I am the Vet tech for a cat rescue. We have one foster home where several cats have had to be removed, one has died, and one is in ICU at the vet and on deaths door so we need answers! Many cats have gone to this foster home without incident however, within the past couple of months the same symtoms crop up in every cat that goes there. It all started with 2 -6 mos old siblings. Both went there and shortly after began vomiting. after having gone and checked both cats out seeing healthy, hydrated, good colour, good stool, cats I just kept in touch with the foster home and tried a bland diet and made sure they were well hydrated. Then I got a call that the one was nearly comatose, we rushed her to the vet but it was too late. Her brother who had had also been vomiting checked out fine at the vet and they released him. They had no idea what the cause of death was for his sibling. We checked out the house up and down before putting the next foster in and within a day a perfectly healthy cat was vomiting, we removed him to another foster home and he was fine after that. Again, we swept the house dumping all the plants (they were all cat friendly) and tried again, the next foster cat did not vomit so we thought plants had been the culprite. Not so, we recently put a mother and 2, 5 week old kittens in the home. Again I get a call that the mother had started vomiting. i went to pick her up two days later, checked her out and apparently she had stopped and looked completely fine. A week later she was fine but i ended up taking the mother and kittens to my home to nurse (mom didn;t have enough milk, too young) . i had her for a week and she was completely healthy. The kittens were now able to drink and eat on their own so I sent them back (my house is only for medical emergencies and special care). The next day I get a frantic call that the mother is vomiting and nearly comatose. i arrived to find a non-responsive cat who I thought was going to stop breathing at any moment. i took her to the emergency and she has been there for 3 days now. she was severely dehydrated due to the vomitting and had diaherria just oozing out of her. She is coming around but she still has only a 20% chance of survival. Both vet clinics thought Panleukapia but interestingly enough didn;t quarantine her. I told him based on the history of the foster home and the fact that none of the 26 other rescue cats and kittens that she came in with have shown no signs of illness (cat collector mass rescue) that distemper was highly unlikely. We've had them all for over 2 1/2 weeks, all the kittens are fine, I mean we'd have kittens dying left right and centre if it was distemper. I just don't get it. it adds up to poisoned for me and the other volunteers who know the case and history but we've torn the foster home apart trying to find what it could be (we provide fosters with quality food). We put the cat it, it vomits, we take it out, its fine. The two severe cases had an onset of a day. This poor cats babies are fine and meanwhile her liver is shutting down and she's got massive diaherria. I just feel that vets are too quick to say : panleukapia sometimes. Anyways, any hints as to what it maybe?We can;t use the foster home again but maybe knowing what she could have gotten into might help to help her condition.
Any insight might help
Any insight might help