My husband and I adopted a 10 week old kitten from a local rescue 1 week ago. For the first few days everything seemed fine - he was playful, eating very well, a normal kitten. By Saturday we noticed Oliver sleeping ALL the time - 24 hours a day. So we called our vet on Monday and he said he would come over to check on him. (Our vet exclusively does housecalls) He found that poor Oliver had a fever of 105.3 and that he was slightly dehydrated. He gave him sub-q fluids, an antibiotic and said he'd be back to check on him the next day. So Tuesday night he came over and his fever was so high it would not even register on the thermometer which only goes up to 106.4. It has been this high ever since. There are no other symtoms - no sneezing or coughing. The puzzling thing is that Oliver has continued eating and drinking normally, he grooms himself, and is constantly purring, even in his sleep. He has gained almost half a pound since Saturday. He just sleeps all the time. He tested negative for Fel/V and FIV and Coronavirus. Does anyone have any ideas what this might be? The vet can only assume it's a virus or very resistant bacterial infection. He has been receiving sub-q fluids everyday since Monday. Please help.
Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Purrs
High Fever in Kitten - Help!
(34 posts)-
-
-
Oh no; I am so sorry to hear this! I hope your vet can figure out what's wrong with Oliver. I strongly recommend getting him into the vet for diagnostic tests though...blood/stool analysis at the very least. Testing the blood and stool are two of the best resources for diagnosing sick animals.
Here are a few things I would look into, or have your vet look into, that can cause unexplained high fevers in cats:
- Leukemia
- Blood Parasites
- Toxoplasmosis
- Pancreatitis
- CardiomyopathyBut it's still a possibility it could be feline infectious peritonitis. Viruses are really hard to detect sometimes, and that could be causing his high fever.
The decreased activity level would be attributed to the feeling of depression from whatever is ailing him...certainly such a high fever would cause that. I would really have more treatment done in order to diagnose the problem. With a fever like that, leaving it untreated is extremely extremely dangerous for a young kitten. With any aged cat really. I just lost my kitten a few days ago, and I know how painful it is to deal with that kind of loss. I really hope you figure out what's wrong with your new baby.
Posted 2 years ago by KaylynSueG #
-
Our vet does not believe it is FIP. His heart and lungs sound excellent. His only other issue was that he had roundworms but we have had him dewormed twice already. The vet thinks it is either a resistant bacterial infection or a virus which just needs to run its course. Our vet has performed many miracles for our dogs in the past so I do trust him completely. I just thought someone here might have some other advice.
I'm sorry about your loss Kaylyn...
-
Welcome to TDK, Mandy! I'm sorry to hear your kitty has such a high fever; If your vet suspects a bacterial infection, does he have your baby on antibiotics? Is he getting any other treatment besides subQ fluids? I would ask my vet to run some diagnostic tests, if you can afford to have it done. I certainly hope your kitty is feeling much better soon....
-
-
With a fever of over 106.4 I am very suprised that he doesn't want to run tests now. Have you told him that the temperature has gone up? Prayers are with you. I don't know how high a cats temperature can go before damage is irreversable. Prayer that your kitten can recover and prayers of peace to you.
-
While you do not want baby chilled you should wrap bags of ice in towels that he can curl up near to help bring the temp down. You do not want the packs to feel cold to the touch just cool and make sure the wrappings stay dry.
Posted 2 years ago by ailuromaniac #
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
My little Mowgli got sick like this too, he got up to 106 temp and spent 4 days at the vet! He was fine one minute and then he was just limp and hot the next! .....We used robbing alcohol on his tummy and foot pads I know it sounds odd but the alcohol pulls out the heat for a short time, also make sure your giving him fluids, we gave Mowgli pedilite mixed with water. Good luck and my god be with you little fur baby tonight
Posted 2 years ago by spanky_mouse #
-
-
-
*bumping*
Also concerned about Oliver.
Posted 2 years ago by KaylynSueG #
-
Hi everyone, thank you all so much for your concern. We had to put Oliver to sleep on Friday night. He began wheezing on Thursday and our vet discovered he had developed quite a bit of fluid in his abdomen by Friday. So at about 11pm Friday night his wheezing worsened and we took him to an emergency vet. X-rays showed a large amount of fluid in his lungs as well as his abdomen. An abdominal tap revealed fluid consistent with FIP. Though the vet offered to drain his lungs and abdomen of the fluid so we could take him back home, my husband and I felt it was not right to make him suffer any longer. He seemed to be in enough pain already. It was a heartwrenching decision but we feel we made the right choice for the poor little guy.
Here's where the story gets interesting though...We adopted Oliver from a Rescue here in southeastern Pennsylvania. Well technically we were his foster family because they would not allow us to formally adopt him until he was neutered. When we went to pick Oliver up I asked where his vaccination records were the girl told us that she was trying to locate them. I said fine and asked her to please let me know when she had them. Within 3 days of bringing him home we noticed that he slept ALL the time - 24 hours a day except to eat and use his litterbox. That's when our vet discovered the high fever and attributed it to some kind of infection. I contacted the rescue only to be told "hope he feels better." As he progressively got worse I kept the rescue up to date with his status via e-mail. I also repeatedly asked her to fax me his vaccine records only to be ignored. When the rescue learned of Oliver's passing I received an e-mail from the girl we had been dealing with (who we also just learned is the president of the rescue). She said that she was so sorry about our loss and that 3 other kittens who had been in the same foster home with Oliver had also died of FIP within the last week and a half!!! All the while I kept telling her how sick Oliver was and she failed to mention this to me! My husband and I, as well as our vet were ripping our hair out trying to figure out what was wrong with our poor baby, and all the while we thought he was going to get better. My biggest concern right now is for any other families who may have adopted a kitten from this rescue who were also in this foster home with Oliver. I do not want anyone else to go through what we have just been through, let alone expose other cats to this terrible disease. How can a cat "rescue" act so irresponsibly? We are thinking about reporting the rescue to the humane society, mainly because I think they lied about having Oliver vaccinated at all. We almost feel as if they knowingly gave us a sick kitten so that we could cover all of his medical expenses (well over $2000).
So if anyone has any advice for me now it would be greatly appreciated. And again thank you all so much for your concern.
-
So sorry about sweet Oliver. You gave him love and comfort and did all you could for him. It is so hard to adopt rescue cats because it is not uncommon for them to get so sick, especially kittens. But then, these are the animals who need homes the most. You are right to be upset about the way the rescue handled this. Maybe take your time to grieve and then express your concerns to the rescue again. It is a good idea to report them. They likely were negligent about getting little Oliver and his mates (and possibly many others) vaccinated. Perhaps your vet will supply you with a report to send to support your position. The most important thing now is to take time to heal, and please do not let this experience deter you from adopting another cat who needs you when and if you are ready. You sound like a great mom.
-
I am so, so sorry. Poor, poor little Oliver. At least, though his life was short, he was much loved and he knew warmth, comfort and safety with you. I agree with Pucca, you sound like a wonderful kitty mum.
The 'rescue's' attitude leaves me speechless. I am in New Zealand so don't know anything about US shelters but perhaps someone else can help with what to do there. It certainly sounds like they need a sharp wake-up call and that's an understatement.
-
Personally, I think you should write out a concise documentation of everything and turn it in to the Humane Society to look into. In most states they have the legal authority to investigate, remove animals, and if truly necessary obtain legal constraints against further operations by a problem facility or group.
-
-
I would definitely report them, they were negligent in not vaccinating the kittens and should not be taking in more who will be exposed. So sorry about Oliver, you did the best for him and he knew love in his short life.
Posted 2 years ago by Sheba's Mom in Phoenix, AZ 10/8 #
-
-
-
I am so sorry to hear of Oliver's passing. My heart goes out to you and your husband!
Posted 2 years ago by spanky_mouse #
-
Sorry to hear about your loss. You did what you could and Oliver would have known this. Love and Hugs to you and your husband.
Posted 2 years ago by Sinspearian #
-
Reply »
You must log in to post.