Syphilis?

Does anybody know anything about syphilis(sp?) in cats?

There is a litter of 5 kittens at the HS that got treated for giarida, but still has loose stools & blood in their stools. A stool sample was taken to the vet & he requested to see the kittens. For some reason, he told us to seperate a specific 2 from the rest. He thinks they have feline syphilis(the whole litter is possibly infected)! I was told it only a guess, it is highly contagious, & it is fatal. These kittens were in the general cat room(they had normal stools-solid & no blood for a week) & there were tons of cats coming & going. There are two cats that have loose stools & have blood in their stools & both are getting their stool samples tested for coccidia/giardia today. I am thinking that it isn't either of those, that it is syphilis, just because these two cats were in the same room with the possibly infected kittens overnight sat/sun nights. The worst part is that one of them is one cat we surrendered. He is such a doll, he has an overbite & needs a dental cleaning. He is the perfect cat, I love him so much.

I googled syphilis in cats & got a lot of stuff that didn't have anything to do with what I was looking for(there were some lyrics to a song & info on people syphilis).

The Merck Veterinary Manual doesn't have anything on syphilis in cats, just rabbits. http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/in...yphilis%2ccats

Could it be herpes instead???

They took the kittens to another vet & she think it is just an upper respiratory infection. I don't understand why that would give them loose stools & blood in their stools. At least 2 other cats in the HS have loose stools & some blood in them, but both of their stool samples came back negative. I noticed 3 more with loose stools.

Of couse, no one mentioned anything about these kittens being ill & being in the same room as Damita & Chico(my fosters) the day before I put them in there. I had taken Damita & Chico to meet someone at the HS last Saturday & apparently those kittens had been in that room. Now Chico has loose stools with blood in them & Damita has blood in her stools(they were solid). I cannot care for a sick Twitch & sick Damita & Chico, so I left Damita & Chico at the HS today. They are in a top cage & they cannot be let out. Hopefully, whatever they have will get straightened out & Twitch will get better so they can come back here. I hated to leave them there, but it is better than being here(IMO). If Twitch was healthy right now, then they could be here.

There is a volunteer who learned how to analyze stools samples from a vet tech so the HS can do them whenever they need to. She was waiting for Damita & Chico to poop so she had something to analyze. Ophelia had loose stools this morning(no blood), so I had hers analyzed at a vet clinic. They found nothing, & suggested it might be stress. I am giving her Pepto Bismol per the vet's reccomendation(no more than 8 doses). She hates it, so I have a slightly pink cat, but hopefully it will work.

Between all of these guys, I am getting slightly stressed. One of the volunteers at the HS was talking about me behind my back & said that she thinks I am getting Damita & Chico sick on purpose. Sort of made me angry when I heard that. I told her to mind her own darn business. She won't touch the sick animals at the HS as she might "get something" from them.

That's my long rant for today.

I know that your vet told you to use it, but EVERY vet that I have seen says DO NOT use it.

Pepto Bismol:
ACTIVE INGREDIENT per Tablespoon: Bismuth Subsalicylate (262 mg). (Total salicylate 130 mg).

INACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Benzoic Acid, Flavor, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Methylcellulose, Red 22, Red 28, Saccharin Sodium, Salicylic Acid, Sodium Salicylate, Sorbic Acid, Water.
Low Sodium. Sodium Content: 5 mg per Tbsp.

From: vet4petz.com:
"Pepto-Bismol - Commonly recommended for our pets for stomach upset or diarrhea, Pepto-Bismol should only be used in the dog, as it can not be given daily to the cat. Perhaps the one benefit of Pepto-Bismol, is that of coating the stomach, and perhaps alleviating some symptoms of nausea. As for diarrhea, there seems to be little Pepto-Bismol can do."

From: animalpetdoctor.homestead.com
Note for cat owners: Beware of using the new formula of kaopecate containing bismuth subsalicylate or pepto bismol. Salicylates such as aspirin can be toxic to cats.

I hope you find what is wrong with your babies.

Originally Posted by Lucinda

I know that your vet told you to use it, but EVERY vet that I have seen says DO NOT use it.

Pepto Bismol:
ACTIVE INGREDIENT per Tablespoon: Bismuth Subsalicylate (262 mg). (Total salicylate 130 mg).

INACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Benzoic Acid, Flavor, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Methylcellulose, Red 22, Red 28, Saccharin Sodium, Salicylic Acid, Sodium Salicylate, Sorbic Acid, Water.
Low Sodium. Sodium Content: 5 mg per Tbsp.

From: vet4petz.com:
"Pepto-Bismol - Commonly recommended for our pets for stomach upset or diarrhea, Pepto-Bismol should only be used in the dog, as it can not be given daily to the cat. Perhaps the one benefit of Pepto-Bismol, is that of coating the stomach, and perhaps alleviating some symptoms of nausea. As for diarrhea, there seems to be little Pepto-Bismol can do."

From: animalpetdoctor.homestead.com
Note for cat owners: Beware of using the new formula of kaopecate containing bismuth subsalicylate or pepto bismol. Salicylates such as aspirin can be toxic to cats.

I hope you find what is wrong with your babies.

Click to expand...

OMG! Why on earth did the vet not tell me?!?!? As vets, shouldn't they know that it is toxic to cats? I only gave Ophie one dose, but what would have happened if I had given her more than one dose?

I am going to search the forums to see what I can find for other remedies for diarrhea.

Unfortunatly, some vets do not keep up with the latest info, just like some human doctors dont keep up either.
I don't know how many doses it would take to really hurt her
canned pumpkin works well (told to me by one of my vets). The cat loved it too!
I have two cats now that have diarreah caused by an infection. Not much has helped that. It is getting better as the infection is going away. Funny, they are from different houses.
Keep up your good work with your baby and she will be fine.

I'm sorry to hear that all your kitties are sick. My cats went through a bout like that and I just gave them pumpkin to help with the diarrhea and then plain natural yogurt to help with the good bacteria in their tummies.

It is concerning that something is going around at the HS (and that you have fickle fellow workers who are stupid enough to make comments about you getting the cats sick!). Maybe it's time for a complete washdown of the room where the illness is spreading...and see if that works.

Ask the vet/clinic if maybe a probiotic paste would be helpful to calm your kitties stomach...

"One of the volunteers at the HS was talking about me behind my back & said that she thinks I am getting Damita & Chico sick on purpose."

She sounds like a trouble maker to me. Maybe she is jealous of you? Anyway, don't let it bother you as obviously you are not making them sick as bunches of other cats have the same problem.
Just remember that you are doing much more for then than that volunteer who won't even touch a sick cat.

I just got back from the HS. I've got good news & bad news.

Good news first.
Ophelia had a solid stool, dark brown. It looks like her normal stool. I didn't see any new poop in Twitch & Lily's box, but as I just fed them, I expect at least one of them to poop soon.
I got pumpkin tonight & gave it to all 3 kitties.

Bad news now.
We lost a kitten. Apparently when they got treated with Fulvicin the 1st time, it wasn't mixed properly, so they had to be treated again(I was misinformed), therefore, they ate poorly. The one kitten was longer haired(gray & white). He was one that was notably thin as you could see all of his bones(ribs, hips, etc) through his matted fur. He died at the vet's office Monday morning of starvation. He was my favorite. The other four kittens are doing well, they have all put on weight & look healthy. Someone put in an adoption app. for one of them today.
Coco, our lab, has white flaky looking things in her poop & some blood. The blood is in seveal spots, not just one. I put her poop in a Ziploc bag & put it in the fridge. I will call the vet in town to see if he can analyze it for me first thing in the morning. I have my last final at 10:30am tomorrow, so I hope to have results by then.