Okay, we bring you home. We love you. You’re so cute, and you’re so sweet, and we think you’re the best. Dammit, you’re a tough little bugger too-you’re the runt of the litter, with a lame leg and your shoulders are out of line, but you’re faster and more agile than many cats I’ve seen.
So dammit, why the constant fever???
You play, you eat, you’re pretty healthy. But why does your temperature keep going up? I know you don’t like having it taken-and that could be a factor. But you always feel so warm…dammit, kitty, don’t be sick! PLEASE!
In addition, a quick check of my pet medical book confirms that a normal temp for a cat is btwn 100.5 and 102.5, so remember they are always going to feel warm to a human wih 98.6 body temp. It suggests wrapping your kitty in a cool, damp cloth to bring body temp down. It also has an interesting drawing of how to take a cat’s temp. I guess “stick the thermometer up his ass” wasn’t clear enough. If it’s above 103, call your vet, but I note that baby humans can have quite high fevers without really being sick, the same may be true of baby cats.
Go see a vet. Pronto. If you adopt a stray cat (especially a kitten) you should always take them to a vet.
My own little kitty was the runt of the litter, it was sickly when it was a kitten, and always a skinny little cat, but it lived for 17 years. I miss my kitty!
Can’t they treat it? Make sure yu find out if it’s treatable, ans that the vet isn’t just assuming you wouldn’t want to spend a couple of hundred bucks on a new kitten. I am sorry for you both. I had to put down a cat earlier this year, it sucks.
It’s peritonitus? (spell?) There’s no cure. That’s why she has such a huge stomach-it’s swelling with fluid.
I can’t deal with this now. I seriously can’t. I know this is sounding like hyperbole and selfish, but I think I’m going to lose my mind-she’s JUST A KITTEN. We’ve only had her for two months. She didn’t even have a chancE!!!
Guin, I know you are upset right now, I just have a question though. Is the diaease Feline Infectious Peritonitus or commonly refered to as (FIP)? I just had a run in with that and one of my friends cats, he was only 8 months old too before it started comming on. She unfortunately had to put her baby Chad down too. It almost killed her. I found out the vet gave her some wrong information about it though. Apparently the disease is very hard to track down and it is characterised by swellings in the thoracic cavity or abdomen that fill with fluid. Please post again if this is it and I can try to give you some more information, or you can email me at aquaincantare@hotmail.com
~Aqua
While I don’t have kitties, I have three doggies that will give you a hug. Tiger, Cindy and Keikei are all sending there love.
FWIW, Guin, I called my vet after your last post, and she confirmed that a kitty with FIP does need to be put down. Her chances of survival are almost nil, and her chances of lots of suffering are almost guaranteed. I know it’s hard, I just went through it with Uhura. She also said that you need to get rid of all of the kitty’s stuff and wash your house down with bleach as much as possible while waiting at least 6 months before getting a new kitty-unless you get a kitty that has been vaccinated against FIP, a series of 2 vaccines 3-4 weeks apart at 8 weeks and 12 weeks, at least 2 weeks prior to bringing him home. Again, I am so sorry. At least your kitty had people to love her for the time she was here, and wasn’t suffering and alone in the wild.
Alrighty, Im not sure what the vet told you, but my friends vet told her that FIP was horribly contagious and that she couldn’t have cats for like 6 months after Chad died, And that was AFTER she nearly fumigated the place. After we left her vet in tears I called my vet who, oddly enough has an associate that is a specialist with felines.
It turns out her vet was wrong.
FIP is spread like human HIV, through sexual or blood contact, the virus CAN spread through urine or feces but there is low likely hood of this happining unless the infected matierial comes in contact with an open sore. If you don’t have other cats then don’t worry. Your kitty was most likely born with this disease, as was Chad, my friends cat.
I do NOT want to uneccearily get your hopes up, but FIP is not 100% fatal. If your cat is not extremely ill yet, sometimes they can do large doses of IV antibiotics and fluids and this can sometimes work. However, it is extremely expensive as it usually has to be done daily, and 80% of the time it doesn’t work. If your cat is very very sick already it won’t be to her benifit to add to her illness, but if she isn’t this might be a viable option. I stress again, this is a risky treatment, and oftentimes not worth it, but it might be worth talking over with your vet.
I love all animals, that’s why I didn’t go to vet school, I couldn’t stand the thought of so many being sick. Silly I know, but I couldn’t get over it. I’ve got some more info here so let me know how it goes.
Sorry to hear about the prognosis for your cat. But if the vet says to put the poor kitty down, they are usually right, they only want to spare your pet further pain, they don’t like it any more than you do.
Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all. Even if you just loved a little kitty for a few days.
