Kitten sick for over 2 weeks, no definitive answers from vets

Hi everyone,

Our precious cat, Leia, has been going through some tough times lately. I apologize for the long post, but I want to provide as much details as possible. We have already seen 4 veterinarians at this point, and still have no answers.

We got her at 4 months old, early December 2016 and she had one eye sealed shut from a herpes infection. We took her in the next day to do a general checkup and the vet found that she was small for her age. Other than that, she was lively, cuddly and a very active kitten. Since we got her, she has been experiencing some soft stool and occasional 'explosive' diarrhea. We decided to put her on a healthier diet (prescription chicken and rice cat food). After being on the new food for about a week, nothing changed.

About 2 weeks ago, she suddenly fell ill. It was overnight - one day she was running around with our other cat, and the next she was hiding and lethargic and eating less. I also caught her eating litter from the litter box. We took her to the vet the next day and she had a small fever. The vet gave her some antibiotics and we monitored her for the next couple of days. 2 days after that, she felt extremely hot to the touch and we rushed her to the emergency vet. There we found out she was running a dangerously high fever and was dehydrated. The emergency vet gave her subq and administered a shot to lower her fever. They also did an x-ray and found some litter in her stomach (but not a dangerous amount) but nothing else alarming.

The vet told us that the shot will only keep her fever down for about 14 hours. When we took her home, Leia was back to her old self. She was running around, playing with the other cat and rubbing all over us. She seemed completely fine, and also ate quite a lot. However, after 14 hours her fever reappeared and her symptoms returned: lethargy, small appetite, hiding. We monitored her the rest of the evening. At one point she got up to use the toilet and poop...right after pooping, her back legs stiffened up and she started to collapse and could not stand up. I was terrified. I held her, crying, thinking she was going to die right there. It lasted about 1-2 minutes..but then she was fine. She was terrified, but she could walk again. We immediately took her back to the vet and got the same prognosis: she had a small fever but was otherwise ok. I'd also like to mention that Leia's poop was surprisingly healthy before she had that "stiffness/seizure-like" attack. That was very strange to us.

The next day, we pushed our veterinarian to do some bloodwork (I was furious that she didn't suggest it earlier, we had seen her multiple times at this point). Unfortunately, Leia was so small and weak that we could only get a small amount of blood from her. We had to choose what to test for, and tested her for FelV and FIP and she was negative for FelV. She has some antigens that suggest she MAY have FIP, but the vet noted that the number is not high enough to actually cause her the problems she is experiencing right now.

The following day, we decided to take her bloodwork and find another veterinarian. Our new vet seems competent. Immediately upon inspecting her he found several things that 4 other vets did not: Leia had some ear mites, and she was actually much older than we all suspected she was. We were all under the impression that she was 5 months old, but our new vet said that her adult teeth had completely came in, which meant she was closer to 7 months old. We were pretty shocked because she is TINY (about 1.15 kg). He gave her something to treat the mites, told us to clean her ears for the next 3 weeks and also told us to collect her stool and urine. He also gave us some tonic that helps increase appetite.

It's been about a week since we saw the new vet, and two weeks since she fell ill, and she hasn't gotten any better...but also not any worse. In this past week she also had another herpes infection (she started sneezing and getting nasal discharge). She is still lethargic, terrified of us and sleeping all day, but she still eats and uses the litterbox reguarly. She also has not experienced another "stiffness/seizure-like" attack (thank goodness). Her poop has also gotten slightly firmer since she has gotten sick, which is bizarre. We check her temperature daily and she has a steady fever between 39.3-39.5C (102 - 103F). Her urine came back fine, and her stool had no parasites. However, her gut showed that she was missing something that allows her to absorb food properly, which could explain her small size.
But it does not explain her consistent fever.

We will treat her stomach to absorb food properly (getting the medicine today) and hope she will get better in the coming days. Has anyone ever experienced something like this before?? Is our baby going to pull through?

Well, perhaps is somehow rude, but it looks very unprofessional for a vet to confuse the teeth and not to inspect the ears. These are things that every vet student should know....

I suspect he "vets" who made such errors left your cat quite a long time suffering, not being inspired in selecting the treatments. So it may take longer than expected to get the cat back to good health status, now she eventually gets its right cure. Just  my 2cents.

From your story, looks like the 5th vet is competent (!). Still, he/she is no God.  Make sure you inform him/her as she/he asked you. I do not know the procedures in your country, but if it is OK to call the vet, perhaps is worth doing so describe tell her/him what is going on, time by time. That vet looks to me as being not only competent but a big heart as well (seeing for prescribing a tonic). Believe me, compassion is part of profession.

Hi Solomonar, thanks for your reply. I completely agree, it seemed very unprofessional and we regret not finding a new vet sooner.  We like our new vet, especially considering he was the only one that told us she could pull through whereas our other vets gave us grim hope. 

I'd like to share some photos of Leia:

Never give up on "regular" sickness. I admire your patience and committment.  I am sure the cat will be fine, you are very careful. 

So did she lose her eye to the infection?

FIP is a tricky diagnosis that can frequently cause neuro issues. A positive coronavirus leaves the possibility for FIP.  I don't know if a low titer is enough to exclude FIP. 

I am suspecting this may be FIP, I am sorry to say.  

She's got a few things going that I personally believe to be contributing factors.

Her age, small size, her herpesvirus, her positive coronavirus testing, her ongoing fever with no cause that is not responding to antibiotics.

I hope I'm wrong, but want to be honest.

Thanks for your all your replies, the vet also suggested we do another blood test, and we can determine if it is FIP.
As of now she is still eating and using the litter box, and her fever has dropped slightly. She's exploring the apartment a little more, but still choosing to hide and sleep for most of Last night she slept in bed with us, which was the first time in over two weeks so we are hopeful. Has anyone had a FIP cat recover and live a longer life? 

She still has that eye, but it is sealed shut by her third eyelid (which was caused by a bad herpes infection). The vet believes that she may still be able to see out of that eye and recommended surgery when she is fully grown/fully recovered. Hopefully we can get there.

I had one rescue cat with a sealed inner eyelid like that, and she DID regain vsion when the eyelid was surgically opened.  It was a minr producedure and the vet said the sooner it is done, the more likely shewould be to have sight in the eye.  If you leave it too long, they can be blind just because the eye has not learned to see. 

You mentioned a blood test for FIP, but there is no definitive blood test for it.   There is a blood test for FIV but not FIP.  FIP is a disease caused by mutation of the feline corona virus. 

Aelu said:

 
Thanks for your all your replies, the vet also suggested we do another blood test, and we can determine if it is FIP.
As of now she is still eating and using the litter box, and her fever has dropped slightly. She's exploring the apartment a little more, but still choosing to hide and sleep for most of Last night she slept in bed with us, which was the first time in over two weeks so we are hopeful. Has anyone had a FIP cat recover and live a longer life? 

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FIP is 100% fatal.

Dry FIP can drag on for many months, with some feeling better but not great now and then. The fever will also settle down eventually so not to be confused with being actually well, although this will at least help kitty feel somewhat better.

FIP attacks them internally, wreaking havoc that we can't see, normally will target/focus on a particular part of their system, whether neurological, brain, spinal, ocular, etc.

Meaning the symptoms will vary.

Since there are still no tests that will diagnose FIP there are most definitely tests that can really help conclude high likelihood of it being FIP.

The first thing would be the coronavirus titer test, if pos then on to a full blood panel, looking for low A/G ratio, increased levels of neutrophils, decreased level of lymphocytes, serum protein levels, high globulin low albumin, and others.

Dry is MUCH harder to diagnose than wet, and usually advances quite a bit slower too.

Wet gives fluid to be analyzed which in FIP cats has a pretty specific consistency, color, specific gravity and content.

In earlier stages of dry, don't be surprised if things appear still somewhat normal in blood, it does have varying factors depending on it's stage and amt of destruction done at that point.

Here you have an informative leaflet about FIP:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/brochure_ftp.cfm

I dare to stress the following:

a) the diagnostic is difficult

b) as the virus is common, but only certain (mutation?) strains generate a clinic response, exposure to the virus does not point to FP necesarelly

c) the leafleat states "almost fatal" - suggesting a still inconclusive case records

d) since the strains are different, chances are that not all infectous strains have the same power

Sceintific research on FIP treatment is ongoing.

The main impact is the response of the autoimmunse system. However, as far as I am aware there is no clear picture on  how the cat's immune system is organised - again, one cannot just expand the human's info about immune system to the cat; it is not only cat's being obligate carnivores (unlike humans), but the cat metabolism appears specific among the Felides, which make things even more complicated.

As far what a coronavirus is, the CDC is very clear (search CDC - coronavirus)

Merks veterinary manual is descriptive - search feline enteric coronavirus.

IMAO, feces as main source of contamination, as the Merk suggests looks doubtfull, since usually viruses are not endowed to survive outside their living host (still, exceptions do exist)

0such as colonies), is found in less than 2 yearts ages old cats.

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That  being said, even  poor Leia is tested seropositive to FIP or even displayng clinical signs, of FIP,  there is no reason to take the situation as a "death sentence". Unlike pessimism in some old vet manuals, but modern science suggests hope.

Some more lines. Sorry for posting again - My time is segmented in small bits.

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It looks to me that the vet adopted a conservative approach, to first address what is causing the most problematic impact and then look for things like FIP. 

Small or big? That is very subjective. My tomcat is perceived by my vet as being "big" (at 8 months old) but for me looks ... small. I guess that I still have in mind his picture from the moment I brought him home, as kitten.

Body Temperature? You said "high consistent fever" - there are loooots of factor influencing the meaurements: I have one termometer which is set to 35.5 degrees as a normal temperature. So, anytime I get 36.7 I have to add 1 and start worrying.

Once I measured the temperature of my cat twice in a minute - I got some 0.2 degrees difference. 

When I measure my blood pressure I use to take series of 10 measurements and compute average value (sometimes after eliminating the lowest and the highest value). Sill, this is not entirely consistent, since I would have compute the mediane and not the average. 

In brief, while body temperature is an useful guide concerning infections and inflamatory processes, myself I am not so confident in the relevance of my values, unless most error origins are spotted and the difference is high enough, compared to error margins.

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How is your kitty doing now?

Aelu said:

I'd like to share some photos of Leia:

IMG_2864.JPG

• aelu
• Feb 1, 2017

IMG_0827.JPG

• aelu
• Feb 1, 2017

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Such a shame that she was already 4 months old with this eye infection.

She's a beautiful baby. Please have your vet x-ray her. I just lost a cat to FIP, it's fatal. The x-ray will show fluid in the tummy area, My Olive had wet FIP not dry so she went down hill within 6-8weeks. Prepare yourselves, read about FIP. Is her belly swollen? Vets for some reason don't catch this until it's too late! So be proactive! Read and educate yourselves so you know what form and the next steps to take. I don't mean to alarm you but to equip you. I never heard of FIP until my baby feel ill. I wish I had known so I could have spent time just keeping her comfortable. Love her every day!

Primula said:

Such a shame that she was already 4 months old with this eye infection.

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Aelu said:

Thanks for your all your replies, the vet also suggested we do another blood test, and we can determine if it is FIP.

As of now she is still eating and using the litter box, and her fever has dropped slightly. She's exploring the apartment a little more, but still choosing to hide and sleep for most of Last night she slept in bed with us, which was the first time in over two weeks so we are hopeful. Has anyone had a FIP cat recover and live a longer life? 

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Google information on FIP, there are some great researches going on and they are getting closer to having better treatments. Seems like there are more treatment options for dry FIP then wet.

Your baby is adorable. When I brought in my then kitten from the streets, my 3yr cat fell ill. One thing he has was a consistent "fever of unknown origin." The vet suspected FIP. I was so sad and scared. For two weeks I worried. Then 3 weeks. Then a month. Thankfully my Momo did not have FIP; it's been 3yrs since that illness struck. I hope your baby gets better and it's not FIP either! 

We did an x-ray for her, there were no signs of fluid in her body, thankfully. She may still have the dry form however.