Sneezes

The kitties slept most of the way home, which was good. They looked very cute together in the kennel I borrowed from our neighbors. When I got them home, the one that was supposedly better sneezed a HUGE yellow/green snot string out! I was so bummed. My cat was sick.

A sneeze later in the day, had blood in it! So I scheduled an appointment at my vet, and emailed the lady for their vet records because she never gave them to me. She never sent me them in time for the vet appointment, and when my vet called her she didn't return their call. I was really worried, and a bit pissed about the whole thing.

The vet tested for FELV/FIV (Which supposedly was also done at the rescue, but they said he wasn't sick either.) Luckily the result was negative. My vet said it could just be a severe URI, or it could be something called FIP, which can be common when animals are overcrowded or from unknown sources. If he has this he will likely die, and she was on the fence on the diagnosis, since he is pretty alert. However he had more signs than just a URI (his bloated stomach, stinky gas, previous URIs, could point to something more) and thus the concern.

I decided to treat him for the URI in the hopes that that's all it is. So now I am giving my little kitty a pill for 20 days. Unfortunately, he also has a mild case of the sc00ts, so I have to be REALLY diligent about cleaning the litter almost every time he uses it. (I also switched from clay based litter to a more natural corn litter, since I read that the clay can cause URI in some kittens. ) Today I picked up some beneficial bacteria that I will be sprinkling on his food to help get his digestive system balanced. Poor kitty.

The cat lady got back to me after I had taken the kitties to the vet. She was very defensive and told me that she gave me their records and I must have lost them! She went on to say he just has a cold, and that my vet wasn't a good one for checking for FELV or wanting to run a blood panel for FIP, and she would take the cat to her vet if I wanted to drive it back up there. (Hello! I left it there an extra week so he could get better! Like I'm going to take him back to the same vet!?!) She did manage to email me the "vet records" which was just a sheet that she created with dates of treatments written in. She didn't answer all my questions, or give me the vet's contact information, or the original shelter information I requested so I could follow up with them. But she was always bad about replying to everything I asked, so that's not something I'm shocked about.

It's been about a week of the antibiotics, and it's still to early to tell if he's getting better. His snot seems clearer and not bloody, I think his coat looks shiner, he might not be sneezing as much. It's just to soon to tell at this point. The best I can say is, he hasn't gotten worse. So far the other one has an occasional sn0tless sneeze, but nothing like the little guy.

When I signed up for rescue kitties, I really wanted to have a healthy ones. That said, I will not return them, as I already love them both and will do what I can to help them get better. Although I'm more than a bit miffed at the cat lady, I am sure in her heart she believes she has done the right thing and that although the cat she gave me was sick, it was by no fault of her own, but it still doesn't make things right.