Getting sick kitten diagnosed

[Seren]

Oof ended up with my hands full, hence the lack of spammage. The 3 year old had stopped eating and started vomiting. Though she was not exhibiting any of the same symptoms, such as the lethargy, diarrhea, unusual aversion to everything/everyone, etc. I was wondering if it might be stress over the hospitalized kitten coming home every night because of different smells and the like. Regardless of stress or malady, not eating and throwing up what we were force feeding her was more than enough to drag her in when it showed no signs of improving.

She got the same bloodwork/xray dealie done, completely and utterly no signs of anything abnormal, was given something that was said to reduce vomiting and hospitalized through the day, taken home that night (as we did with Aris every night too). The stabilizing done that day seemed to be enough to at least keep food down after that, though we had to spend the next few days force feeding.

Aris started to eat on her own around that time, her stools started firming up again, etc. She was the first to fully recover (and has spent the last 2 days eating voraciously and running around in total hyper mode), now Callie is looking to be in good condition as well. I would guess Callie's was a stress thing, over the strange scents, seeing the cat carrier being toted around every morning and evening for trips to the vet with the little one (she just has never looked at the carrier the same since her trip to get spayed :p), etc. Though with Aris.. I'm not sure what was ever wrong with her. I guess just a random bug. There was never a conclusive diagnosis.

I'm thinking I might get followup bloodwork during her last routine visit prior to the spaying, just to make sure there wasn't something else going on too. But maybe I'm being too paranoid. Just seemed like some values were really off, but maybe that's all normal jazz for being sick.

Oh well, things are good now, I appreciated the feedback and advice, having unwell critters for the first time was pretty terrifying and I felt so clueless.

I went out for a few hours this morning and came home to two empty food bowls. Who would have thought such a sight would bring me such happiness?

[Traci]

Seren, I'm thrilled to hear Aris is doing so much better, but do keep a close and watchful eye on her, she may not be out of the woods just yet.

Those labs were really concerning, and if she were my kitten, I would re-run some of them for accuracy, better to play it safe and have peace of mind than be faced with a possible reoccurance of a problem. At least re-run the liver values and a CBC, a second fecal may also be in order (if a another episode of diarrhea develops).

I would tend to agree with you about Callie, and that stress was the factor. Hopefully, both girls are A-Ok, but please keep a close eye on both of them.

[Seren]

Well I brought back to the vet last week for the next set of shots and to request a second blood test to compare her "healthy" numbers to her numbers while she was sick. She had been doing great -- very energetic, affectionate, eating and litter box habits absolutely perfect. But she was just still very small. She's 1.75 lbs now, and just over 4 months old. The vet did not want to give her her shots since she got sick after her last set, and recommended the bile acid (?) test for liver shunt, and I wholeheartedly agreed. We scheduled the test for next Wednesday, and she was still doing great after getting brought home.

Last night suddenly she seemed to get very unresponsive, and her legs stopped moving around. Eating last night was fine though this was before she started acting really oddly, and I kept the food/drink away after midnight in case they opted to the the acid test today instead. This morning as I got ready to take her to the vet I saw her half standing up and tried to call her over to me a few inches away, and her legs just slid out form under her. She had large amounts of fluid in her ears.

So I brought her in, and well.. they don't know what it is. They say that it could be an infection she's had all along that is finally affecting her neurologically. It could be something congenital but given the symptoms and the fact that other than her weight, her behavior was not abnormal at all until the last 24 hours and with liver shunting we would have seen strange behavior particularly after she ate. She's not being very responsive, when he was testing her paws, checking her eyes with lights. She's not standing up much, and when she does she seems very unsteady. He said her bladder is distended, as though she could not go use the litterbox.

He said she just never "took off" as a kitten, and at this point she's suffering, and the best thing for her is to put her down. That in his opinion and in the opinion of the other vet that normally sees her, by treating her they are delaying the inevitable, and chances are she's just not going to turn around. I'm sorry, but I couldn't consent to that. I know he was looking at me like I'm being selfish and wanting to hold on to her for me (I was a total wreck in there, I still am tbh), maybe that is a small factor of it, but more than that I just don't see how I can bring in a kitten that 24 hours ago was the most affectionate, playful kitten and say oh she's sick now, just put her out of her misery.

Sorry I know this is an emotional rambling, it's just a lot for me to accept. And I don't understand how I SHOULD just accept this without trying to fight. Yes, she's been underweight all along. She was born the runt of her litter and just never fattened up. But other than getting sick for a week, she's spent the last 4 months as any healthy normal kitten would act. How can I, how can they, just instantly want to give up because she took a turn for the worse?

They are going to try antibiotics and getting her hydrated today, and they're calling back in a few hours with a status report. I know the guy wants me to agree to euthanize if she shows no signs of improvement by mid-afternoon. I'm thinking about calling a local cat clinic and bringing her there for a second opinion, but maybe I'm just being irrational about not wanting to let go when it's time. I just can't seem to accept it, and I have no clue if I'm being a responsible or selfish pet owner. Heh.

[Marty]

I know it must be a hard decision for you to make....I have no clue how to help, except to let you know that we care. There doesn't seem to be too many people around today, but I will be thinking of you and your kitty and hoping for the best.....

[Traci]

Seren, if you have the feline clinic available to you, by all means, get Aris seen immediately!! Some vets don't have extended knowledge on kitten diseases and will hem and haw on diagnostics, so the feline-only clinic could prove to be beneficial for Aris and you.

I agree with you, a set-back in symptoms isn't cause to put her to sleep, what they should be doing is getting to the bottom of this...

I strongly suggest a full feline serology that includes hemobart, coombs, toxoplasmosis, tick disease, fungal disease, immunological (the vet can combine these tests to include FELV and FIV elisa testing)....this serology needs to be sent to an outside lab and the results may take up to 7 business days, but the vet can call the lab for a quicker response).

Bloodwork in the clinic is not always the most effective tool to detect immunological disease....and the last results you posted did seem to indicate slight anemia, which could be caused by any number of the above diseases. There could be a primary anemia problem going on *with* a secondary bacterial infection developing somewhere, it's up to your vets to rule out immunological and find the source of bacterial infection.

I wonder why the bile acids testing was not done sooner? With those labs, I would think they'd have wanted to do them right away rather than wait. For what it's worth, liver shunting does not always present problems during eating....some cats will have trouble digesting, vomiting, etc, but some cats don't present those symptoms, rather, the most common symptoms such as poor development, slow weight gain, abnormal stance/gait, painful abdomen, neurological signs. So, for these reasons, the bile acids testing and ammonia levels should be checked right away, especially given her recent symptoms and gait problems.

Please call the feline-only clinic and try to get Aris seen immediately....her symptoms could progress quite rapidly, but a more experienced vet should be able to diagnose this effectively and offer a suitable treatment. You might want to be prepared for a hospitalization for fluid therapy and nutritional support, but don't give up!! Don't wait, I would get her seen ASAP.

[Seren]

Thank you for the kind words, Marty, I really appreciate it. And I appreciate the reply from you as well, Traci.

I made an appointment immediately with the cat clinic and brought her over there. When I picked her up from the other vet (she had been kept there to hydrate her), they had gone ahead and gotten a bile acid test ready to send out, waiting on my go ahead.

I consulted with the other vet first, who walked me through an ultrasound of Aris. She had quite a bit of gas, though she had been force fed for the bile acid before that from the other vet. Her kidneys, intestines, gall bladder, etc all seemed to be fine. There were no signs of any obstructions that he could see. But her liver is extremely small compared to normal he said. I gave the go ahead to the other vets to run the bile acid and fax the results over to the new guy.

He agrees that 24 hours is a rather dramatic turnaround for a kitten who had no issues other than being notably small/underweight before now. Shunting seems highly possible given the liver size, growth, previous tests, etc. He doesn't seem positive the current state of severe depression is related to her ongoing liver/growth issues though, saying she is exhibiting much of the same signs of foreign object cats. The only time she seems to exhibit much responsiveness to touch is when certain parts of her abdomen or stomach are pressed, then she responds very energetically. (Though nothing found through the ultrasound, and nothing we can think she got into.)

She's being hospitalized right now and being hydrated. It breaks my heart every time I look at her, and to think that she could easily slip away through the night. Yesterday afternoon she was happily rolling around in the sun by the patio door, completely bright eyed and playful. Now she's just limp and lifeless, barely responding to any touch and sound, and a few times just blankly looking off with a half-glazed expression to where I thought we lost her already until I saw the rise and fall of her side.

Oh well, sorry again for all the babble and thanks again. I'm still trying to come to terms with everything. Here I was being a scared kittymom a month ago over a few days of not eating, and this feels terrifying in comparison.

[LisaLisa]

Seren,

I will keep Aris and you in my prayers and hope that you will get some answers soon.

My heart goes out to you.

[dmcwlvssr]

Seren, I just read thru your posts and I just wanted you to know I will keep you and your furry in my prayers. What a trauma you are dealing with, my heart goes out to you and dear Aris.

[Traci]

Don't give up, Seren.....ask the first vet to get expidited on the bile acids results, and also ask the new vet about ammonia level testing if it hasn't already been done.

Just a quick question, but what has her diet consisted of recently? (that is, what have you been feeding her at home? Are you certain that plants, chemicals, etc were not gotten into? You don't give her herbs or supplements or similar things, do you?)

Another thought that is probably unlikely, was specific bloodwork ever done on your other cat, Callie? Sometimes, a dormant infectious disease can surface during extreme times of stress (i.e., hemobart, FELV, toxo, etc)....just to be on the safe side, it would be good to ensure Callie is completely healthy and has had bloodwork done in the past or recently. This of course would not affect Aris' apparent liver problems (signs and symptoms indicative of liver disease or shunting), but if one or the other of the cats has an immunological factor developing, some of the infectious diseases can be transmitted. Since Callie seemed to improve from her vomiting and anorexia, this is all probably unlikely, but would be one thing to at least discuss with/rule out with your new vet.

Hang in there Seren, and post the results of the testing if you can....

[Seren]

Sorry for the quiet, every time I started to post I guess I really didn't know how to word things. She was doing much worse by the next day, neurologically she had deteriorated to the point where she could no longer see. The vets at the cat clinic seemed to feel that her state was caused by being unable to detoxify the blood properly. They indicated that they did not see her being able to stabilize to the point of being operable, and would continue to deteriorate. She was at 1.3 lbs after being sick for that day and a half, in quite a bit of pain, and getting worse. The ultrasounds had indicated the abnormally small liver, and the vet made it sound like she was pretty much off the charts for likelihood of shunting. I still need to pick up a copy of the tests, just to keep for ourselves. I keep seeing her in my mind weak, terrified, unable to see us any longer, crying softly the minute she heard our voices, and it's positively haunting.

I'm still having a really hard time with it all, one minute she was perfectly fine other than being very small and we were doing our best to get it sorted out. Anything the vet even suggested to us we did. We were prepared for the fact that it might be a shunt, we knew it would be expensive, and we were just waiting out the appointment for the bile acids test. The minute the vet recommended it, I readily agreed and set up the soonest possible appointment they would let us come for. I even tried to talk them into making it sooner just so we'd know and be able to work on fixing her. And it seems like that possibility to fix her was taken away in the blink of an eye, and I'm left wondering what if anything could have been done to make the outcome different.

Among many other things, I wish I would have known about the cat clinic the minute I got Aris and just gone to her to begin with. Maybe I'm just looking for too many holes in what happened, but I really feel they would have identified it sooner and taken it far more seriously. They were really professional and wonderful through the whole thing, instead of just wanting to blindly put a creature out of her misery that they didn't understand. And then that makes me feel like I might have failed her, when I earnestly wanted to do everything right, give her and Callie the best care and treatment possible.

Anyway sorry this is getting too long. I just wanted to apologize for not saying anything, and say that I do appreciate all the replies. Every time I started to write a post, I pretty much just fell apart again. I know it was "only" four months, but it's astounding how easily we grew to love her.