Fever Of Unknown Origin... Help!

[Tupperware Chip]

The situation:
June 23 we adopted a 13 week old kitten at a mass adoption event. This kitten and all his siblings/litter mates were rescued from a kill shelter in Alabama. At the adoption event, 50 kittens ran around in the same pen and multiple people came in and handled all the kittens. We adopted 13 week old Icarus that day.
June 24th we bring Icarus in to get his boosters. He was vaccinated at 9weeks old but doesn't have his booster. Vet says no vaccines would be given because his temp was 39.3 celcius. Not too high but they were being cautious. Icarus is still eating, playing all the good kitten things.
June 25th Icarus tries to be brave and jumps off the bed. Hurts his paw and has a limp. We bring him to the vet and they said his paw was just soft tissue injury itll heal on it's own. But upon routine assessment they notice his temperature is 40.5 degrees celcius. So they give him a shot of Metacam for the hurt paw and temp and send us home to monitor him. That night his temp came down to 39 celcius. Great!..... not.
June 26th 5am his temp is 40.1 celcius. Hes lethargic, not eating not playing. Now I'm worried. I bring him to the vet and they say hes severely dehydrated lost weight (1.32kg on adoption day, 1.22kg on June 26). So they keep him at the vet for the day and give him IV fluids, potassium in his IV and run a panel of bloodwork.
Bloodwork came back with elevated WBC and Neutrophils but otherwise all normal. So 12 hours at the vet with IV fluids and his temp goes from 40.7 to 40.5 to 39.6 to 39
1 YAY! He eats and drinks and plays and hes a kitten again. He got a metacam shot and came home for the night. June 27th he was told to come back for another 12 hours of IV fluids and monitoring again. His temp went from 39.1 to 39.6 to 38.9 to 38.5 to 38.9 to 39.0 celcius over the course of the day. He got metacam injection again. I picked icarus up at 845pm from the vet and he is being his normal self. We get home and he goes pee and plays for a solid 1.5hr. After 1.5 hr of intense play I check his temp. 39.6 celcius. Called the vet and they said its potential the playing raises his temp to just keep him quiet and let him rest. I dipped his feet in cold water and now hes sleeping.

No runny nose. No cough. No symptoms other than 1 small spec of blood in his poop and a 2 day fever.

They sent his poop away for testing so I am hoping that maybe comes back with something that is treatable. Vet doesn't want to start him on antibiotics in case this is viral
Has anyone had this issue before ? Should I be worried? How long should this last?

 

[Tupperware Chip]

I should add... his siblings are all healthy and no issue !

 

[Dickie]

Hello
Perhaps, if there was slight blood in his poop, it could be parasites resistant to the antiparasitics that you have given. There are parasites like "Giardia" that are extremely resistant, and sometimes produce symptoms such as fever and lack of appetite and lethargy. especially in kittens puppies that have a weaker immune system than adults.
I hope you get the result of the poop test soon, if they are resistant parasites there will be good treatment.
You will tell us, I hope everything goes well!

 

[di and bob]

It's good he's had his vaccinations, that should help with any really serious diseases, he could just have feline herpes virus that is so very common with kittens and especially kittens around a big group of cats. Is he sneezing at all, or have any kind of watery discharge from his eyes? If so, call your vet and ask if you can start him on L-lysine which inhibits the replication of the virus. I know when my cats get it, they are listless, not hungry and get a fever. L-lysine is a supplement and many are given as treats and have a immune builder in them which wouldn't hurt. Elevated white blood cell count indicates an infection some where so eventually if this doesn't resolve they might start him on a antibiotic. Babies get dehydrated so quickly and bring on a lot of your symptoms too, encourage water drinking by getting a small fountain at Walmart or a pet center, and set lots of bowls/cups of water around to encourage him further, All the luck and keep us posted!

 

[Tupperware Chip]

So June 28th today and his temperature has been steady at 38.3 to 38.4 celcius. Hes jumping around, playing, eating, and pooping and peeing and overall looking 100% better than the other day. We sent stool samples for giardia out but they take a few days to get back. The only change is that he lost his meow. He was at the vet for 2 days and was super vocal there and the day we adopted him and day after (June 23 and 24) he was meowing non-stop. I assume this is just because hes been super chatty that he temporarily lost his voice. He has no discharge from his eyes or nose, no diarrhea and no sign of any infection. The vet suspects this was just viral that had to run its course. Can cats lose their meow from being too vocal ?

 

[di and bob]

I have never had that happen, although I don't know why it couldn't! He might have had a little respiratory infection draining down his throat too, that would contribute to losing his meow. Or he might be much more settled now so not as vocal because he is calmer and more sure of himself.

 

[Dickie]

I also think that now he will be calmer and will not have much need to talk.
Even though one of my cats was also hospitalized for several days, and he talked to me a lot in the hospital without stopping. When he returned home he was hoarse for a couple of days, because he was meowing but with a harsh sound ... then he went back to "singing" as always ... celestial sound

 

[duckpond]

Sweet little boy! I hope his is continuing to do better?

My little white cat goes through phases with talking, some days she is supper chatty..lol then she may not talk at all for a while. She didnt talk the first year or so i had her, just little meeps. I didnt think she could meow for a while, she can. I would not worry about the not talking right now, as long as everything else is good.

Sending him hugs from us