I took in an FeLV+ kitty last Thursday who had been found, dying, in a ditch and was taken to a vet by the kind woman who found him. He had a severe URI and had maggots crawling in various orifices as he had evidently become too weak to clean himself. The vet recommended he be PTS, but the client insisted efforts be made to save his life. He was put on IV fluids and abx and cleaned up and managed to make it through the night. He was subsequently tested and found to be FeLV+ on both ELISA and IFA tests. His benefactor felt she could not take him home as she has an older FIV+ cat with some major health issues. The vet clinic was not a 24 hr.facility and could not keep him over the July 4th holiday weekend, so the cat was sent to the local animal shelter to be held for 5 days as a stray.
I received an email Tuesday AM, the 6th, regarding the cat...he was scheduled to be euthanized that day if no one could be found to take him. It seemed a cruel twist of fate that he had been snatched from the jaws of death to be given a second chance only to be PTS...after all he'd been through it seemed to me he deserved better than that. I am still having to look over my shoulder for Animal Control after my encounter with the Vet from Hell last February...I still have more than the legal limit of kittys waiting to be adopted plus two FeLV+ kittys. I already have my hands more than full, but, something told me this poor kitty had run out of options if I did not step up to the plate. He was brought to me on Thursday, 8th, emaciated, dehydrated, still fighting a URI and with foul breath. His benefactor had named him "Bailey" as she said the song "Won't you come home Bill Bailey" kept running thorugh her mind and he is sort of the color of Bailey's Irish Creme liquer...a pale orangeish beige. He was sent to me with CEFA drops and Terramycin eye ointment. All I could get him to eat the first day was some tuna. Friday night I gave him 100ml sub Q fluids and he felt very warm so I temped him and it was 104.9! By the next morning his temp was back to normal and he seemed perkier, but I felt a large lump on each side just behind his ribs which alarmed me. Given the foul breath, I suspected some sort of kidney involvement. Being the weekend, with no money for emergency, I had to wait until yesterday to take him to a vet. In the meantime I gave him subQ fluids for the dehydration and the meds sent with him as well as some immunosupportive therapy in the form of Animal Stress Pack (transfer factors w/electolytes, Moducare, l-Lysine, CoQ10, etc.). I have not seen him drink much on his own, but he is peeing a lot...despite getting 100ml daily in the AM, by PM he is again dehydrated. He eats very little on his own and to get him started I have to put some on my finger and rub it on the end of his nose, then he'll eat some if I hold the bowl for him. Bailey is such a love bug and while he has yet to purr, he will rub his nose against my cheek when I lean into his pen to scoop him up in his fuzzy bed for treatment. He loves to snuggle and have his chin rubbed. He has not complained about anything, and just lays there like a trooper while getting his fluids. The vet confirmed my suspicion that something is very wrong with his kidneys...those large lumps I felt are, indeed, his kidneys and they are 3x normal size. He said I should not give him so much fluids at once, that instead of 100ml I should give him 25ml, 3-4 times/day. I don't want to have to stick him with a needle so often but 25ml is quite a bit to syringe down a cat in one sitting. Unfortunately, I do not have money to run diagnostics. The vet said he does not outwardly appear to be anemic after looking in his mouth, and that if his kidneys can return to normal size/function, his prognosis is not obviously terminal. He is a young cat and not geriatric, though his appearance is of a very old and wasted cat at this point. I know that some of you on this list have FeLV+ and CRF kittys. Has anyone had experience with an FeLV+ kitty with enlarged kidneys? Can anyone offer me any feedback from your experience as to what might be causing his kidneys to be so enlarged? They were not enlarged when he was treated by the vet before he went to the shelter. I spoke with her on the phone this morning and she said he could have hydronephritis, pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis or ?? but she did not have time to talk to me further. How can I address the problem of dehydration if I cannot give him a significant amount of fluids? And how much does he need to eat to minimally maintain himself without overly stressing his kidneys with waste to be processed? Is Nutrical hard on the kidneys? Any suggestions, information you may have to offer will be most welcome. And please keep sweet Bailey in your prayers. He has already prevailed against some pretty long odds...he isn't ready to be an angel yet, if I can somehow find a way to help him. Sally in San Jose
