Hi all,
I'm new here (I may have posted here once in the past...), and pretty scared/sick right now. I'll try to make a potentially long story as short as possible.
Over Thanksgiving, I went home to visit my family and left my two COMPLETELY INDOOR KITTIES in the care of a friend. While I was away, some feral cats got into my basement through a gap near the heat/air unit and, because my friend left the basement door open, my two cats were able to...interact...with the ferals. My cats went outside, and the ferals came inside. A day passed, with my cats potentially fighting with the feral cats and being outdoors. My two cats have NEVER been outside for more than a few (supervised) minutes, so I'm shocked that they even stuck around the house.
When I returned home from my trip, one of my cats (Dylan) was extremely lethargic and depressed. He also seemed to be walking stiffly. His appetite was still good, but he wasn't purring, playing, or doing anything other than sleeping and eating. I figured the stress of the "home invasion" was to blame, and after a few days, he was right as rain, tearing about the house and doing his normal Dylan-esque activities. During this period, Chaplin (the other cat) was acting totally normal--completely himself.
A few weeks later, I went home for Christmas vacation. My boyfriend was here with the cats most of the time, but there was no one here for five days, during which someone came in and fed, played with, and looked after the kitties. The basement, at this point, had been completely closed up and blocked off, so no more feral kitties could get in, and no house kitties could get out!!
When my boyfriend returned from his family's Christmas, the cats were both acting normally. Then, he informed me that Chaplin was starting to act the same way Dylan had acted several weeks before--stiff, sleepy, and depressed. When I got home, I watched Chaplin carefully. His appetite was still strong, but he was indeed sleeping all day and all night, and he didn't want to go up or down stairs, nor did he seem to feel like walking very far without lying down. After two days with no improvement, I took him to the vet and it turns out he has a 105 degree fever!!!!!
His bloodwork (CBC and chemistry) came back fine, but I'm most terrified that maybe BOTH cats somehow contracted FIV from the ferals. When I found out that there had been strays in the house, I checked both of the cats over VERY carefully for any wounds, but found no signs of trauma. Again, both cats had the exact same symptoms--they were just spaced out over a few weeks, and Dylan's apparently went away with no veterinary intervention.
Chaplin is spending the night at the vet's to see if his fever can be brought down with antibiotics (in the event that it's an infection). I called the vet while ago to ask about an FIV test, and he said he wasn't sure at this point whether or not he needed to test for FIV. I may make him do it for my peace of mind.
I keep reading that the onset of FIV is often accompanied by a fever, but what's strange is that neither Chaplin nor Dylan had the customary weight loss, loss of appetite, etc. Even with a 105 fever, Chaplin was still eating like a pig, even though he obviously felt horrible.
Is there any other sort of fever-inducing illness that could have been spread via contact with the feral cats? If I couldn't find any bite wounds, is there any other way they could have gotten FIV? From what a vet told me in the past, an FIV-inducing bite wound must be very deep, and I definitely would have noticed something like that. I'm just so angry and upset because throughout the years, I've taken every measure possible to ensure that my kitties are kept away from situations like this...if one or both of them DOES have FIV, I'll be even angrier. :/
Has anyone ever dealt with an unexplained fever in their kitty? What did your vet do? How did things turn out? I'm worried to death right now.
Any advice, comfort, anecdotes, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much.
I'm new here (I may have posted here once in the past...), and pretty scared/sick right now. I'll try to make a potentially long story as short as possible.
Over Thanksgiving, I went home to visit my family and left my two COMPLETELY INDOOR KITTIES in the care of a friend. While I was away, some feral cats got into my basement through a gap near the heat/air unit and, because my friend left the basement door open, my two cats were able to...interact...with the ferals. My cats went outside, and the ferals came inside. A day passed, with my cats potentially fighting with the feral cats and being outdoors. My two cats have NEVER been outside for more than a few (supervised) minutes, so I'm shocked that they even stuck around the house.
When I returned home from my trip, one of my cats (Dylan) was extremely lethargic and depressed. He also seemed to be walking stiffly. His appetite was still good, but he wasn't purring, playing, or doing anything other than sleeping and eating. I figured the stress of the "home invasion" was to blame, and after a few days, he was right as rain, tearing about the house and doing his normal Dylan-esque activities. During this period, Chaplin (the other cat) was acting totally normal--completely himself.
A few weeks later, I went home for Christmas vacation. My boyfriend was here with the cats most of the time, but there was no one here for five days, during which someone came in and fed, played with, and looked after the kitties. The basement, at this point, had been completely closed up and blocked off, so no more feral kitties could get in, and no house kitties could get out!!
When my boyfriend returned from his family's Christmas, the cats were both acting normally. Then, he informed me that Chaplin was starting to act the same way Dylan had acted several weeks before--stiff, sleepy, and depressed. When I got home, I watched Chaplin carefully. His appetite was still strong, but he was indeed sleeping all day and all night, and he didn't want to go up or down stairs, nor did he seem to feel like walking very far without lying down. After two days with no improvement, I took him to the vet and it turns out he has a 105 degree fever!!!!!
His bloodwork (CBC and chemistry) came back fine, but I'm most terrified that maybe BOTH cats somehow contracted FIV from the ferals. When I found out that there had been strays in the house, I checked both of the cats over VERY carefully for any wounds, but found no signs of trauma. Again, both cats had the exact same symptoms--they were just spaced out over a few weeks, and Dylan's apparently went away with no veterinary intervention.
Chaplin is spending the night at the vet's to see if his fever can be brought down with antibiotics (in the event that it's an infection). I called the vet while ago to ask about an FIV test, and he said he wasn't sure at this point whether or not he needed to test for FIV. I may make him do it for my peace of mind.
I keep reading that the onset of FIV is often accompanied by a fever, but what's strange is that neither Chaplin nor Dylan had the customary weight loss, loss of appetite, etc. Even with a 105 fever, Chaplin was still eating like a pig, even though he obviously felt horrible.
Is there any other sort of fever-inducing illness that could have been spread via contact with the feral cats? If I couldn't find any bite wounds, is there any other way they could have gotten FIV? From what a vet told me in the past, an FIV-inducing bite wound must be very deep, and I definitely would have noticed something like that. I'm just so angry and upset because throughout the years, I've taken every measure possible to ensure that my kitties are kept away from situations like this...if one or both of them DOES have FIV, I'll be even angrier. :/
Has anyone ever dealt with an unexplained fever in their kitty? What did your vet do? How did things turn out? I'm worried to death right now.
Thanks so much.