I apologize for the length of this email but I need some help. It appears the
non-FELV kittens that I fostered a year ago in Sept.- whom all had severe UTIs
and were rescued from the general population at Metro-- and whom I feel that I
literally rescued from certain death due to the severity of their UTIs-- are
coming back to haunt me. You may recall that 2 of that group that I was unable
to get my hands on to foster early enough I feel- I wasn't able to get to them
until Dec.- ended up dying in late Jan. (Posse- maybe of wet FIP or a
congenital heart defect- I believe the latter) and early Feb. (Brumley- maybe
of dry FIP or Toxo).
Well, one from this same group (we have no info about whether any are
littermates, but all were condo-mates and foster-mates at some point) was
returned to me yesterday. He was adopted out in Dec.- frankly- to a lady I did
not want him to go to, but was forced b/c he was not my original rescue (it's a
long story)- but she had clear health issues and this cat was always the most
hyperactive kitten I've ever fostered and I really suspected he would make
mince-meat of this old lady and her husband.
They called yesterday to say he's been having seizures since the end of July.
He's been to the vet twice- shortly after the seizures started. I'm not clear
on what the vet did that first visit- the people said vet took blood, didn't
find anything, and the cat was doing okay until recently when the seizures
started again. I did have the vet fax me records, but I am having difficulty
reading her notes from the first visit for seizures. The adoptive parents say
he pulled out nails during the seizures on the carpet and he indeed seems to
have a few bloodied nails- but he won't let me touch them to examine. The vet
put him on clavamox for the nails.
They took him to the vet yesterday morning again due to more seziures and the
vet took more blood to send off to the lab to check for FIV/FELV and most
importantly, Toxoplasmosis (he previously tested neg for Felv/FIV). We are
awaiting those results that won't be in until Monday at the earliest and of
course, I know ALL about the titers and the antibodies so I don't necessarily
expect the blood work to tell me much, unless of course his Toxo titers are
thru the roof (but even still?).
Other than his bloodied nails and just looking a tad more neglected than I
would like (some dander, dirty back feet pads, getting fat- big belly droop
that I am NOT happy about- the cat just turned 1!, and he had fleas (which the
vet treated him for)), he looks like a wonderfully healthy cat. But then
again, if he's having neurological issues, I wouldn't necessarily expect him to
look unhealthy on the outside.
The adoptive parents called me b/c they said they cannot medicate him. They
were given Phenobaribitol to help control the seziures and Clavamox. The lady
said she couldn't get either in him b/c he is aggressive and has bit her many
times and scratched her.l The husband got on the phone and said his wife is
not in good health, he's trying to care for her, and he "can't have the cat
doing that to her" so if I didn't come get him, he would put him down. I asked
if he was willing to wait until the results of the blood panel JUST taken that
morning came back (which they will have to pay for?) and he said no. So I knew
I wasn't dealing with people like me and there was no way I was going to ask
any more questions other than those regarding his health and meds.
I've had him since yesterday and I was able to medicate him, but then again,
come on, I'm good-- I have to admit that. I've had the worst of the worst and
I've been doing this since I was 5, so.... I figured these two people just
can't handle even the slightest struggling cat-- she is a teeny tiny thing with
frail arms that shake, she is almost legally blind I think and she is prone to
falling, so, yeah, when this cat decided he didn't want to be medicated
anymore, there wasn't anything these people could do about it! So far, he has
not had any seizures in my presence and I spent most of last evening with him.
It doesn't appear he had any in his crate either b/c the crate is not trashed.
But I have gotten all his Phenobar doses in.
What I have observed is odd behavior changes. When I fostered this cat-- he
was just always nutty and hyper. He would run around like a crazy thing and
when I would go to pick him up, he would growl. I thought it was funny and
harmless and he did it only b/c he wanted to be down and running- just a
willfull little monster. My mom thought he was beyond a handfull and couldn't
wait for him to get adopted b/c he was just a maniac! His adoptive parents
said yesterday that he only recently started growling and he "never did that
before"- which I find that hard to believe b/c he always growled!? That was
his "thing." I treated it like a party trick b/c I like for them to all have
their own lil personalities- even if it's something stupid like growling for no
reason! So now I just don't know if I believe anything these people say. Their
vet said the seziures are not good news and she suspects Toxo or a tumor and
that his behavior changes could be from the neurological defects- especially if
it's a tumor. I guess it's too early to speculate. I have set him an
appointment with the Doctor that I entrusted Brumley's care to and I felt did a
good job with Brum and whom I communicate with so well. The appt is Monday.
In the meantime, this is scary and new territory for me. I haven't mixed the
lil dude with my Yoda, and the two current fosters I have. They all live in my
room and share a condo at night and they have become the 3 Musketeers! One is
a kitten and I don't want to expose her to anything until we have investigated
further and also, don't want them to have to be around a seizing cat. They are
all so sensitive and very happy with their life as is, so I don't want to throw
them for a loop by adding my new and ill dude. Plus, he is demonstrating
aggressive qualitites that I just don't know if they are behavioral or part of
some neurological disorder? He does not like treatment- what cat does?- but I
do have to treat him like a wild animal for the medicating b/c it's like a
switch flips and he knows what I am trying to do and he instantly starts
stalking around the room, growling and hissing. He also seems to have lost his
ability to play with toys? All my fosters are toy-heads and he was definitely
one. When I brought him toys last night, he looked at them like he didn't know
what they were and if I tossed one, he growled at it and became aggressive- not
play aggressive, but actually mad! Not good mad at all. Thus I stopped doing
that b/c I felt like toys were a potential provoker. He seems to enjoy laying
around the room with me. He does purr and knead and rub up against me, lay
with me and enjoy scratching. But if I get out a towel to wrap him up for
medicating, literally, it's like from 0 to 60 instantly and he becomes Mr.
Hyde. It's very odd. I'm just stumped. I plan to rely on my vet on Monday A
LOT obviously, but if anyone has had any experience with seziures in cats or
has any thoughts on the behavior vs. neurological defects debate, I would so
appreciate it. I think we are doing okay considering, but I just need some
other heads in the mix to help me solve this puzzle.
thanks
caroline
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