Kitten with mild anemia

Polinafix

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Hi everyone! Happy to find this community.

We got our new kitten 2 weeks ago. He'll be 12 weeks old this weekend.
A couple of days ago we noticed a sudden behavior change:he became very lethargic, lost all interest in playing, pretty much only eats, uses a toilet and sleeps a lot.

Yesterday I also noticed that his toe beans and gums now have a very pale white color instead of bright pink, like before. When I googled all the symptoms I came across a condition called anemia. So we decided to take him to a vet this morning.

After doing a comprehensive blood test they confirmed that he indeed has mild anemia and mild fever. However, they are not sure what might be the root cause. They did mention that blood test showed that kidneys are healthy. We also had him tested for FeLV and FIV about a week ago and he tested negative. Same for the fecal test - 7 days ago we tested him and no parasites were found. However, they suggested that we do a fecal test again to make sure. Results should be ready tomorrow. He doesn't have any sign of fleas but we will apply Revolution on his skin today. I was also worried that he might have injured his blood vessels when our older cat bit him during a play time, but the vet doesn't believe it's the case.

The vet gave him an antibiotic injection today and also prescribed a gel for immune support. His advice was to monitor his symptoms and take him to emergency clinic if gets worse.

He has a very good appetite, just like before (maybe even too good - seems like he's always hungry).Normal stool.

I am very worried about this situation, because we don't even understand why this is happening to him and whether he'll get better. He was completely fine and full of energy just 2 days ago.
I wanted to ask if anyone had a similar experience/ issue with their cat and whether there's anything else we could do at this point to find the root cause and help our baby get better.

Any advice/ input would be appreciated, thank you!
 

Xena44

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Did your vet say if it was a regenerative anemia? Meaning the body is making red blood cells vs. not making them. Your vet didn’t make any suggestions as to cause or further testing? The rest of the results of the bloodwork were good? If it were my kitten, I would test for hemobartonellosis. It would be a good thing to rule out.

 
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fionasmom

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Cats do not usually get the iron deficiency anemia that humans get, so that is probably not going to be the simple answer. Anemia is very complex as the sources can be numerous. However, you have ruled out FeLV, FIV, parasites, and kidney issues. I think this is why the vet has urged caution and told you to get the kitten to the ER if anything seems awry. I am a little surprised that he did not pursue this further.

I would look for a veterinary internist in order to get to the bottom of this.

Cat Blood Test Results Explained – TheCatSite Articles
Full Blood Test for Anemic Cat

The first article explains blood tests in general and the second is a thread from earlier this year which contains many good points and a link.

Xena44 Xena44 point about this being regenerative or not is a good question.
 

Xena44

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Cats do not usually get the iron deficiency anemia that humans get, so that is probably not going to be the simple answer. Anemia is very complex as the sources can be numerous. However, you have ruled out FeLV, FIV, parasites, and kidney issues. I think this is why the vet has urged caution and told you to get the kitten to the ER if anything seems awry. I am a little surprised that he did not pursue this further.

I would look for a veterinary internist in order to get to the bottom of this.

Cat Blood Test Results Explained – TheCatSite Articles
Full Blood Test for Anemic Cat

The first article explains blood tests in general and the second is a thread from earlier this year which contains many good points and a link.

Xena44 Xena44 point about this being regenerative or not is a good question.
For sure! I’d see a veterinary internist also. Waiting for the kitten to need emergency care is not the way I would approach this. .
 

silent meowlook

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Hi. I am sorry I am that your kitten is not feeling well. If I were you I would look for a Feline only Veterinarian at least or a Veterinary Internal Medicine Specialist.
There can be many causes of anemia but one that I would be checking for would be Feline Microplasma. It is found by your Veterinarian looking at a fresh blood
slide under the microscope in oil. It is a blood parasite that is contracted by fleas. I would be concerned about a virus with the fever. Did your Vet say if the White blood
cell count was elevated? Has your kitten been recently vaccinated or spayed or neutered? Do you have any plants in the house? Does the kitten go outside?
Do you have any other animals?
 
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Polinafix

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Hi everyone! Very sorry for the late reply.
First of ll, thank you very much for taking the time to reply and suggest the options!
We had been trying to find the cause for a pretty long time, his health was declining and one veterinarian suggested that we give the kitten a wide-spectrum dewormer (even though his tests were negative) and surprisingly on a 4th day after giving it to him he started to get much better and in a week or so he and his blood results were completely back to normal.
This was very unexpected, because he was already dewormed and there were no signs of him having worms(although some vets mentioned that his belly looks pretty round). I never found anything in his stool after deworming, however for a couple of days his poop had a black color (which might be because of all the blood released from the dead worms).
Anyway, we were extremely happy!
I wish we tried the dewormer sooner.
 

fionasmom

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That is great news! Thank you so much for posting this update. Hopefully this is the end to his problems!
 

Xena44

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Hi everyone! Very sorry for the late reply.
First of ll, thank you very much for taking the time to reply and suggest the options!
We had been trying to find the cause for a pretty long time, his health was declining and one veterinarian suggested that we give the kitten a wide-spectrum dewormer (even though his tests were negative) and surprisingly on a 4th day after giving it to him he started to get much better and in a week or so he and his blood results were completely back to normal.
This was very unexpected, because he was already dewormed and there were no signs of him having worms(although some vets mentioned that his belly looks pretty round). I never found anything in his stool after deworming, however for a couple of days his poop had a black color (which might be because of all the blood released from the dead worms).
Anyway, we were extremely happy!
I wish we tried the dewormer sooner.
WOO HOO!!!! AWESOME!!!!! 😻❤😻❤😻❤😻❤😻❤😻❤😻
 
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