Hi everyone, I’ve looked through the forums and still not certain on the diagnosis (or lack of) and hoping for some feedback. My kitty is at the emergency vet hospital, after severe diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, and a fever when admitted. They put him on antibiotics and fluids, an anti-nauseant, and something to calm him because he was growling at the techs 
. The fever is down but he doesn’t want to eat. He is interested in smelling the food, but then just seems nauseous and turns away. He gagged when I offered him a Temptations treat. They gave him Mertazapine to stimulate his appetite last night and he ate a little bit on his own, but then had diarrhea (I suspect he may have had diarrhea unnoticed, because his back end was very wet when I saw him and had mucus in the fur). He is still very withdrawn and not himself.
When they admitted him they did bloodwork which showed slightly elevated liver enzymes (Neutro-?), elevated white blood count, and some other things consistent with having not eaten (proteins and sugars off), but everything else seemed okay. He had a temp of 40, which went down overnight to 39.6, and has stayed below 39 since. He peed in the litter box yesterday evening.
He’s been in there for over 40 hours (last real meal was 60? hours ago), and not really improving (except the fever), and I’m just not sure if this is a “wait for him to get better” or “figure it out fast” scenario. The vet said it could be a food allergy and he might have IBS. I had changed from a raw-fed diet to a canned food (Merrick Purrfect Bistro chicken pate) while travelling, so he’d been on a new food for the previous 3-weeks (the first few days it was a mix of canned foods but then the last 10 days all Merrick). She said that an allergy could build up and suddenly manifest, but it was such an extreme response happening very rapidly – does that diagnosis make sense?
She reminded me he hadn’t been under their care for very long and he needed time to feel better.
If he doesn’t improve by today she wants to try him on steroids, which I think is okay for an emergency solution, but my understanding is it treats the symptom and not the condition. I’ve asked about a second round of blood tests to see if its improving but they don’t seem to think its necessary at this point. How long is too long to “wait and see”. I have a tendency to over-worry, and I don’t want to over-react and push the vet to do diagnostics that are unnecessary (which might be bad for Percy, thankfully I have insurance to cover anything needed).
Any advice would be really appreciated. I have a hard time trusting, after reading about pet food companies, the vaccination-industry, ill-informed vets, and etc. etc.
Some background:
Percy is a 14lb, 2 year-old neutered male, who is normally raw-fed (homemade). He is very outgoing and not stressed by new environments (he is just like a dog sniffing around, even in the vet office). He likes going for drives in the car but does NOT like flying in airplanes. He likes people, but is not a lap-cat, just likes to be nearby. He is very gentle and tolerant of “uncomfortable” situations (like washing his paws if he steps in something). He is not food-motivated but does love fresh raw fish and moose, and also loves most canned food (an occasional treat when I don't have the raw defrosted). He is leash trained and goes for a walk and a pee outside every morning/night but is never allowed offleash.
Recently I made a cross-country trip with him and decided it would be safest to switch to canned for the whole trip (~2-weeks, Merrick Purrfect Bistro chicken pate). I transitioned from the home-made diet to the canned for a few days, and we were off on our journey. He was in a new environment (campgrounds/rest stops/friends houses) every day, but he was not stressed or otherwise unhappy (still chasing bugs, climbing trees, playing hide-and-seek in the grass, peeing/pooping outside regularly etc). Percy was 100% great the whole trip until the last day (day 13) when he woke me up urgently needing to poop at 4 am. The next morning he seemed okay, but had no interest in breakfast and had another small poop with some liquid. We were travelling so I just put away his breakfast and decided to feed him at the next rest stop. Then he had diarrhea in the truck and vomited. I pulled over for a few mins and he was super unhappy looking. Then he needed to go again, so we stopped for about an hour and he had continual diarrhea/vomiting (just water by this point) and wouldn’t eat. I had to keep driving (we were only 3 hours from home) so I put him in the carrier where he slept for a bit until we got home, and then he had diarrhea and vomiting for 2 more hours and I took him to emergency.
He doesn’t have a history of GI upset, though he vomits every once in a while if I haven’t fed him soon enough in the morning (less than once a month). He’s also had 2 episodes of coughing (definitely coughing and not vomiting), but they were over 5 months apart (last was 6 months ago) and I brought it up with the vet who said it wasn’t a concern unless it became chronic. He had a little skin-tag/growth on his lower belly, but the vet also said it wasn’t a concern and it went away after a while. He sheds very little, and grooms himself fastidiously as only cats can. As a kitten he had a giardia and campo-bac (sp?) infection, but they cleared up no problem with treatment. He stepped in paint thinner 4 weeks ago - I washed it off thoroughly and he showed no adverse signs after. He pants when he is nervous/stressed, and pants when over-exerts himself (but again nothing the vet thought was unusual). I'm really worried about him, and honestly reading internet diagnoses isn't helping... any advice or even just someone else in a similar situation and knowing what happened would be really helpful. It's so hard to make a decision on his treatment when I don't know what's really wrong with him.
. The fever is down but he doesn’t want to eat. He is interested in smelling the food, but then just seems nauseous and turns away. He gagged when I offered him a Temptations treat. They gave him Mertazapine to stimulate his appetite last night and he ate a little bit on his own, but then had diarrhea (I suspect he may have had diarrhea unnoticed, because his back end was very wet when I saw him and had mucus in the fur). He is still very withdrawn and not himself.When they admitted him they did bloodwork which showed slightly elevated liver enzymes (Neutro-?), elevated white blood count, and some other things consistent with having not eaten (proteins and sugars off), but everything else seemed okay. He had a temp of 40, which went down overnight to 39.6, and has stayed below 39 since. He peed in the litter box yesterday evening.
He’s been in there for over 40 hours (last real meal was 60? hours ago), and not really improving (except the fever), and I’m just not sure if this is a “wait for him to get better” or “figure it out fast” scenario. The vet said it could be a food allergy and he might have IBS. I had changed from a raw-fed diet to a canned food (Merrick Purrfect Bistro chicken pate) while travelling, so he’d been on a new food for the previous 3-weeks (the first few days it was a mix of canned foods but then the last 10 days all Merrick). She said that an allergy could build up and suddenly manifest, but it was such an extreme response happening very rapidly – does that diagnosis make sense?
She reminded me he hadn’t been under their care for very long and he needed time to feel better.
If he doesn’t improve by today she wants to try him on steroids, which I think is okay for an emergency solution, but my understanding is it treats the symptom and not the condition. I’ve asked about a second round of blood tests to see if its improving but they don’t seem to think its necessary at this point. How long is too long to “wait and see”. I have a tendency to over-worry, and I don’t want to over-react and push the vet to do diagnostics that are unnecessary (which might be bad for Percy, thankfully I have insurance to cover anything needed).
Any advice would be really appreciated. I have a hard time trusting, after reading about pet food companies, the vaccination-industry, ill-informed vets, and etc. etc.
Some background:
Percy is a 14lb, 2 year-old neutered male, who is normally raw-fed (homemade). He is very outgoing and not stressed by new environments (he is just like a dog sniffing around, even in the vet office). He likes going for drives in the car but does NOT like flying in airplanes. He likes people, but is not a lap-cat, just likes to be nearby. He is very gentle and tolerant of “uncomfortable” situations (like washing his paws if he steps in something). He is not food-motivated but does love fresh raw fish and moose, and also loves most canned food (an occasional treat when I don't have the raw defrosted). He is leash trained and goes for a walk and a pee outside every morning/night but is never allowed offleash.
Recently I made a cross-country trip with him and decided it would be safest to switch to canned for the whole trip (~2-weeks, Merrick Purrfect Bistro chicken pate). I transitioned from the home-made diet to the canned for a few days, and we were off on our journey. He was in a new environment (campgrounds/rest stops/friends houses) every day, but he was not stressed or otherwise unhappy (still chasing bugs, climbing trees, playing hide-and-seek in the grass, peeing/pooping outside regularly etc). Percy was 100% great the whole trip until the last day (day 13) when he woke me up urgently needing to poop at 4 am. The next morning he seemed okay, but had no interest in breakfast and had another small poop with some liquid. We were travelling so I just put away his breakfast and decided to feed him at the next rest stop. Then he had diarrhea in the truck and vomited. I pulled over for a few mins and he was super unhappy looking. Then he needed to go again, so we stopped for about an hour and he had continual diarrhea/vomiting (just water by this point) and wouldn’t eat. I had to keep driving (we were only 3 hours from home) so I put him in the carrier where he slept for a bit until we got home, and then he had diarrhea and vomiting for 2 more hours and I took him to emergency.
He doesn’t have a history of GI upset, though he vomits every once in a while if I haven’t fed him soon enough in the morning (less than once a month). He’s also had 2 episodes of coughing (definitely coughing and not vomiting), but they were over 5 months apart (last was 6 months ago) and I brought it up with the vet who said it wasn’t a concern unless it became chronic. He had a little skin-tag/growth on his lower belly, but the vet also said it wasn’t a concern and it went away after a while. He sheds very little, and grooms himself fastidiously as only cats can. As a kitten he had a giardia and campo-bac (sp?) infection, but they cleared up no problem with treatment. He stepped in paint thinner 4 weeks ago - I washed it off thoroughly and he showed no adverse signs after. He pants when he is nervous/stressed, and pants when over-exerts himself (but again nothing the vet thought was unusual). I'm really worried about him, and honestly reading internet diagnoses isn't helping...
any advice or even just someone else in a similar situation and knowing what happened would be really helpful. It's so hard to make a decision on his treatment when I don't know what's really wrong with him.
. 
). He did look very sorry for himself when I brought him home and he smelled really bad but this was 4 months ago now and his fur is all back and he's back to his bright eyes self!
!
