CatBanter - View Single Post

**-L.** · December 7th 06, 09:24 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav

wrote:
Hello. I e-mailed someone who suggested I join this group to get my
question answered. I will give as many details as possible and would
greatly appreciate any advice. We took in a kitten when it was about
eight weeks old. Supposedly, the mother was healthy and had her shots
etc. We brought the kitten into our home and had it here for two or
three months. It was mostly inside but got outside a few times. I
believe she got left outside all night once - accidentally. Anyway, we
had another kitten that had an abcessed eye (we were treating her) -
then we noticed Callie's eye had clouded over. We assumed that she got
it from the other kitten. We also noted that every once in awhile,
Callie seemed slightly unsteady. She didn't fall or anything like
that, but she sort of had an odd gait that looked like one of her hind
legs might not be functioning properly. Even though she was eating,
she started losing weight. We brought her to the vet, and at
approximately six months of age, she weighed 2.3 pounds (this was in
November).

At six months??? Anfd you couldn't figure out that something was
terribly wrong with this cat before this?

We had also noted that there were small spots of urine on
the floor that had an orange/red tint, and we thought she was doing
that. (Now we aren't sure because one of our adult male cats started
doing the same thing so it could have been him all along, but we were
pretty certain it was Callie). We started giving her antibiotics. She
saw the vet on Thursday, and she seemed rather lethargic on the
weekend. Sunday morning, she was out eating her dry cat food. She
jumped up on the counter where the food was and ate at least some.
Later that day, I heard a terrible yowling and crying coming from under
my bed. She was in a storage box under my bed having what seemed like
seizures. She was shaking and trembling, and she was soaking wet. My
husband said she had a terrible odor as well. He picked her up, and
she was mostly limp. We put her in the carrier and brought her to the
vet's immediately. On the ride to the vet's, she laid on her side and
was mostly quiet except for those times when she would cry out for a
minute or so. The vet thought she had distemper and treated her with
fluids, warmth, antibiotics etc. The following morning, she died. Now
I am wondering - what are the chances that she could have had rabies?
There have been documented cases of rabies within a mile of our house.
I have a friend whose daughter had been here around early November, and
she is concerned about her daughter and wondering whether or not she
should get treatment for rabies exposure. (My children and I are
already being treated for exposure to a stray cat w/ rabies). I had
not considered rabies at the time, but now I am very concerned about
the possibility. I do not know enough about rabies to be able to
determine this. I know that noone can be certain because the cat was
not tested. This is causing incredible stress and trauma, and I would
welcome your advice and opinions. Thanks. Rie

It could be a number of things - encephalitis, reaction to the
antibiotics, FIP - you just don't know. Why didn't the cat have its
rabies vaccination? They can be given at 12 weeks.

-L.