Feline Lukemia

[The Cat In The Hat]

Kitten, this is a question mostly for you but I'll take answers from anyone that has them.

Do you recall the cat I told you about before? The Polydactyl? My mom's recently started letting him go outside, the first time was about a month ago. he was getting restless in the house and was starting to try to sneak out so she took the chance and let him start going out. He sticks by the house and always comes when we call.

he had the FLB vaccination about a year ago.

Yesterday we noticed he wasn't very active though he was the day before. He's had severe weight loss just in the last few days, his gums are white which I believe is a sign of anemia, he wont eat, drinks very little and when he uses the litter box it's like clear liquid.

Could he still have FL even though he's been vaccinated? We also have another cat which has been vaccinated, could she get it too?

I lost a cat to this when I was 16 and the symptoms seem the same but it was so long ago I cant be positive. Guess I'm just hoping that I could be wrong.

[Edited on 8-26-2005 by The Cat In The Hat]

[HarmNone]

It could be leukemia, hon. Any time a cat won't eat, it's time for a visit to the vet. If I were your mother, I'd get this cat to the vet as fast as I could drive it there! It's going to dehydrate very rapidly.

[The Cat In The Hat]

We're going to call in the morning and try to get them to take it as an emergency.

[ElanthianSiren]

Alternatively, if you can't get an animal to drink, forced colonic hydration seems like an option if they're prone and inactive.

It's kind of nasty, but may save its life til you can get to a vet.

-M

edited because I said the opposite of what I wanted to say. Hydration not Irrigation!

[Edited on Fri, August th, 2005 by ElanthianSiren]

[The Cat In The Hat]

Originally posted by ElanthianSiren
Alternatively, if you can't get an animal to drink, forced colonic irrigation seems like an option if they're prone and inactive.

It's kind of nasty, but may save its life til you can get to a vet.

-M

I dont know what that is... But it if could help him I'd do it.

[ElanthianSiren]

The intestines of animals are very very very good at absorbing water (at least humans are, but I would assume cats are built similarly).

The reason I mentioned inactive is because I doubt a cat would lay still for it. Basically, it's hydration through the anal cavity. HN would probably be more helpful with this if you were actually interested in doing it since she was a nurse. I only learned about it in theory, but I know that there are vets who use it.

-M

[Brattt8525]

Could be a urinary blockage as well.

[The Cat In The Hat]

Originally posted by Brattt8525
Could be a urinary blockage as well.

Oh god I certainly hope so... it's a far better alternative.

[HarmNone]

There are several things that could cause similar symptoms. The only way to know for sure is to get the animal to a vet as soon as humanly possible.

For a cat, it's safer to try to hydrate orally, with an eyedropper, if necessary. It takes a lot of time, but it will buy you a little time. If the animal is seriously dehydrated, it will need intravenous infusion.

If you have an emergency vet in your town, give 'em a call. We have one that's open all night for emergencies.

[Showal]

sub-q IVs are usually really good for cats but I doubt you have any IV bags and syringes with needles laying around.

The problem with emergency vets is the 120 buck emergency fee before they even look at the animal and the vets that are around at all hours don't generally tend to be the best (I say this solely because they don't have exotic animal specialists at that hour, generally, and that's all the pets I have). They might be and probably are perfectly trained for cat and dog, small animals.

I say fuck the emergency fee. If it needs help, get it there immediately. At least call and they'll be able to tell you over the phone. Cats do lose water and become dehydrated quickly. If the cat's not eating but is drinking, it probably can wait until the morning. However, I subscribe to the thought that animal care can't wait.

[The Cat In The Hat]

I live in a little piss ass town, no ER vets here unfortunatley.

[Showal]

How'd the cat turn out?

[HarmNone]

How is the kitty this morning, hon?

[Killer Kitten]

Sorry I haven't been here.

Yes, cats can contract FeLV even though vaccinated. Cats can also contract FIV, which is the feline version of AIDS and can cause similar symptoms. (A human cannot get AIDS from a cat with FIV). There is no vaccine for FIV. It could also be a disease called FIP, or Feline Infectious Peritonitis. There is a vaccine for FIP, but many animal health professionals are sceptical about its efficacy.

If the cat experiences a urinary blockage, that is an EMERGENCY and it needs to go to the vet NOW. Untreated, a urinary blockage will quickly destroy the kidneys. Also, imagine the sheer pain that animal is in, a urinary blockage HURTS! Since he is passing urine, I doubt that this is the problem.

Since this problem happened almost overnight, I wonder about poisoning as well. I know around here lots of people set out poison bait for mice, rats, voles, raccoons and other pests that damage lawns, barns or crops. There are also lots of people who don't like cats hanging around and will cheerfully feed poison to their neighbors cat.

Also, HN was spot on as far as hydrating the animal goes. Give fluids orally to a cat, not rectally. Most vets will rehydrate via SQ or IV fluids, depending upon the severity of the illness.

My opinion at this point is that you need to get him to the vet ASAP. Please post soon and let us know how he did. I'll send you lots of good healing prayer.

[ElanthianSiren]

This is why I said ask someone who knows spot on. I've only seen it with horses and heard of it being done with human cancer patients.

I hope your cat's doing better today hon. You can add my prayer onto the list.

-M

[The Cat In The Hat]

Been hard for me to get to the computer today.

We took him to the vet this morning and they put him on an IV and kept him for tests. FLV is negative but they have no idea what it is. All they coould tell us so far is he's swolen behind his eyes but they did rule out so far anything that's contagious. Which means the other kitty is safe, thankfully. They're keeping him overnight.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions, all we can really do now is hope the tests they do on him tonight/tomorow turn something fixable up.

:hugs:

[HarmNone]

I've got a candle lit for the poor little guy, hon. I sure hope they find what's wrong and get it taken care of.

[The Cat In The Hat]

Originally posted by HarmNone
I've got a candle lit for the poor little guy, hon. I sure hope they find what's wrong and get it taken care of.

Me too, sweetest little cat in the world.

[Killer Kitten]

I went down to our tree room at the shelter tonight and said a special prayer for your little guy. I sure hope God is taking requests today.

Keep us posted, he sounds like a wonderful kitty.

[Heshinar]

My wife and I have 4 cats and 2 dogs. all have their own quirks. We lost one last year... she was 16 and had cancer.

I feel your pain and understand what you are going through. My heart and prayers for you and your cat.

One possibility... Feline Diabetes could cause things like the swelling and dehidration as well if I remember correctly.

Not sure if they have pills for cats with Diabetes yet.

[HarmNone]

Cats with diabetes can take insulin by subcutaneous injection, just like people do. We had a Siamese that was diabetic and took insulin injections for several years. Didn't bother him a bit, and it gave him a good quality of life in his later years. :)

[The Cat In The Hat]

We should know mre tomorow.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers :love:

[OreoElf]

Just adding my thoughts and prayers too Gothi sweety... *hugs* I know how hard it is to deal with an ill or dying pet.

[The Cat In The Hat]

And we know nothing!

They tested him for everythig and it all came back negative. He's on special food when he actually manages to take a bite, and they gave him some medicine. Not sure how they can medicate something that have no idea what it is, but they did.

He seems to be the same with the exception of taking a few bites of food here and there.

[HarmNone]

Ish. I know how frustrating this must be for you and your mother. At least, it sounds like the kitty is taking some food. The hydration has probably helped greatly. I'll keep the candles burning, hon. We're rooting for the little guy.

[Killer Kitten]

I'm assuming they tested for chemical toxins... What about poisonous plants? Secondhand poisoning is also something to consider, as in he ate a mouse or bird that had been poisoned.

I'm hoping they're keeping him on the fluids? Since you've seen a bit of improvement with fluid therapy, that'd be the best bet. Hydrate the hell out of him and hope that his kidneys and liver kick in to clean out his little system.

Have they run blood chemistry on him? What are his kidney and liver values like? Which values are abnormal? Is his WBC count up, down, or normal?

I'm still pulling for the lil guy, and sending good thoughts your way. Keep us posted.

[The Cat In The Hat]

Originally posted by Killer Kitten
I'm assuming they tested for chemical toxins... What about poisonous plants? Secondhand poisoning is also something to consider, as in he ate a mouse or bird that had been poisoned.

I'm hoping they're keeping him on the fluids? Since you've seen a bit of improvement with fluid therapy, that'd be the best bet. Hydrate the hell out of him and hope that his kidneys and liver kick in to clean out his little system.

Have they run blood chemistry on him? What are his kidney and liver values like? Which values are abnormal? Is his WBC count up, down, or normal?

I'm still pulling for the lil guy, and sending good thoughts your way. Keep us posted.

Thats alot of questions! I dont know my mom took him in and picked him up. I'll try to find out tomorow.

They tested him for everything possible as far as I know. While he was there he passed a blob of stuff that looked like egg whites and puzzled the vet, they wanted another 200.00 to test the "poop", not suprisingly my mom opted not to have it done.

He could very well have ate a tainted animal. We just started letting him outside a few weeks ago and he never had any issues like this until this time.

[Heshinar]

we have a cat that we put into a figure 8 harness. Then we hook him to the old dog run. Overhead wire with a leash drop down. Restricts his range but he still has fun going out into the yard and into the tree at the other end.

I highly recomend it as a way to allow the cat outdoors without letting him roam the neighborhood and getting into trouble.

[Killer Kitten]

Originally posted by Heshinar
we have a cat that we put into a figure 8 harness. Then we hook him to the old dog run. Overhead wire with a leash drop down. Restricts his range but he still has fun going out into the yard and into the tree at the other end.

I highly recomend it as a way to allow the cat outdoors without letting him roam the neighborhood and getting into trouble.

We used to have a blind cat that loved to walk outside in her harness and leash. We'd take her on trips with us and it was her chief delight in life to take a walk at rest stops and pee in the grass.

One day my husband was walking her at a rest stop while I was inside using the facilities. A big truck backfired, the cat freaked out and tore out of her harness. Mike made a flying dive onto gravel and managed to snag her before she ran out onto the highway.

I come out of the ladies room and see him sitting on the curb cradling the cat with blood everywhere and about had a heart attack.

He still laughs at what I said to him when I saw that the cat was all right. "Oh thank God, it's all your blood!"

Truly a 'married' moment!

[Heshinar]

The right harness will keep the cat as well as tight enough. My wife and I came out one day to find the cat hanging from the tree. He kept reaching out and batting at the branch which would cause him to spin around and as he saw us he would mew then bat at the tree again. The look was not pain but one of "You took long enoug get me out of this"

[Tsunami]

OMG! I am dying laughing here. Wheeeeee! (not about the sick kitty, the bloody husband and swinging cat, heh)

Ok, ha, back on subject. :D
I had a cat that once that was hit by a car, right on the face. Yes, I know, ouch. It causes his tongue to slide over his back teeth and cut it badly on the underside, needless to say, making swallowing almost impossible. To keep up the cats strength until he could eat again, the emergency vet told me to use a syringe and squirt warm honey water down his throat. Seemed to work, took about a week and a half until he started onto wet food by himself, and another week back to regular food. The vet also wanted me to blenderize wet cat food with water and feed him that via syringe, but the cat hated it. Loved the honey water though!

[Killer Kitten]

Hills also makes a cat food called A/D diet. We techs naturally call it Almost Dead Diet. It's high calorie and syringe-able, and most cats REALLY love the taste.

If sick kitty is up to being syringe fed, I'd ask the vet for a few cans of the stuff and give it a try. I've found that if the cat is awake enough to get interested you only have to syringe in a small amount of A/D before kitty will eat it on his own.

How is he doing today, Cat?

[The Cat In The Hat]

He's the same.

He is on A/D but he still eats very little :(

[Killer Kitten]

Is he still getting fluids?

[ElanthianSiren]

When my ferret was dying basically (she refused to eat solid food) -- we gave her this stuff (you can buy it at petco) called Uncle Jim's Duck Soup.

I don't know if it would be too high in protien content, but I'll post the label here and hopefully KK can say yay or nae. It's a high protien bulk suppliment.

Crude protien -- not less than 34%
Crute fat -- not less than 16%
Crude fibre -- not more than 5%
Moisture, not more than 10%

Ingredients: Chicken by products, dried chicken liver, primary dried yeast, dried kelp, flaxseed, garlic extract, cod fish, lecithin, lactobacillus acidophilus, Vitamin E, Vitamin A acetate, Niacin, Biotin, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12, Ascorbic Acid, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Zinc, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Selenite.


I'm not sure if the crude protien is too high for a cat (kidney problems), but my ferret absolutely wouldn't eat ANYTHING and took this like she was an alcoholic and it was vodka. Just trying to help.


-M

[The Cat In The Hat]

He's a little more active now, still eating very little but more than he was yesterday. I think he's gonna pull through!!

[Killer Kitten]

I'm not familiar with the Duck Soup stuff, so I don't know if its use would be indicated in this case.

Nutrition, kilocals, ingredients... put these words together in a sentence and read it to me. The result is an instant cure for insomnia. Nutrition studies was something I memorized, spit out on the test, and promptly forgot. Not my forte.

So... when faced with something I've actually dealt with, like AD diet, bottle raising kittens and feeding of kidney issue cats I'm your girl. When faced with something I slept through in class and never encountered in RL I'm not going to pretend to know what I'm talking about and possibly do something to endanger Kitty's life.

In other words, lemme run it by somebody who didn't play pocket pool in nutrition class and I'll get back to you. <g>

And Cat, I'm really glad to hear he's perking up. Keep up the great work!

[HarmNone]

Hopefully, he's on the mend, hon. Glad to hear it! :)

[ElanthianSiren]

woo woo! Living cat! :)

Does it seriously look to anyone else like a case of poison now?

Anyway, it's great to hear that he is mending. You get a big :thumbsup: for your work and dedication.

-M