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Hello!
I recently adopted a kitten from a local animal shelter and he is 11 weeks old. While in the shelter, he seemed perky, playful, and followed us around for attention. Unfortunately he was in an enclosure with about 10 other cats (I should have done my research better, I know..), and there were several kittens in there that had eye problems, like oozing eyes and did not want anyone to come near them. However, I really liked the kitten in there and decided to adopt him. The 1st night at home, he was fine, he was a bit scared but he ate dry food mixed with wet food, that the shelter had him on and he pooped solid. The next morning, things took a turn, he had liquid diarrhea, wouldn't eat much at all and wouldn't drink much, he also had little interest in playing and was very lethargic.
This continued into the next day when he ended up vomiting yellow bile (i'm guessing from not eating) and I broke down and took him to the emergency vet. The emergency vet said he had a temp of 103F and she administered fluids, an injection of metacam and sent us home with metronidazole to give him for 10 days. After the visit to the emergency vet, he began to eat more wet food, he was drinking again, but still had diarrhea and was still not playful and lethargic. The next couple days, there were more improvements, he started eating a lot and drinking regularly, and while he still had diarrhea it was more solid (not pure liquid). He started seeming semi-interested in playing, but wouldn't really play and was still lethargic. He had a vet appointment yesterday to check him out, they concluded that he still had a fever, they took a stool sample, and gave him an injection for tapeworms.
However, my concern is that they said he has a virus and likely picked it up in the shelter but did not say anything about doing anymore testing to figure out what virus it is. They said "maybe a mild cause of Feline Panleukopenia", and I noticed he had received his 1st vaccine FVRCP when he was 10 weeks old upon entering the shelter. I said, is this possible to still have it? And the assistant said that it was if he had been exposed before the vaccine had a chance to provide immunity. He had been in the shelter for 8 days prior to me adopting him. I got home and started researching Feline Panleukopenia, and was hoping for the best since we caught it 1 day after his symptoms started, he was on antibiotics and he was eating/drinking, having a little more solid stools.
However, now I just cannot shake the feeling it may be FIP. The symptoms to the 2 sound very similar and I just cannot discern much between them, and the vet did not say anything about that being a possibility. But I just don't know, it's such a devastating disease and I would hate for it be that and go undiagnosed for too long and I make him suffer more.. I just want answers. I am supposed to collect his stool and take it to them tomorrow so that they can test for Feline Panleukopenia, at least to just know if it is that or not. I hate this for him, I just want him to be happy and healthy and I hate that he ended up being sick. Today he is still lethargic, still semi-interested in toys but won't play, he is eating boiled chicken like crazy as per vet instructions, he is getting plenty of fluids, but he will sleep basically all day except maybe twice a day, he always wants to be in a warm spot and I'm not sure if he still has a fever today or not. I am just so worried about it, it's almost affecting my daily living causing me distress. I do not want to take him back to the shelter because I feel that may do more harm than good especially considering the condition that he was in there, and I also do not want to attempt to bring another cat into this environment when I have no clue what virus he has and do not wanna expose another cat/kitten. I am beside myself on what to do, and spend most of my time just googling stuff instead of stuff I should actually be doing, but I spend my time worrying if he is gonna recover or if he is headed down a bad path.
Any advice, suggestions, anything to offer me a little peace of mind is appreciated!
I recently adopted a kitten from a local animal shelter and he is 11 weeks old. While in the shelter, he seemed perky, playful, and followed us around for attention. Unfortunately he was in an enclosure with about 10 other cats (I should have done my research better, I know..), and there were several kittens in there that had eye problems, like oozing eyes and did not want anyone to come near them. However, I really liked the kitten in there and decided to adopt him. The 1st night at home, he was fine, he was a bit scared but he ate dry food mixed with wet food, that the shelter had him on and he pooped solid. The next morning, things took a turn, he had liquid diarrhea, wouldn't eat much at all and wouldn't drink much, he also had little interest in playing and was very lethargic.
This continued into the next day when he ended up vomiting yellow bile (i'm guessing from not eating) and I broke down and took him to the emergency vet. The emergency vet said he had a temp of 103F and she administered fluids, an injection of metacam and sent us home with metronidazole to give him for 10 days. After the visit to the emergency vet, he began to eat more wet food, he was drinking again, but still had diarrhea and was still not playful and lethargic. The next couple days, there were more improvements, he started eating a lot and drinking regularly, and while he still had diarrhea it was more solid (not pure liquid). He started seeming semi-interested in playing, but wouldn't really play and was still lethargic. He had a vet appointment yesterday to check him out, they concluded that he still had a fever, they took a stool sample, and gave him an injection for tapeworms.
However, my concern is that they said he has a virus and likely picked it up in the shelter but did not say anything about doing anymore testing to figure out what virus it is. They said "maybe a mild cause of Feline Panleukopenia", and I noticed he had received his 1st vaccine FVRCP when he was 10 weeks old upon entering the shelter. I said, is this possible to still have it? And the assistant said that it was if he had been exposed before the vaccine had a chance to provide immunity. He had been in the shelter for 8 days prior to me adopting him. I got home and started researching Feline Panleukopenia, and was hoping for the best since we caught it 1 day after his symptoms started, he was on antibiotics and he was eating/drinking, having a little more solid stools.
However, now I just cannot shake the feeling it may be FIP. The symptoms to the 2 sound very similar and I just cannot discern much between them, and the vet did not say anything about that being a possibility. But I just don't know, it's such a devastating disease and I would hate for it be that and go undiagnosed for too long and I make him suffer more.. I just want answers. I am supposed to collect his stool and take it to them tomorrow so that they can test for Feline Panleukopenia, at least to just know if it is that or not. I hate this for him, I just want him to be happy and healthy and I hate that he ended up being sick. Today he is still lethargic, still semi-interested in toys but won't play, he is eating boiled chicken like crazy as per vet instructions, he is getting plenty of fluids, but he will sleep basically all day except maybe twice a day, he always wants to be in a warm spot and I'm not sure if he still has a fever today or not. I am just so worried about it, it's almost affecting my daily living causing me distress. I do not want to take him back to the shelter because I feel that may do more harm than good especially considering the condition that he was in there, and I also do not want to attempt to bring another cat into this environment when I have no clue what virus he has and do not wanna expose another cat/kitten. I am beside myself on what to do, and spend most of my time just googling stuff instead of stuff I should actually be doing, but I spend my time worrying if he is gonna recover or if he is headed down a bad path.
Any advice, suggestions, anything to offer me a little peace of mind is appreciated!