Jake- Very sick

Keeping Jake in my thoughts and prayers and pulling for him to make a full recovery and be on that road to recovery *now*.

How wonderful, Tammy! I'm so happy Jake is showing such great improvement! See, every day he will get better and better! Jake, you're such a sweet little boy, and your Mommy is taking such wonderful care of you!

This is good to hear, however I hope Jake doesn't have to loose his toes-

That is such encouraging news Tammy. If Jake does need his claws and toes amputated then it must be better than the way he is now. these decisions are not taken lightly at the vets so you will know that it is a necesity (sp) if they recommend it.
Maybe Clamavox is supposed to be quicker acting or something thats why the had Jake on that but I dont know much about medicines. At any rate they found the right one in the end.
Keep hanging on in there all of you - the 'happy ending' is in sight

Originally Posted by tulip2454

That is such encouraging news Tammy. If Jake does need his claws and toes amputated then it must be better than the way he is now. these decisions are not taken lightly at the vets so you will know that it is a necesity (sp) if they recommend it.

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Thanks so much! And I agree regarding his toes and/or claws. Plus if they don't clear up and they leave them, he could be suseptible to future systemic staph infections. And he has been on the edge of critical and if his temp hadn't come down by Monday, the vet would have declared him such.

Maybe Clamavox is supposed to be quicker acting or something thats why the had Jake on that but I dont know much about medicines. At any rate they found the right one in the end.

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I think it may be more that Clavamox has been the broad spectrum antibiotic of choice for veternarians for a long time. I was thinking maybe it was because it is tried and true and maybe has less side effects. Such as, the morning after Jake's first dose there was a little diarhea on the floor I had to clean up. Obviously it came so fast he couldn't make it because there was a trail going toward the closest litter pan. LOL But you're very right! At least they found the right one now! I did some research on Baytril and it is very fast acting. Maybe even the fastest acting vertnary A.B. Plus it kills more bugs. I talked to one of the veternay pathologists at my work and he was very happy Jake had been put on Baytrill. Boy and Jake is proof! He showed drastic improvement over night!

Keep hanging on in there all of you - the 'happy ending' is in sight

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I sure hope so! I called the vet to tell her last night and she was so excited. But then she brought me down to reality a bit and reminded me that this doesn't mean for sure he's out of the woods. She said she will be happier when his toes start clearing up. She's a bit nervous about declawing and/or amputating toes because he is such an extreme peke face persian and has bad sinuses and sometimes a hard time breathing. (That's another discussion for another day. But I wish they wouldn't breed them quite so peke faced. Peaches and Hallie don't have the sinus and breathing stuff). So she doesn't want to put him under anesthetic unless absolutely necessary. At any rate.... I'm very happy for now to see this great progress! I'll take it! Please keep praying and sending those vibes and good thoughts that he continues to improve!

I am so happy to hear about Jake feeling better! He is such a love bug and We have all been worried about him. I have been following his story and John, my son, has shared his emails with me as well. I would have posted/emailed more, but have had kittens to bottle feed and sleep far too much in between to catch up on the sleep I miss at night feeding the little ones.

Tammy you are the best kitty mommy I can ever imagine! I'm glad Jake is living with you. Some others may have given up and put him down. You are an ANGEL!

Thanks, Teresa, for the compliment. I have to admit that Jake IS very spoiled and hoovered over. I did email John a couple times and asked him to share them with you so I'm glad he did. He wanted pictures but poor Jake looks so bad. And plus he's just been kind of hiding under my desk (until recently). I'll try to take some pics soon. It's been all I can do to care for him and work too. Seems it's all I've done! But I'm happy I could do it.

Last night (Sunday) Jake temp was down to 101.3! I read somewhere that normal temp for cats ranges from 100.5-102. My vet was looking for him to be 100.5-101 so I think he's really pretty much there! So now let's pray that his toes and ear clear up quickly. Especially his toes. I might try to give him a bath again today or tomorrow to try and soak some of the dried pus off his toes. When I take him to the vet she picks it off but that hurts him and I have a hard time with that! He doesn't have very much there though. And I wash them good ever day. I'll sit and hold him and put a paw in a cup of warm water and let it soak. Then I try to clean his toes as well as I can with the cleaner they gave me and q-tips. Then I repeat the procedure on his other paw.

I think you are doing such a great job, and I am sure Jake will appreciate it, even if he doesn't altogether now. The news does sound better for him every day.

I agree, you are doing a great, great job with Jake, and I'm pulling for him to have a full recovery, and hopefully keep all those toes.

You are doing wonders for our boy Jake. Lots of hugs to you Tammy.

Thanks everyone for cheering me on! I really appreciate it!

By the way for those who don't know... I got Jake from DragonLady (Teresa). So that is why her whole family has such an interest in him. Teresa's son, John, had really bonded with Jake and spent a lot of time with him. I think I got the best compliment ever from him the other day. He said he cried and cried when his mom told him they had to re-home Jake (I got him around end of October or beginning of November 2003) . And he says now he feels good because he knows Jake is in the best home possible. That means a lot coming from a kid who was buddies with this cat!

Oh that is indeed sweet! He does have the best possible home!

What a lovely thing for John to say - and so true!
I didnt realise that Jake was a peke faced Persian. My mum and dad used to breed pekes (so you would think I would have noticed huh!). Sometimes, in the extreme cases, they had trouble breathing so I understand you and your vets reluctance over the anethestic (boy I just cant spell these big words). Hopefully it wont come to that.
Thanks for explaining the medicine bit.
Keep up the good work you and Jake both

This is so wonderful, Tammy! Jake, you're such a sweet, brave little boy, and Tammy, you're such a fantastic Mommy! Sierra and I are so proud of you both!

It sounds like things are going well right now. What is the new antibiotic? Cefa-drops?? Good for you for monitoring his temp. It is impossible to "feel" a fever in an animal and rectal temp is really the only way to accurately take a temperature. I hope the new antibiotic is the answer, if this doesn't work do your best to get some $$$ together for biopsies. That will be the fastest route to a cure. Would epsom salt foot soaks be feasible? Check with your vet first but if this is just infection, then regular footbaths and cleaning might speed things along.
Good Luck!

The new antibiotic is Baytril. Yeah I should find a way to soak his feet. I soak them right now is just plain warm water but nto for long. He doesn't sit still long enough. His temp conitinues to stay down but his toes and ear it's hard to tell if they're any better. He does still have some dried pus in his toes and it's hard to get it out. Sounds like he might improve faster if I can manage to get those toes cleaned out better? I've noticed lately that he's also lost a lot of fur on his chest, underarms and some on his belly (even though he has no sores there). He's got some pretty bare patches in those spots.

I'm glad to hear Jake's fever is staying down. That's such good news!

Even though there is not really anything new to report I thought I'd let every one know at least that! Jake seems to continue to be doing about the same. His temp is staying down but that's about it. His ear, eye and toes don't seem to be improving very fast if at all. I was able to have him sit in some standing warm water to soak his toes the other night. I may do that again because it helped get a lot of the old dried puss out. There's still some there though so it might be worth it to do it again. His toes are still tender but seem to be not quite so. I would like to get in and clean them better but it hurts him and I can't keep a good hold on him by myself.

Jake has lost so much fur. I'm just not sure what is up with that. I can't find any information on side effects of the antibiotics he's on. The vet is off until Tuesday so I may wait to call her and ask. I'd just rather stick with the same person if possible.

I was wondering too. You are obviously doing all you can and he is holding on to every little improvement, so let us all hope for the best soon.