Hi,

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this with their cat before. I have an older male cat 13 -15 (no one is sure of the age.) he's an indoor cat and lives with a doggy. He started feeling under the weather, I'm guessing now that I look back possibility almost two weeks ago. (He started climbing under the covers with me - a rare thing but did it nightly starting last Monday.

This past Thursday he started picking at his food and by Friday wasn't eating at all. He's always been a smaller than normal cat and not very big. He doesn't drink very much so I always watch his hydration levels.

By Saturday I starting giving him and eyedropper of water- he was getting very lethargic and I knew for certain something was wrong. I did this the whole weekend. By Monday I had to make an appointment with the vet and took him in Tuesday.

He was hydrated with a needle (poor thing)
They did X-rays - other than a little gas no lumps etc.

Wednesday the blood work came back:

Blood work - Kidneys ok, liver okay etc.
Temperature - Fine

White Blood cell count very high.

At this point the vet determined it was some sort of infection but didn't know what. I picked up a wide spectrum anti-biotic (Wednesday) and begun treatment. (Orban is the name of it)

Since Monday I was getting up every few hours to hydrate him and try to feed him. After he was hydrated on Tuesday he ate a small amount from my hand.

Wednesday he seemed to go back and forth. Was peeing fine but not eating.

Thursday - peeing fine - not eating. Playing in his water dish a little and drinking off his paw the tiniest amounts of water. Force feeding was causing him to get sick, even in small amounts. (1/2 teaspoon rounded) By Thursday at 3 am - he looked in really rough shape.

Friday - today - I've placed him in the hospital where he will be getting IV, nutrients and medicine.

We still don't know what this is, what caused it or what the prognosis is. for recovery.

What I'm very worried about is this - nearly two years ago something similar happened though not quite so severe. Re hydrating him and an anti-biotic did the trick. He was originally brought in then because he was throwing up once a day for a week.

My concern is that if and I hope he does, makes it through this - not knowing what caused it or if there is a way to prevent it is a scary thought. Especially as he is getting older.

Has anyone experienced something similar to this? Thought on what this could be? Anything i can do to prevent this in the future?

Has your cat had all his immunizations, and booster shots? What you're describing sounds like feline leukemia, which is not a cancer, but a virus.The disease can remain dormant for quite a long time; so maybe he had it the first time and fought it off. There's another disease that cats get which is similar, feline immunodeficiency disease.
You vet should have a definitive answer, if he has done a blood panel, which he obviously has or he would'nt know the cat's white blood cells were elevated.I hope you get the answer soon, and good luck with your cat.

Thank you so much for replying. :-)

You're going to think I'm a terrible caretaker :( but no, he's not had all his shots kept up to date. I know the person who had him before did the shots as a kitten but other than that I don't know much of his history. As he's an indoor cat - and always healthy - the most I ever worried about was fleas and illness from fleas etc. because of living with the dog. So those things were taken care of. Histeeth ever once in awhile as well when needed. Stupid of me probably now that I think about it. If kitty makes it through this - that will be rectified.

All the vet said to me was that he had high white bloodcell count and he didnt know what was wrong just that there was some sort of infection.

Thank you fo r your kind thoughts. I'll be calling in the morning to see how he is and hopefully they will let me go visit.

I'll post more then.

Thank you again.

Nobody will think you're a terrible caretaker with all of the things that you have described that you have already done for him and your obvious concern for him now. You already have him at the vet which is the best thing you can do. I believe it's fairly common to not have yearly vet visits when you have an indoor cat with limited risk of exposure to anything. Personally I feel better having my "kids" all examined and vaccinated every year but not everybody does that. The important thing is that you recognized that something was wrong and you got him to the vet. Good luck and I hope your kitty gets better.

Hi again,

Okay kitty is showing no signs of improvement.:-( He's on IV and meds and still not eating - though they said he looks like he wants to eat and goes "hmmmmmm" to it.

Really getting a little scared now. I ahte being so helpless to do anything for him.

Monday they will do another lot of blood work to see if the white cells ahve gone down at all and he said he might be able to tell me what's happened to him.

They said they'll call tomorrow and let me know how he is.

Thanks for the wishes for kitty.

Abby, I am so sorry kitty is sick. You have him at the best place to be while he is sick. Just know that you are doing all you can. ((((hugs))))

I wanted to thank everyone for being so kind.

The vet called today - he spent an hour sitting there trying to figure out how to tell me - it seems kitty has FIP. Which I had a hard time understanding as he doesn't live with other kitties and is indoors. It's either genetic or he had it when he lived at the other place with all the other kitties before he came to me. The fact that he's between 14 -16+ years old and lived this long with it (I've had him 11 years) is a blessing. He's lived a spoilt and happy life - I should take comfort in that - but honestly. I wish we had more time together.

His belly is filling with fluid and the vet has done everything he can. He's made him comfortable and he's in no pain. So I'm very grateful for that. Basically in lew of a miracle, which is unlikely - kitty is not going to survive. It's killing him.

I guess this explains why no one could figure out why a very healthy happy playful cat couldn't gain weight.

My heart is breaking. I'll have to go in the morning and make a decision.

Again, thank you all for your kindness.

I am so sorry that you have to go through this. Nothing can make it easier or make you feel any better about your decision except that as his caretaker if you decide on euthansia you need to believe in your heart that it's the right thing to do to keep him from suffering. Obviously your vet really cares if it was so hard for him to tell you. He would only give you the best advice. I just went through this with my 16 year old cat this past fall because of a tumor in her jaw. Her quality of life was gone and it was my only choice but it was the hardest decision I have ever had to make. Please bring a friend or a relative with you if you can. Somebody to drive you home or at least to support you will really help a lot. I can't imagine what I would have done without my sister's support.

I realize i am respnding to an old chat, but my Cat is going thrught he exact same situation! I see the outcome is not probably going to be a good one.........What is FIP??

Feline Infectious Peritonitis (coronavirus). There is a wet FIP and a dry FIP and they have different symptoms but both are pretty bad news. Here's a site with some info. http://www.petplace.com/cats/feline-infectious-peritonitis-fip/page1.aspx