- Joined
- May 16, 2014
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Poor Pawnee... you may remember she survived a terrible vaccine reaction a year ago. Well, over the summer, she has just not seemed right. Quieter, a bit clumsy (occasionally missing a jump onto a chair, for example), more finicky about her eating, etc. After several years of downing all her S/O canned food at every meal (she has a history of cystitis), she simply refused to eat it any more, and we're cycling through endless types of food to keep her eating. She seems to be at the water dish more frequently. Finally, I took her to the vet in early October. Full physical exam, basic blood panel... all normal. Vet cannot find anything out of the ordinary. Then two weeks ago, she happened to look up at me and I saw one eye looked cloudy. On closer inspection, the back of the eye was white, chalky-looking... not at all the usual shiny black or reflective state. Took her back to the vet, who not only agreed the eye looked wrong, but heard a loud heart murmur that *had not been there 6 weeks before.* Hundreds of dollars in lab work and xrays later: ALL normal except her toxoplasmosis titer was *slightly* elevated. A week of clindamycin has had no effect. She has NO fever, her blood pressure is fine, her kidney values are fine. Her lungs on xray look a little bit fuzzy, my vet said almost like an asthma reaction - but her lungs sound clear, she has no coughing or labored breathing and her respiratory rate is in the high 20s. No tumors apparent. So... we are starting to think maybe a fungal infection?? She is going to the ophthalmologist tomorrow, in the hopes that we can at least figure out what is going on with the eyes. Her vision is definitely impaired, and both eyes rather more dilated than normal. BUT it's worst in the morning: she can't find her food dish unless I help (she stepped right in it this morning)... but in dim light she seems much better. Last night she went outside (we escort her and watch her) to pee under the deck, which she did, then hopped right through the railings to come back up without hesitation. If the ophtho thinks it looks like a fungal chorioretinitis, we will test her for histoplasmosis and/or Valley fever, and treat accordingly. She is originally a Kansas barn cat (she adopted us there), and for the last few years we had been letting her go outside when we go to our second home in central KS, so it's possible she was exposed that way. She's under permanent house arrest now, except for brief supervised forays outside. We can do blind (my late, much-mourned Italian Greyhound William was blind for the last 7 years of his life), but we are more worried about whatever caused it systemically and how that might play out. Anyone been here?? We are mystified and concerned. Don't tell the others, but she IS our favorite cat, and I firmly believe the Best Cat Ever in the History of the Universe.... :-( (Photo below taken when her eyes still worked...)
Julie and Pawnee
Julie and Pawnee