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- May 24, 2004
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Hi all,
I'm new to this forum and I've joined here because I want to tell everyone about this disease. I've found it very difficult to find much information about it, but unfortunately I've received a first hand education on the horrors of this disease.
Last summer, a stray cat showed up around our apartment. He just appeared and adopted my wife and I. We brought him in gave him some food and a place to sleep. He was an orange tabby, very very affectionate, and very vocal. (He would carry on a "conversation" with you and sometimes even with himself.) He was the most adorable cat I've ever known. (I've never been a cat person until this little guy showed up.) We named him Piper and fell in love with him right away.
Piper was definitely a hunter, though. He would sit at the door at about 10 o'clock at night and demand to be let out for a night of hunting in the woods behind our apartment. He would sometimes even bring us a mouse to share with us. I suppose he was greatful for us giving him a home and wanted to earn his keep. He did so very well.
About a week and a half ago, though, Piper began to get sick. He threw up several times one morning. We thought that maybe he'd eaten something that didn't agree with him. We called the vet and they said to put him on a bland diet: boiled chicken, cottage cheese, etc. Do that over the weekend and he should feel better.
By Saturday morning, he had thrown up a couple more times and he was acting a little lethargic. We took him straight to the vet. They checked him out, ran some bloodwork and said that everything seemed okay. Just keep him in a quiet place and give him the bland diet and he should be fine by the end of the weekend.
We took Piper home, hand fed him some boiled chicken (that's the only way he'd eat) and tried some scrambled eggs. He ate those, but I think it was only for us because he didn't seem to like them much... Little did we know then that this would be Piper's last meal.
He then went under the bed and crouched down on his belly, where he stayed all day Saturday and all day Sunday. We were very concerned because it just wasn't like him. He was always very active, energetic, affectionate, and most of all: hungry. He didn't eat anything all afternoon Saturday or Sunday.
First thing Monday morning, we took him straight back to the animal hospital. The doctor called me and said that he was afraid it was Cytaux. Piper had a fever of 105 and was slightly anemic. They did bloodwork and sent it to the lab for testing to see if that's what it really was. They said that if the work didn't come back by the next morning, they'd go ahead and begin treating him for Cytaux to be on the safe side. In the meantime, they gave him fluids and antibiotics to try and help him being recovery. The doctor warned me, though, that very few cats survive Cytaux.
Cytaux is actually a disease that comes from adolescent dog-ticks that bite cats. The disease is mainly seen in bobcats, but it does affect house cats who may be outdoors at all. My wife and I had tried keep the tick medicine on Piper, but unfortunately we weren't as diligent as we should have been, not realizing how dangerous ticks can be for cats. This disease (actually a parasite) infects their red blood cells. It gets inside their cells and causes them to have a high fever, extreme lethargy, weakness, stiff muscles, and other symptoms.
The doctors treated Piper for Cytaux the next morning after finding out that the lab results take two or three days to return. This was on Tuesday morning. They continued giving him antibiotics and fluids and watching after him. Wednesday I went to see him on my lunch break. He seemed very disoriented and weak, not at all himself. He also seemed to have a difficult time seeing, so I held him and talked to him so he would know it was me. He was a bit restless, but finally settled down on my lap where I petted him for about half an hour.
As I was leaving, I spoke with the doctor and nurses who said that Piper seemed a little perkier today and seemed to think that he would recover. I went back to work, feeling a little more hopefully, but still terribly worried and hurt that Piper was suffering.
On my way home that evening, the doctor called and said that Piper's fever had dropped a couple of degrees. He said that it could be good, but it could be very bad. If his temperature dropped too much, we could lose him very fast. If it would stabilize where it was, we could probably get Piper to eat (he hadn't since Saturday) and he might make it. The vet said that he was more congested, having a hard time breathing, and he was jaundiced, showing yellow around his eyes, mouth, and gums.
An hour later the doctor called me to tell me that we had lost Piper. I was in shock. He had gotten very congested, despite some medicine the doctor had given him to clear it up, very jaundiced, and then gone into respiratory arrest.
Almost a week later, I'm still in shock. I miss "my little boy" as I used to call him. I miss him waiting at the door for me, ready to play, when I got home. I miss him crawling up on my chest and laying down for a nap with me in the afternoons. I miss him playing with his mouse and watching TV with me. I miss everything about him. I've cried many tears since then and will probably cry many more. Our apartment seems so empty now that he's not there and it will take a long time to get used to him being gone. It's one of the most difficult things I've ever dealt with.
I'm writing this because I don't want anyone to have to deal with the ordeal my wife and I have been through. It's heartbreaking and very very painful. He was a part of our little family. Not to mention, it's very expensive to have to have a cat treated for this.
Please do yourself and most of all your cats a favor and be very diligent about protecting them from ticks and fleas. DO NOT USE HARTZ! (It will hurt them more than help them.) Use Frontline to protect them. (This is not a sale pitch, I'm not affilaited with them. Hartz made Piper very very sick when we used it, not knowing the dangers of it. That's another story, though.)
All I have left of Piper are his ashes, lots of photos (will post when I can), and so many wonderful memories of him. He was the perfect cat. Unfortunately, I was not the "daddy" I should have been, and it hurts very very much now.
Protect your cats and never, ever, ever take them for granted!
I'm new to this forum and I've joined here because I want to tell everyone about this disease. I've found it very difficult to find much information about it, but unfortunately I've received a first hand education on the horrors of this disease.
Last summer, a stray cat showed up around our apartment. He just appeared and adopted my wife and I. We brought him in gave him some food and a place to sleep. He was an orange tabby, very very affectionate, and very vocal. (He would carry on a "conversation" with you and sometimes even with himself.) He was the most adorable cat I've ever known. (I've never been a cat person until this little guy showed up.) We named him Piper and fell in love with him right away.
Piper was definitely a hunter, though. He would sit at the door at about 10 o'clock at night and demand to be let out for a night of hunting in the woods behind our apartment. He would sometimes even bring us a mouse to share with us. I suppose he was greatful for us giving him a home and wanted to earn his keep. He did so very well.
About a week and a half ago, though, Piper began to get sick. He threw up several times one morning. We thought that maybe he'd eaten something that didn't agree with him. We called the vet and they said to put him on a bland diet: boiled chicken, cottage cheese, etc. Do that over the weekend and he should feel better.
By Saturday morning, he had thrown up a couple more times and he was acting a little lethargic. We took him straight to the vet. They checked him out, ran some bloodwork and said that everything seemed okay. Just keep him in a quiet place and give him the bland diet and he should be fine by the end of the weekend.
We took Piper home, hand fed him some boiled chicken (that's the only way he'd eat) and tried some scrambled eggs. He ate those, but I think it was only for us because he didn't seem to like them much... Little did we know then that this would be Piper's last meal.
First thing Monday morning, we took him straight back to the animal hospital. The doctor called me and said that he was afraid it was Cytaux. Piper had a fever of 105 and was slightly anemic. They did bloodwork and sent it to the lab for testing to see if that's what it really was. They said that if the work didn't come back by the next morning, they'd go ahead and begin treating him for Cytaux to be on the safe side. In the meantime, they gave him fluids and antibiotics to try and help him being recovery. The doctor warned me, though, that very few cats survive Cytaux.
Cytaux is actually a disease that comes from adolescent dog-ticks that bite cats. The disease is mainly seen in bobcats, but it does affect house cats who may be outdoors at all. My wife and I had tried keep the tick medicine on Piper, but unfortunately we weren't as diligent as we should have been, not realizing how dangerous ticks can be for cats. This disease (actually a parasite) infects their red blood cells. It gets inside their cells and causes them to have a high fever, extreme lethargy, weakness, stiff muscles, and other symptoms.
The doctors treated Piper for Cytaux the next morning after finding out that the lab results take two or three days to return. This was on Tuesday morning. They continued giving him antibiotics and fluids and watching after him. Wednesday I went to see him on my lunch break. He seemed very disoriented and weak, not at all himself. He also seemed to have a difficult time seeing, so I held him and talked to him so he would know it was me. He was a bit restless, but finally settled down on my lap where I petted him for about half an hour.
As I was leaving, I spoke with the doctor and nurses who said that Piper seemed a little perkier today and seemed to think that he would recover. I went back to work, feeling a little more hopefully, but still terribly worried and hurt that Piper was suffering.
On my way home that evening, the doctor called and said that Piper's fever had dropped a couple of degrees. He said that it could be good, but it could be very bad. If his temperature dropped too much, we could lose him very fast. If it would stabilize where it was, we could probably get Piper to eat (he hadn't since Saturday) and he might make it. The vet said that he was more congested, having a hard time breathing, and he was jaundiced, showing yellow around his eyes, mouth, and gums.
An hour later the doctor called me to tell me that we had lost Piper. I was in shock. He had gotten very congested, despite some medicine the doctor had given him to clear it up, very jaundiced, and then gone into respiratory arrest.
Almost a week later, I'm still in shock. I miss "my little boy" as I used to call him. I miss him waiting at the door for me, ready to play, when I got home. I miss him crawling up on my chest and laying down for a nap with me in the afternoons. I miss him playing with his mouse and watching TV with me. I miss everything about him. I've cried many tears since then and will probably cry many more. Our apartment seems so empty now that he's not there and it will take a long time to get used to him being gone. It's one of the most difficult things I've ever dealt with.
I'm writing this because I don't want anyone to have to deal with the ordeal my wife and I have been through. It's heartbreaking and very very painful. He was a part of our little family. Not to mention, it's very expensive to have to have a cat treated for this.
Please do yourself and most of all your cats a favor and be very diligent about protecting them from ticks and fleas. DO NOT USE HARTZ! (It will hurt them more than help them.) Use Frontline to protect them. (This is not a sale pitch, I'm not affilaited with them. Hartz made Piper very very sick when we used it, not knowing the dangers of it. That's another story, though.)
All I have left of Piper are his ashes, lots of photos (will post when I can), and so many wonderful memories of him. He was the perfect cat. Unfortunately, I was not the "daddy" I should have been, and it hurts very very much now.
Protect your cats and never, ever, ever take them for granted!
