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- Jun 20, 2004
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i wanted to share my experience with calicivirus.
last thursday (3/11/05) my cat ashley completely stopped bearing weight on her right front paw. i took her to the vet, who could find absolutely nothing else wrong. she had a very slightly elevated temperature, and she was given a pain patch (fentanyl, i believe) and antibiotics in case she had a hidden injury. in addition they x-rayed the paw and arm.
the next morning i noticed she had been hiding for a long time. i figured she was dopey from the patch, but i actively went looking for her. i found her sleeping under my desk. this was about 7am. i decided to leave her alone.
at 11:30am, she hadn't woken me up asking for breakfast. i found she was still under the desk. when i picked her up and placed her in front of her food dish, she collapsed and howled loudly, in an "angry" meow. i attempted to set her up again and she collapsed again.
i called the vet immediately. they agreed that she might be having a reaction to the pain patch. i took it off.
at 6pm that night, she was still incredibly lethargic. the vet insisted on seeing her again at no charge. she again could find nothing wrong except lethargy; also at this point ashley had stopped eating. she concluded again that it was a severe reaction to the pain patch since nothing else could be found. (ashley did walk around and pass a neurological test with flying colors that night at the vet).
on saturday, she still was not eating and was sleeping all the time. i took her to the litter box myself when i figured out she was not going by her own. i could arouse her fine and she purred, but i was extremely concerned about the lethargy and lack of eating. her vet said that if she was not better by sunday to bring her in monday morning. i started feeding her as much baby food as she would let me; i had her licking it off my finger.
on sunday she was still very lethargic. i took her to the emergency vet. again, she was given a clean bill of health- she looked absolutely fine, but had virtually no interest in food and was "depressed". she walked around and jumped on a chair at the vet, but both her vet and the er vet agreed that cats will put on a show for vets to appear that they are not sick.
on monday morning, i drove her to her regular vet at 7am. a third vet called from the clinic that afternoon and said she couldn't find anything wrong. she said she thought ashley would be more comfortable at home. luckily, i insisted they keep her overnight for observation.
the next morning she had developed ulcers on her tongue, and that's when they figured out that it was not a drug reaction, but calicivirus.
as i understand, ashley had an unusual set of symptoms, being that she appeared to have an injured paw, and then experienced only lethargy and lack of interest in food- no fever, runny eyes, respiratory problems, etc.
i can see this same situation playing out again with another cat. it looked like a paw injury; then looked like a drug reaction; and only a few days later did it become obvious it was calicivirus.
i hope that this information will be beneficial to other cat owners out there.
last thursday (3/11/05) my cat ashley completely stopped bearing weight on her right front paw. i took her to the vet, who could find absolutely nothing else wrong. she had a very slightly elevated temperature, and she was given a pain patch (fentanyl, i believe) and antibiotics in case she had a hidden injury. in addition they x-rayed the paw and arm.
the next morning i noticed she had been hiding for a long time. i figured she was dopey from the patch, but i actively went looking for her. i found her sleeping under my desk. this was about 7am. i decided to leave her alone.
at 11:30am, she hadn't woken me up asking for breakfast. i found she was still under the desk. when i picked her up and placed her in front of her food dish, she collapsed and howled loudly, in an "angry" meow. i attempted to set her up again and she collapsed again.
i called the vet immediately. they agreed that she might be having a reaction to the pain patch. i took it off.
at 6pm that night, she was still incredibly lethargic. the vet insisted on seeing her again at no charge. she again could find nothing wrong except lethargy; also at this point ashley had stopped eating. she concluded again that it was a severe reaction to the pain patch since nothing else could be found. (ashley did walk around and pass a neurological test with flying colors that night at the vet).
on saturday, she still was not eating and was sleeping all the time. i took her to the litter box myself when i figured out she was not going by her own. i could arouse her fine and she purred, but i was extremely concerned about the lethargy and lack of eating. her vet said that if she was not better by sunday to bring her in monday morning. i started feeding her as much baby food as she would let me; i had her licking it off my finger.
on sunday she was still very lethargic. i took her to the emergency vet. again, she was given a clean bill of health- she looked absolutely fine, but had virtually no interest in food and was "depressed". she walked around and jumped on a chair at the vet, but both her vet and the er vet agreed that cats will put on a show for vets to appear that they are not sick.
on monday morning, i drove her to her regular vet at 7am. a third vet called from the clinic that afternoon and said she couldn't find anything wrong. she said she thought ashley would be more comfortable at home. luckily, i insisted they keep her overnight for observation.
the next morning she had developed ulcers on her tongue, and that's when they figured out that it was not a drug reaction, but calicivirus.
as i understand, ashley had an unusual set of symptoms, being that she appeared to have an injured paw, and then experienced only lethargy and lack of interest in food- no fever, runny eyes, respiratory problems, etc.
i can see this same situation playing out again with another cat. it looked like a paw injury; then looked like a drug reaction; and only a few days later did it become obvious it was calicivirus.
i hope that this information will be beneficial to other cat owners out there.