Has Bailey had a blood test and a urinalysis? It may be that he has a bad kidney infection
(of course it could also be lymphoma or something more serious) and may need a different antibiotic.
If he hasn't had a CBC and urinalysis yet, please bring him back to the vet for both both tomorrow (or as soon as you can) and send me your address. I will send you a check to cover the vet visit, those two tests, and what ever antibitics/meds the vet wants to prescribe for him. In honor
of my beautiful Felv+ angels, Abby, Harry, Blue, Flutie & Moon.
Karen
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
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