My young cat stopped eating and drinking tonight, and is moving slow almost like he's in pain

Update 2:

The vet called me just now and said that Tyrion ate a little bit this morning but not much he's just been napping a lot. He also said the blood work came back and Tyrion did test positive for FIP, which concerns me, but also tested positive for blood parasites called mycoplasmas. He said Tyrion's red blood cell count is at 8% which is very low and that the parasites can come from flea bites (my cat's didn't have fleas when I got them from the shelter but they both had worm infestations which the shelter never disclosed to me when I was adopting them).
He said I'm lucky the blood work shows parasites because he wasn't looking for that only the FIP but the blood they tested showed it. He wants to address that first and give Tyrion medicine for it because it could be why Tyrion isn't eating. However he did warn me that if Tyrion doesn't improve after treatment for the mycoplasmas then we may in fact be dealing with the FIP which isn't curable.
He did say that he didn't notice Tyrion's white blood cell count being high, which could be a sign that Tyrion isn't fighting the FIP (he told me that's a good thing as if the body fights too hard to try and get rid of FIP that's what kills cats with it), however he said that could also be due to the parasites, and there is a possibility that after getting rid of them the white blood cells could increase to attack the FIP.
They're going to keep him another night and try to force feed him today and they said we can visit him before 4pm if we wish.

I'm concerned again because I read about FIP yesterday when he mentioned it and remember a likelihood of 1% of cats have it. I know that doesn't mean he can't have it just that if he does it's super rare and he's very unlucky.

I would again love and appreciate any input on these findings and especially how likely and accurate it sounds because I'm in over my head with all this!!

I do have one other concern too: I adopted another cat along with Tyrion at the same shelter. The vet assured me my black cat Prince doesn't have these things as he said they aren't contagious but I have read differently...that sharing cat bowls and litter boxes can spread the disease. I'm very worried about this.

Gosh I'm awfully sorry about all this you are going through.  I can sympathize.  Two years ago my kitty Nat started having seizures again, ended up in ICU the week before my mom died.  She was at hospice (because my sister refused to keep her) but wanted to come back to my house.  Long story.  Then I brought Nat home and a few days later Mom came home to die at my house.  It was incredibly stressful because we were so close.  Then two days before she passed, Nat started having seizures again.  I literally had a nervous breakdown and just could not deal, yet somehow I pushed on.  At least I was given a week off from work.  I could not have handled work and losing my mom and Nat's seizures at the same time.  I wasn't getting enough work so money was tight.  Just tons of stress.  So I do understand.  

I've heard that a positive FIP doesn't necessarily mean positive, but not sure on that.  

Is there any way you can get him out of that particular hospital and take him to one you trust?  I don't believe they can keep him there against your will.  I do know that humans have the right to refuse treatment in hospitals and sign themselves out, taking responsibility for it.  But how does that work when you have a sick kitty?  Just the same?

At this point I'm so overwhelmed I wish I had a vet friend here to guide me through this because I do feel like my gut is telling me we are being preyed on and that I should take Tyrion elsewhere. At the same time he just underwent surgery which I now know wasn't necessary at all and so now I'm worried about moving him too. I'm O upset about all this. My boyfriend is freaking out too because they aren't updating us on costs and we have no idea what they're going to charge but their policy is you have to pay it all when you pick up the cat...that or get approved for care credit. My credit is awful because I had my identity stolen and my boyfriend said he doesnt want a credit card. He planned on borrowing money from his dad but this may be more expensive than his dad can help us with. My boyfriend cried and said he loves this cat but if we can't afford to pay it we may have to surrender him. I told him we would owe the money anyway but he's so overcome with everything he's not listening to reason and I have no money to help pay right now myself.

The first thing to do is find out what is owed and see if his dad can loan him that amount.  If not, then Care Credit may be the only option.  There is a member here who is a vet tech but I've forgotten her name

Thank you Ginny. We are at the vet right now we just visited Tyrion he's looking okay. We are still waiting for them to discuss what we owe we've been waiting to find out for 15 minutes. I will happily update when we know.

Here's Tyrion from the visit in the visitor's room

Awwwww, poor kitty!  Bless him.

awww what a handsome baby!! I love that fur! He looks sad, bet he can't wait until he goes home.

kittykin said:

Update 2:

The vet called me just now and said that Tyrion ate a little bit this morning but not much he's just been napping a lot. He also said the blood work came back and Tyrion did test positive for FIP, which concerns me, but also tested positive for blood parasites called mycoplasmas. He said Tyrion's red blood cell count is at 8% which is very low and that the parasites can come from flea bites (my cat's didn't have fleas when I got them from the shelter but they both had worm infestations which the shelter never disclosed to me when I was adopting them).
He said I'm lucky the blood work shows parasites because he wasn't looking for that only the FIP but the blood they tested showed it. He wants to address that first and give Tyrion medicine for it because it could be why Tyrion isn't eating. However he did warn me that if Tyrion doesn't improve after treatment for the mycoplasmas then we may in fact be dealing with the FIP which isn't curable.
He did say that he didn't notice Tyrion's white blood cell count being high, which could be a sign that Tyrion isn't fighting the FIP (he told me that's a good thing as if the body fights too hard to try and get rid of FIP that's what kills cats with it), however he said that could also be due to the parasites, and there is a possibility that after getting rid of them the white blood cells could increase to attack the FIP.
They're going to keep him another night and try to force feed him today and they said we can visit him before 4pm if we wish.

I'm concerned again because I read about FIP yesterday when he mentioned it and remember a likelihood of 1% of cats have it. I know that doesn't mean he can't have it just that if he does it's super rare and he's very unlucky.

I would again love and appreciate any input on these findings and especially how likely and accurate it sounds because I'm in over my head with all this!!

I do have one other concern too: I adopted another cat along with Tyrion at the same shelter. The vet assured me my black cat Prince doesn't have these things as he said they aren't contagious but I have read differently...that sharing cat bowls and litter boxes can spread the disease. I'm very worried about this.

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Unfortunately FIP is not all that rare

On the other hand there is no way he has tested positive for FIP, there is no test that confirms it.

It's loose diagnosis is based on symptoms, blood results, fluid retention, fever of unknown origin that does not respond to antibiotics.

Can you find out specifically that his eosinophil white cells are not elevated?

If he has parasites this cell would show it.

Low red cells is anemia.

Well the vet said his antibody cell count is low too so I assume that's what you mean by white cells but he claimed that could be due to lack of nutrients and the parasites as well he said he's not sure if his body with fight the FIP.
Also if it can't really be confirmed that he has it what does it mean that I was told he definitely has it?

No vet should ever give a definite diagnosis, as there is no results that can confirm FIP until after death, in a necropsy. They can tell you it's likely, or they're fairly certain, but it does get misdiagnosed at times because of the lack of a test and the disease itself is so mysterious and random.

I am not thrilled with your vet at this point, because he is vague, and because he advised for the surgery, which I would have never done, but most people as you, would listen and trust what a vet recommends, since most are not medically savvy in what's best/good/needed.

Some vets do take advantage of this, to their advantage.......

I also don't understand what he means by saying your kitty boy may fight it off, he can't, it's fatal once FIP symptoms are developing. I can only assume he tested for the coronavirus and he tests positive for that, which is a very common mild virus that most cats get and pass it on, and are rid of it.

Now and then, especially in cats who have excess stress such as shelter cats, etc are more prone to hibernate the coronavirus and later it develops to FIP.

With the surgery being done, displaying enlarged lymph nodes in the abdominal wall, you may have discovered he is in early stages of FIP.

Without the surgery, you would have found out soon enough anyway, so it's not really something to consider was 'a good thing', finding out sooner or later is the same in the end.

My personal thoughts, it looks like he may very well be in early stage of FIP, I'm sorry to say.

I'm hoping that this vet is preying on me at this point because if he is jumping to conclusions then there's a chance his "findings" are wrong. I think my boyfriend and I are going to see this through, but we want to get a second opinion and we also want to grt our other cat checked they have made it clear they don't actually know how contagious it is they know it can be passed and told me not to worry about it but their vagueness in telling me what they do know about FIP has me convinced I need to research this matter and get more than one professional opinion.

I agree with  @catwoman707  there no test to confirm FIP. I would ask the vet what test he did and how he came to that conclusion. I urge you to find another vet. He is a beautiful boy

Edit I just saw your update, I am glad you are getting another opinion.  The vet you used is a doofus 

kittykin said:

Here's Tyrion from the visit in the visitor's room

Click to expand...

What a beautiful boy!!!

I wanted to add that both my cats were not in the shelter long. They spay/neuter and test for leukemia and FIV when they first get the cats and all those took place about a month before I adopted them. While I know they were exposed to fleas and worms at that shelter, because of how short they were there for I'm not so sure they could have been exposed to enough stress long enough to get early stages of FIP. The vet had mentioned corona virus to me when he initially told me the results of the blood work but I never understood what it was and he didn't explain it. He used the word as jargon in explaining the FIP to me. So if it's not really possible for them to test for FIP and get definitive results I think it is very possible he meant to say he tested positive for corona virus and concluded from that that Tyrion has FIP. Again he threw the term in our conversation casually but thinking back on it I'm pretty positive he was basically saying because he tested positive for corona virus he has FIP. The vet did not use any language suggesting he was unsure whether he has it, he said Tyrion definitely has it and if the parasites aren't the cause of him not eating the FIP is.
I'm getting more angry because the more you guys are helping me figure this out the more I'm realizing they really don't know what's wrong and they're jumping to some really scary conclusions at the expense of Tyrion, our emotions and our finances.

I agree, he may very well have meant that he did a blood test to look for coronavirus and THAT was positive, not that he does have FIP.

I think it's wise to get a second opinion, definitely.

When a vet is explaining results, you should understand them perfectly clear, and you do not, so he is not doing a good job helping you with your pet.

They sure don't give vague costs now do they?!!

Oh they've been all over the place on pricing. When we initially took Tyrion in worried about blockage and he recommended surgery to find the plastic bag ( which he never found but saw enlarged lymph nodes which is why he wanted a blood test) he said the surgery would be $600-800. Today we visited Tyrion and then went to the front to find out what we are at this far...the total for surgery, overnight, and a few other things not disclosed to us but NOT including the blood work or his overnight stay for tonight, was at $500. My comment to my boyfriend was wow he really really high balled that surgery like we were freaking out yesterday because when he opened Tyrion up and found nothing but suspicious nodes, he said we needed to do blood work to test for FIP ( Yes after seeing the nodes he jumped to assuming it could be FIP...he wasn't even looking for the parasites)...I was really overwhelmed with emotion at that news and he never even brought up cost. We spent all night thinking we owe over $1000 for just the surgery blood work and overnight. Again they haven't even included the blood work and overnight into the 500 but said the surgery was only one of a few things listed in their computer.
They wouldn't give me a paper listing anything...they said "well you may still need to have him stay over longer or need another procedure done and we don't give you a bill until we're completely done doing what he needs" and then we pay everything upfront they don't do payment plans or anything. And when we left my boyfriend and I were like nope we aren't ever going here again after all this.
They're sketchy, they're vague, they ignore us a good amount of time we sit upfront it took them half an hour to even go over our bill and we were the only people on the cat side with the information already in their system. So I just really think this place is all about money and getting as many customers as possible. They aren't about service or transparency.

This may not be important, but while we waited for half an hour to get an idea of the finances, a vet brought a girl to the front and said "you can take him home tonight or we can keep him, but dont worry we won't charge you for keeping him here overnight for us to monitor him". And I was sitting there thinking she has a choice, we don't, and she's not going to get charged...but they're charging us each night over 40 dollars a night. I plan on bringing that up to them and trying to get them to take that off as well as them charging me for another exam when he was in a week ago and they're charging me another 50 dollars instead of counting it as a follow up.
Needless to say I think most of this situation is due to the place, not Tyrion. My boyfriend and I are basically deciding to believe the parasites are the problem. If after eliminating them he's still having issues eating or drinking we will take him somewhere else with good reviews and word of mouth for a second opinion.

I would point blank ask if they are going to keep him again if they will be charging you since they made that decision and not giving you a choice. If they are, ask if there is any reason why he can't come home today and you care for him.

Despite my negative thoughts about your vet, his surgery wasn't a bad price at least.

Since his 2nd visit is being charged but he ended up having the surgery, ask if they will please remove that 2nd visit cost, you'd be surprised at how some are flexible and understanding.

Worth a try!

I would honestly keep an open mind to the possibility of FIP, due to the enlarged nodes in his stomach lining, and his low red and white blood cells.

Parasites cause eosinophil white cells to be high, FIP causes low red cells/anemia which he does have, parasites don't really cause low reds.

Not wanting to discourage you in any way, just saying.........

Hugs!

Well that's handy to know for sure! They were not willing to give us any kind of help on our bill ( but we noticed they accidentally didn't include things like the blood work which they DO charge for) so it ended up being $600 and then they tried to have us schedule an appointment 2 weeks from now for CBC. We politely declined I just said I need to figure out my schedule but we will get the CBC done elsewhere. We wont take him there again.
They did show us how to feed him they charged us for wet food that they want us to feed him with a large syringe and then they gave us medicine to give him both in liquid form one is to get rid of the parasites the other has iron and stuff in it to help with his blood I guess. I've never force fed a cat before so we will see how that goes. I might see if he eats the wet food on his own and if he eats a bit just syringe the rest?

Yeah......it doesn't usually go over too well with a grown cat, unless he is very weak and doesn't have any feistyness in him.

Likely need to wrap him in a lg towel, plan on it getting all over too.

If he isn't eating on his own then he surely won't appreciate having it forced on him, but he must eat or will run in to much bigger problems soon.

It might be worth a try to pick up a can of premixed KMR formula,many cats love the stuff and it's full of all the good things his body needs.