody that way but it can be wicked on some and I was unlucky enough to be one of them.  It made me sicker than I was in the first place.  That is just something to think about.  Not all kitties are going to react the same to medications.  I

It sounds like you are doing everything you can.  Your vet sounds like she is taking a very close look at things and not just writing it off to one condition.  Kudos to her for that.  Take it one day at a time and don't give up.  You and Darcy are in my thoughts.

While Darcy's pics might not look bad to everyone, as there are no obvious looking issues, what I see is a distance in her eyes.

She looks to me, preoccupied with what's going on with her. 

A steady high temp surely indicates something is very wrong.

The amox, while an occasional person/pet may have a reaction, most do not and it's well tolerated.

My Krissy was on clavamox and on day 5 began vomiting all day long from it, until I took her off of it.

Amox is mostly much better tolerated.

However, it's not even touching her fever..........this is worrisome.

I think the ultrasound asap is a good move and well worth having a good look inside.

It's very important that you know that this test is only as good as the tech/vet performing it.

It take ALOT of experience to spot small abnormalities, so I am hoping the vet has done 100's of them at least.

Not so sure, but when it is scheduled can you please ask in some kind way how much experience he/she has had in performing ultrasounds? Also if they will consult with others about any findings?

mysterylover said:

 
I saw this thread and wanted to post that I am thinking of you.  I hope Darcy is improving.  I thought I would mention that, if Darcy is mostly licking the gravy, you might try giving her some chicken or turkey baby food to get some calories in her.  It was all my cat would eat when he had a bout of heavy vomiting from some medication he was allergic to recently.  It has like 85 calories in a small jar, I think.  Can warm it to get some of the scent to her nose, and she might just basically drink it up.  With fever and not eating that much, the baby food might help keep off dehydration.  My vet said it was fine to use for a few days during illness, just not more than say 5 or so days because of the taurine cats need.  The other thing you could do is pure' canned food.  I actually have one of those hand mixers I have used exclusively for pureeing cat food.  I got it for $20 or so at Walmart. Also, Greenies treats also were the first actual solid food my cat wanted to eat.  I think they have the same thing as Fortiflora in it.  Your vet may have Fortiflora.  You could maybe sprinkle some in baby food or on canned for to try to get some down her.  If you are syringe feeding, I am guessing that is helping, but for both you and her, it would likely be a relief if she would eat more on her own. These are just suggestions.  I do hope and pray she is improving and that her prognosis turns out to be a good one.  I totally understand how you love her.  My 3 cats are all rescues (their mother left them in the back yard for me when she weaned them), and I was in love in days.

Please keep us posted.  Thoughts are with you.

By the way, when my cat was ill recently, it took about 5 days for him to start eating in the kitchen (3 days of me feeding him baby food and taking it to the chair where he was sleeping basically all the time), and he was not moving around and jumping on stuff, etc.  for a week or so.  I think he was actually afraid to eat real food at first, so I did frequent small amounts of baby food.  If you work, during the day, that might not be possible, but you could try offering a teaspoonful every hour or so in the evening.   When my cat did start eating canned food, we started with something I knew he loved, though not the best quality (Fancy Feast chicken), and I fed small amounts to build his confidence and get his body adjusted to eating again.  You likely have thought of all of this; I am just wishing I could help you. 

It was a long 5-7 days for me and him.  Again, please keep us posted.I t

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Thanks so much for your concern. I tried baby food and she wasn't interested.  None of my cats have ever eaten baby food.  She's eating Recovery.  She will eat it straight, but if she doesn't I will syringe feed her a bit to "prime the pump."  I asked about Fortiflora, and the vet doesn't want me to add anything like that to the mix right now.  She is eating, both wet food and dry, just I don't know if she's getting enough.

samnmag said:

 
I am very sorry to hear about your kitten Darcy and hope she is improving.  Two things jumped out at me.

Firstly, I am reading what is going into her but (unless I missed it) I am not seeing anything on bowel movements or urination or litter box behaviours.  Secondly, the hair on my neck went up when I saw Amoxicillan and my only reasoning for that is that antibiotic has been known to make people quite sick.  It doesn't affect everybody that way but it can be wicked on some and I was unlucky enough to be one of them.  It made me sicker than I was in the first place.  That is just something to think about.  Not all kitties are going to react the same to medications.  I

It sounds like you are doing everything you can.  Your vet sounds like she is taking a very close look at things and not just writing it off to one condition.  Kudos to her for that.  Take it one day at a time and don't give up.  You and Darcy are in my thoughts.

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As of right now, she is having no problems in the litter box.  When she first got sick, she was getting in the litter box and not being able to go.  I mentioned this to the vet because it was worrying me, but she said she didn't have any urine or feces, and said we should just watch it.  She has been going normally for several days.

Yes, my vet is very thorough.  She won't diagnose if she isn't sure, she will tell you flat out if she doesn't know something and then go research it, and she never, ever gives up.

Wow, sorry about that. I don't think I have ever seen a cat or kitten not go for baby food, that seriously surprises me. Honestly! Slightly heated it smells so good to them. (most of them anyway)

It's helpful if you are able to measure the amt she is eating somehow.

BTW your vet sounds caring and wonderful. So glad for that!

catwoman707 said:

 
While Darcy's pics might not look bad to everyone, as there are no obvious looking issues, what I see is a distance in her eyes.

She looks to me, preoccupied with what's going on with her. 

A steady high temp surely indicates something is very wrong.

The amox, while an occasional person/pet may have a reaction, most do not and it's well tolerated.

My Krissy was on clavamox and on day 5 began vomiting all day long from it, until I took her off of it.

Amox is mostly much better tolerated.

However, it's not even touching her fever..........this is worrisome.

I think the ultrasound asap is a good move and well worth having a good look inside.

It's very important that you know that this test is only as good as the tech/vet performing it.

It take ALOT of experience to spot small abnormalities, so I am hoping the vet has done 100's of them at least.

Not so sure, but when it is scheduled can you please ask in some kind way how much experience he/she has had in performing ultrasounds? Also if they will consult with others about any findings?

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Yes, definitely something going with her we are trying to get to the bottom of.

I've never had a problem with Amox, and Darcy seems okay with it.

The ultrasound was done by a professional place that does ultrasounds all the time, not by the vet.  We are going over there now to talk about the findings.  I'll post more later.

I will be anxious to hear what they have to say.

Please post asap.

Good luck!

catwoman707 said:

 
I will be anxious to hear what they have to say.

Please post asap.

Good luck!

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The finding were:

A "little bit" of fluid in her abdomen.  The vet stressed several times that it wasn't what they would "normally" see with an FIP cat

Liver a slightly different color

Slightly enlarged Adrenal lymph nodes

They drew some of the fluid and sent for analysis.  24-48 hour return (but most likely after the holiday).

The vet consulted with (someone - possibly the technician who read the ultrasound results?) who stated that there was nothing that resembled a "normal" FIP case.

She called (someone) for opinions on which of two tests it would make the most sense to run, and we are going with that one.  I don't recall what she called it, but the paper says Fluid Analysis w/Cytology (Antech).

We visited Darcy at the clinic at lunch time and she was lively, ate a good amount of food, and leisurely groomed herself.

On the ride home, she meowed constantly (she did that when she first came to live here, but stopped when she got sick).

She spent some time re-acquainting herself with the house (including going after a spider). Ran up and down the stairs a couple times.

She ate quite a bit, including kibble and treats

She got up on the bed with us and kneaded extensively on the micro blanket, then leaned up against my leg and took a nap. I had just planned to sit down for a  minute, but stayed there until she got up to use the litter box.  She used to lean up against me all the time when she first got here, but stopped when she got sick.

Then at some point she crashed and was sitting in her loaf position with the look in her eyes.

When I went upstairs to go to bed last night, she was stretched out on a recliner chair grooming.

She ate this morning (including quite a few treats), but was not very lively.  She did get up and meow at me for more food.  I'm not sure where she is now, but I'm going to check as soon as I finish posting this. Hopefully she just got up on the bed.  DH is still sleeping, it's only 6 AM.

The vet is mystified at this point.  She is having us keep her on the same dose of pred and amox (for the 14 days), and wait to see what the test results are.

She told us that if Darcy has FIP, it's not typical to anything she has seen, or the people she has consulted with has seen.  She said ordinarily Darcy would not have bounced back at all and would most likely either be at death's door or gone by now.  I am just taking this one day at a time and try not to either get my hopes up or get too depressed about it.  We are just planning to make her as comfortable and happy as we can, and see where it goes.

It was this time 2 years ago we were just starting to see signs in Cynthia that something was wrong.  It took the vets until January to diagnose for certain that she had cancer, and it took surgery to determine what kind of cancer.  We had Xrays, ultrasounds, needle biopsies (which initially came back negative for cancer), blood tests, etc.  Even the specialist at the college called it a "mystery" case.  There is so much deja vu with this, which is partly what has thrown me for such a loop.  Not really over Cindy's passing yet, and now this.

We met the other person who had a very similar situation to us.  Just lost their one cat to the same kind of cancer that Cindy had (mast cell), got a kitten that was perfect for them and for their other cat.  The kitten got sick abruptly, but it was the wet FIP and she was gone within days.  It was just odd how striking the similarities were. 

Edited to add:  She just came around meowing at me for food.  Refused the Recovery but is chowing down on the Friskies.  I never thought I would see the day when I would feed my cats Friskies, but whatever it takes.  I'll syringe feed some of the Recovery later.

FIP will vary among cats, there really is no textbook results and no 2 are ever the same.

The fluid will be tested looking for an excessive amt of 2 white blood cells, neutrophils and monocytes.

In her blood panel, are her immunoglobulins and total serum proteins elevated?

catwoman707 said:

 
FIP will vary among cats, there really is no textbook results and no 2 are ever the same.

The fluid will be tested looking for an excessive amt of 2 white blood cells, neutrophils and monocytes.

In her blood panel, are her immunoglobulins and total serum proteins elevated?

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The only thing amiss in her blood panel was something to do with her liver.

I saw you post in the other thread of Tsui Jinglei's, and first wanted to say how terribly sad and sorry I feel for you and your baby.

This has got to be the worst illness ever. No reason, no prevention, no cure. So tragically unfair.

I also re-read this thread, and it really is surprising that she is still alive, to be blunt.

The wet fip takes them down quite fast once symptoms appear. Fast.

The dry form is slower and can take alot longer, I've even known of cats who it took months to take them down.

So I started thinking, unless this is not fip, she may have the dry form, even though she has fluid in her abdomen, as long as it wasn't alot. This does happen with dry too.

You can't help but feel like maybe, by some miracle................I know. It's because of not being able to confirm with a test, just basing it on her symptoms.

Just awful. 

Continued in Crossing The Bridge Forum, http://www.thecatsite.com/t/289619/goodbye-little-darcy

Because Darcy has now passed, I shall close this thread. People who wish to pay their respects can do so in the bridge thread mentioned above..