Need everyone's opinion on our George

Hello all, I'm still new to this site and love it. I need everyone's opinion here on our new kitty George. We got george on 1/01/06 from a rescue shelter where he was kept in a room with 8+ other cats. from day one he has had diarreah. at first we thought that it was the stress of a new home which also has a 1 year old boxer. the first test for parasites showed negative. after a week or so we took him back to the vet as it seemed the loose stool was very bad and not getting better. the vet retested him and found coccidiosis, prescribed albon and loperamide as antidiaretic (sp?). a week went by, then we found sporadic areas of the carpet where the cat has urinated. he went back to the vet last saturday, 01/21/06, had numerous red blood cells in his urine and was diagnosed with a UTI or Bladder infection. the vet gave him a shot of Baytril in his back right leg and also a prescription of Baytril. So now poor george's stool is still as loose as loose can be, he barely walks on the leg where he was given the shot, is given the albon in the morning, loperamide a few hours later, Baytril in the afternoon, and loperamide in the evening. our vet bills come in at about $300.00 total at this moment and since the loperamide doesn't seem to be helping his stool, he will be off to the vet again this week.

So, should we consult another vet? should i go after the rescue shelter for compensation of medical cost? should i simply persevere and deal with it? how long does it take to get rid of coccidiosis? please help, my fiance and i love him very much and desperatley want to help him get healthy.

thanks all, brad.

I think if it were me, I would be looking for a second opinion as poor George could be getting dehydrated!

I also feel that it might be worth while speaking to the Rescue Centre and find out if any of the other cats are ill or if there is anything that could shed some light on the situation for you!

I hope you find an answer soon and George is back to full health in no time!

It sounds like you are on the right track,and you do need to guard against dehydration. To check and see if your cat is losing fluids, while the cat is at rest, lightly pinch the skin of the neck. Hold for just a second, then release. The skin should fold back down quickly in a matter of seconds. If it stays tented up then you need a vet quickly.

Coccidia needs to run its course and it is usually a week before you see any slowing of the diarrhea. Keep pushing fluids as much as possible that will help as well.

thanks for the info. when you say pushing fluids, is there a way to get my cat to drink more water? he has his own water downstairs where his food is and he also drinks out of our dogs water upstairs. so water is available in 2 places at all times. is there a juice or something that i could give him? i can lead him to water but how do i make him drink? thanks.

What type of food are you feeding?(wet-or-dry) What brand is it? You can put him on a more wet/canned food diet if he is not already on one, to increase his fluid intake. As far as getting him to drink more water- put another bowl or 2 where he lays the most, that way it will be close to him. If he gets dehydrated take him to the vet so they can give him fluids intraveniously (sp)

You could also try him on homemade chicken broth, no salt.

If you give him a little unflavored Pedialyte, that helped Leo when he got dehydrated one time.

I think trying to get compensation from the shelter is a dead end. In the first place, when you adopt a cat, there are no guarantees as to the cat's health. You take the cat "as is." In the second place, with so many animals going through a facility like that, often they have no idea what an animal's health status really is. So they didn't intentionally deceive you. When you adopt a cat, you adopt the cat for better or for worse. If you don't think you're up to nursing this cat back to health, then you can surrender it back to the shelter. That's about the only other option you have.

But many people have been in your situation. This cat's health problems are treatable. If you hang in there and take care of this cat, chances are you'll end up with a fine animal companion. Good luck to you both.

i think your right on the shelter. i wouldn't ever dream of gettin rid of him. i view him as a member of our family. i can't give up my kid ya'know. thanks for the advice all. i really appreciate your input.

Originally Posted by coaster

I think trying to get compensation from the shelter is a dead end. In the first place, when you adopt a cat, there are no guarantees as to the cat's health. You take the cat "as is." In the second place, with so many animals going through a facility like that, often they have no idea what an animal's health status really is. So they didn't intentionally deceive you. When you adopt a cat, you adopt the cat for better or for worse. If you don't think you're up to nursing this cat back to health, then you can surrender it back to the shelter. That's about the only other option you have.

But many people have been in your situation. This cat's health problems are treatable. If you hang in there and take care of this cat, chances are you'll end up with a fine animal companion. Good luck to you both.

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Some shelters DO offer a health gaurantee...in fact, 2 of the 3 shelters I've adopted from offered some sort of health insurance...one for 14 days one for a full month after adoption. Of course, there were restrictions, such as having to use their in-house clinics and affiliated vet, but considering all of the nasties that Lola brought home with her, it was a godsend. I'd look into something like that. I'm always sorry/surprised to hear that some shelters operate without clinics and whatnot, but all in all, it makes me feel extremely lucky that we have those things where I am.

Originally Posted by lionessrampant

..in fact, 2 of the 3 shelters I've adopted from offered some sort of health insurance...

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The shelters here offer a free checkup with a local vet and one month of free ShelterCare health insurance plan. The free checkup is just a very basic physical exam, and any extras, such as a fecal exam or FeL/FIV blood test is paid for out-of-pocket by the adopter. The free health insurance plan is worthless for any real health care costs. It's just a come-on to get you to sign up for the insurer's real health care plan. The only real health "guarantee" a non-profit public-supported shelter can offer is to take the sick cat back in exchange for another. They operate and survive on donations and certainly don't have the financial resources to compensate adopters for their adopted cats health problems. The "clinics" for the cats awaiting adoption are donated services by local vets -- if and when available. A sick cat returned to the shelter would probably have to be euthanized if it was going to require some expense to make well again.

Yes, I think you are lucky.

hey all, he had a shot in the leg from the vet last saturday, here it is wednesday and he is still favoring that leg. does anyone know how long it should bother him?

I would call the vet about the leg- that isn't a normal reaction. Did he recieve any vaccines in that leg?

Every time I bring an animal home from a shelter or a rescue group, they seem to have so many problems at first. They usually have bowel problems, from stress, and parasites and some sort of sickness or other. It comes with the territory. And then I bring them to the vet and get their shots and medicines and all that, and nurse them back to health -- and they've all turned out fine after a few weeks. I think things will turn out just fine. I would call about the leg. I'm not sure with cats, but one of my dogs had a reaction to a shot and was so stiff he couldn't lie down, so I brought him back to the vet and they gave him a shot of something else to aleviate the symptoms -- and it helped.

When we brought Otis and Baby Girl home we had all sorts of problems from ear mites to coccidia. I called the shelter and they did a stool sample and gave me medicine to take care of the coccidia. It took a really long time for the coccidia to run it's course in Otis. We went through 3 different bottles of the albon and it's pretty 'contagous' too so I would try to seperate him from the others. The problem with coccidia is that Albon doesn't kill the parasite (I think that's what it is?) it just slows its reproduction rate so that the body can take care of it naturally.

Originally Posted by Dr. Doolittle

I would call the vet about the leg- that isn't a normal reaction. Did he recieve any vaccines in that leg?

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no just the baytril shot. the vet told my fiance today (george had the shot on 1/21, so it's been almost a week) that we could bring him in for another shot to relieve the pain. my only concern is an infection or other problem in his leg as a result of the shot. i'm just not sure if he should still be feeling pain. except for the noticeable "limp", he jumps, semi-runs, and is playful. i know cats can hide pain really well though. hmmm i dunno on this one.