Hello,
About a year and half ago, I adopted 2 kittens from a home with outdoor cats residing. One was a male (Max) from a litter born at that home, and the other was a female stray (Minni) found abandon. Both kittens were about the same age, give or take a month. Both kittens where covered in fleas but were bathed and rid of them immediately. Regular vet check were always good and cats where utd on vaccinations.
MAX- Yellow long haired domestic Male
Minni - Gray and black tabby Female
JULY 2015
Minni unexpectedly and very suddenly became ill and died. Because cats all well at disguising illness it was too late by the time I got her to the vet.
Symptoms: lethargic, no appetite, weight loss, unsteady gate, licking concrete floor, and severely anemic. NOTE: she did not have a fever every time the vet check.
Labs and tests:
CBC Blood Panel: RBC 2.75, HGB 4.4, HCT 12.92, WBC 3.32, NEU 0.95….. Everything else WNL
Feline Leukemia- NEG
Parvo- NEG
UTI – NEG
Respiratory Illness- NEG
Vet suspected Haemobartonella Parasite based on labs, rule outs, anemia, and she could see something (under microscope) in her blood, but could not confirm. The test takes a week to result, which was ultimately NEGATIVE.
Meanwhile, Minni had a blood transfusion and was sent home on Doxycycline, Prednisone, and Iron.
Minni seemed better after the transfusion but declined rapidly again. She died 3 days later. Needless to say I felt very helpless and have no clue exactly what caused all this.
Max never had any symptoms
3 DAYS AGO
Max was taken to the vet for the same s/s of Minni. He has ALMOST the exact same symptoms, labs, test result, rule outs…. EXCEPT, he was not yet anemic and he had a fever of 103.
Once again, Vet said she could see something under the microscope and suspects it’s the H. felis. Blood has been sent to a different lab for testing. Now I wait!!! Max’s appetite and weakness is getting worse and worse. He’s taking the same meds the same way as Minni.
I don’t know what else I can do. I need some advice or ideas or anything at this point. I’ve been reading everything I could possibly online and they all say that with treatment, the prognosis is good if it’s H. felis, but it doesn’t seem to be going that way AGAIN! When cats start taking Doxycycline, how long does it usually take to work? In other word, he’s been taking it BID for three days and doesn’t seem any better. I work in the medical field as an RN in the ER, so I understand “medically” more than the average pet owner, but this is driving me crazy that I can figure it out.
Jody