Hello,
First let me say I am devastated.
I have never owned a cat, but my wife and I were outside doing some work in North Florida where we live and heard meowing. We found a 4 week old kitten with abscesses on his belly and leg. The abscesses didn't look to bad. After his leg swelled up, we took him to the vet and he received a shot of convenia. After that he was like a brand new cat. He was sweet, energetic and playful, as opposed to sweet and shy (if not lethargic). The only change that was alarming was that he wouldnt eat, except for a few bites here and there. I had multiple types of kitten food out for him to eat, along with water with formula in it and still very little consumption. This was over the course of 2 days. One evening, he started acting strangely. Like when he tried to get up, he would basically be doing barrel rolls. Since this was after hours, we immediately decided to take him to the ER vet, where his blood work was taken and he was observed. The vet found the following glaring abnormalities: (1) his glucose was extremely low, and when he was given glucose dextrose supplements, his glucose would rise, but he couldnt maintain proper levels off the supplements and (2) he could not maintain his body temp without external heat source and his temp fell to 96, and (3) he continued to barely eat. As time went on (we had him in there for about three days), he wouldnt go to the bathroom unless the vet staff attempted to handle him. Throughout this whole time, he presented apparent neurological issues, like wobbliness, head turned, and staring off into space. Other than the foregoing, his blood work was all a little bit off, but nothing startling. Finally, on our third visit, we found him to be very weak and have labored breathing. He seemed to be at the end. We were presented with the option of taking him to University of Florida Veterinary ER, or putting him to sleep. There were of course no guarantees that he would (1) survive the trip to UF (as he was on glucose supplements every 2 hours), (2) have a diagnosis at UF (3) have a treatable diagnosis at UF (4) survive any treatment or procedure or (5) have a good quality of life should he survive treatment/procedure and recovery. As it seemed to be best for the cat, we put him to sleep, poor guy. We are just so shocked at the sudden decline and that there are no answers. I heard the vet mention "liver shunt" as a possibility but he really had no idea. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
First let me say I am devastated.
I have never owned a cat, but my wife and I were outside doing some work in North Florida where we live and heard meowing. We found a 4 week old kitten with abscesses on his belly and leg. The abscesses didn't look to bad. After his leg swelled up, we took him to the vet and he received a shot of convenia. After that he was like a brand new cat. He was sweet, energetic and playful, as opposed to sweet and shy (if not lethargic). The only change that was alarming was that he wouldnt eat, except for a few bites here and there. I had multiple types of kitten food out for him to eat, along with water with formula in it and still very little consumption. This was over the course of 2 days. One evening, he started acting strangely. Like when he tried to get up, he would basically be doing barrel rolls. Since this was after hours, we immediately decided to take him to the ER vet, where his blood work was taken and he was observed. The vet found the following glaring abnormalities: (1) his glucose was extremely low, and when he was given glucose dextrose supplements, his glucose would rise, but he couldnt maintain proper levels off the supplements and (2) he could not maintain his body temp without external heat source and his temp fell to 96, and (3) he continued to barely eat. As time went on (we had him in there for about three days), he wouldnt go to the bathroom unless the vet staff attempted to handle him. Throughout this whole time, he presented apparent neurological issues, like wobbliness, head turned, and staring off into space. Other than the foregoing, his blood work was all a little bit off, but nothing startling. Finally, on our third visit, we found him to be very weak and have labored breathing. He seemed to be at the end. We were presented with the option of taking him to University of Florida Veterinary ER, or putting him to sleep. There were of course no guarantees that he would (1) survive the trip to UF (as he was on glucose supplements every 2 hours), (2) have a diagnosis at UF (3) have a treatable diagnosis at UF (4) survive any treatment or procedure or (5) have a good quality of life should he survive treatment/procedure and recovery. As it seemed to be best for the cat, we put him to sleep, poor guy. We are just so shocked at the sudden decline and that there are no answers. I heard the vet mention "liver shunt" as a possibility but he really had no idea. Has anyone else had a similar experience?