PING Phil - Really sick kitten

Sunday morning I went in to take care of my fosters and I noticed one of
them was just laying in the bottom of the playpen and there was a lot of
bloody diarrhea in the litter box and vomit on the towels. Her temperature
was so low that she felt cool to the touch. Her two sisters, who share the
playpen with her, were and still are fine. This kitty had been fine the day
and night before and in fact had spent Saturday at the store for the
adoption day. This is a kitten who is about 12 - 14 wks old. We were told
that she was born outside under someone's porch. She was 8 wks old + before
someone brought her inside and was being kept in an unfinished basement
until I had foster space open up here and brought her home.

I got the ok to take her to the emergency vet. They tested her for FIV, FeLV
and Parvo and all were negative. She had been wormed a couple of weeks ago
and had gotten her first distemper shot 2 weeks ago. They ran a fecal and it
came back negative. They wormed her again anyway. They did an ultrasound and
didn't see anything that would indicate a blockage or foreign body in the
digestive tract. They put her on IV fluids and antibiotics but were only
giving me a 50/50 chance that she'd make it.

Her blood work results showed
NEU (2.50 - 12.40) HI at 14.37
HCT (30 - 45) LOW at 19.8
RBC (5 - 10) LOW at 3.99
HGB (9 - 15.1) LOW at 7

PCV/TS/BG Test showed
PCV (37 - 55%) LOW at 34
TS (5.3 - 7.8 mg/dl) LOW at 5

Albumin (2.6 - 3.9 g/%) LOW at 1
ALT (12 - 130 IU) HI at 181
Creat (.8 - 2.4 mg/dL) LOW at .4
TP (5.7 - 8.9 g/dL) LOW at 3.8

Monday I picked her up at the emergency vet and transported her directly to
the regular vet who has been keeping her on IV fluids etc. since. She was
more energetic than when I took her to the emergency vet but that was
probably as a result of being kept hydrated. She was too wobbly to stand up
but was moving around and shifting position. Sad state of affairs when
that's an improvement from just laying there limp. When I spoke to the vet
yesterday she said that the kitten had been able to maintain body
temperature overnight without the heating pad and they didn't think she had
been vomiting but was still passing a lot of very bloody diarrhea (frank
blood). I called
this morning and they said that she still has diarrhea. I have to call back
this afternoon and try to speak with the vet to get more detail.

Other than indicating bleeding in the lower intestine I'm not sure what this
all means or what could be causing it.

Any ideas?

Wendy

"Wendy" wrote in message
. ..
Sunday morning I went in to take care of my fosters and I noticed one of
them was just laying in the bottom of the playpen and there was a lot of
bloody diarrhea in the litter box and vomit on the towels. Her temperature
was so low that she felt cool to the touch. Her two sisters, who share the
playpen with her, were and still are fine. This kitty had been fine the
day
and night before and in fact had spent Saturday at the store for the
adoption day. This is a kitten who is about 12 - 14 wks old. We were told
that she was born outside under someone's porch. She was 8 wks old +
before
someone brought her inside and was being kept in an unfinished basement
until I had foster space open up here and brought her home.

I got the ok to take her to the emergency vet. They tested her for FIV,
FeLV
and Parvo and all were negative. She had been wormed a couple of weeks ago
and had gotten her first distemper shot 2 weeks ago. They ran a fecal and
it
came back negative. They wormed her again anyway. They did an ultrasound
and
didn't see anything that would indicate a blockage or foreign body in the
digestive tract. They put her on IV fluids and antibiotics but were only
giving me a 50/50 chance that she'd make it.

Her blood work results showed
NEU (2.50 - 12.40) HI at 14.37
HCT (30 - 45) LOW at 19.8
RBC (5 - 10) LOW at 3.99
HGB (9 - 15.1) LOW at 7

PCV/TS/BG Test showed
PCV (37 - 55%) LOW at 34
TS (5.3 - 7.8 mg/dl) LOW at 5

Albumin (2.6 - 3.9 g/%) LOW at 1
ALT (12 - 130 IU) HI at 181
Creat (.8 - 2.4 mg/dL) LOW at .4
TP (5.7 - 8.9 g/dL) LOW at 3.8

The bloodwork was done after the kitten was given fluids, right?




Monday I picked her up at the emergency vet and transported her directly
to
the regular vet who has been keeping her on IV fluids etc. since. She was
more energetic than when I took her to the emergency vet but that was
probably as a result of being kept hydrated. She was too wobbly to stand
up
but was moving around and shifting position. Sad state of affairs when
that's an improvement from just laying there limp. When I spoke to the vet
yesterday she said that the kitten had been able to maintain body
temperature overnight without the heating pad and they didn't think she
had
been vomiting but was still passing a lot of very bloody diarrhea (frank
blood). I called
this morning and they said that she still has diarrhea. I have to call
back
this afternoon and try to speak with the vet to get more detail.

Other than indicating bleeding in the lower intestine I'm not sure what
this
all means or what could be causing it.

Any ideas?

Tell the vet to look for campylobacter in the feces- I know he did a fecal
for worms but he needs to use a gram stain or do a fecal culture on
campylobacter
blood agar plates for campy.


Keep me posted on this.

Good luck.

Phil

Not sure if the blood work was done after fluids administered or not. I
would imagine so as they were having trouble getting any blood out of her
when she first got there.

They ended up sending her home last night. They said she was still quite
'pale'. She's on Flagyl. She still has a soft stool but no bleeding and no
vomiting. They want her to remain on I/D until the stool is back to normal
consistency.

The vet called this PM to see how she was doing and said they really have no
clue what caused all of this.

I have her separated from her sisters at the vets request. I guess I need to
have her by herself until she's back on regular food.

Wendy



"Phil P." wrote in message
news:AbBBi.6345$J65.927@trndny08...

"Wendy" wrote in message
. ..
Sunday morning I went in to take care of my fosters and I noticed one of
them was just laying in the bottom of the playpen and there was a lot of
bloody diarrhea in the litter box and vomit on the towels. Her
temperature
was so low that she felt cool to the touch. Her two sisters, who share
the
playpen with her, were and still are fine. This kitty had been fine the
day
and night before and in fact had spent Saturday at the store for the
adoption day. This is a kitten who is about 12 - 14 wks old. We were told
that she was born outside under someone's porch. She was 8 wks old +
before
someone brought her inside and was being kept in an unfinished basement
until I had foster space open up here and brought her home.

I got the ok to take her to the emergency vet. They tested her for FIV,
FeLV
and Parvo and all were negative. She had been wormed a couple of weeks
ago
and had gotten her first distemper shot 2 weeks ago. They ran a fecal and
it
came back negative. They wormed her again anyway. They did an ultrasound
and
didn't see anything that would indicate a blockage or foreign body in the
digestive tract. They put her on IV fluids and antibiotics but were only
giving me a 50/50 chance that she'd make it.

Her blood work results showed
NEU (2.50 - 12.40) HI at 14.37
HCT (30 - 45) LOW at 19.8
RBC (5 - 10) LOW at 3.99
HGB (9 - 15.1) LOW at 7

PCV/TS/BG Test showed
PCV (37 - 55%) LOW at 34
TS (5.3 - 7.8 mg/dl) LOW at 5

Albumin (2.6 - 3.9 g/%) LOW at 1
ALT (12 - 130 IU) HI at 181
Creat (.8 - 2.4 mg/dL) LOW at .4
TP (5.7 - 8.9 g/dL) LOW at 3.8

The bloodwork was done after the kitten was given fluids, right?




Monday I picked her up at the emergency vet and transported her directly
to
the regular vet who has been keeping her on IV fluids etc. since. She was
more energetic than when I took her to the emergency vet but that was
probably as a result of being kept hydrated. She was too wobbly to stand
up
but was moving around and shifting position. Sad state of affairs when
that's an improvement from just laying there limp. When I spoke to the
vet
yesterday she said that the kitten had been able to maintain body
temperature overnight without the heating pad and they didn't think she
had
been vomiting but was still passing a lot of very bloody diarrhea (frank
blood). I called
this morning and they said that she still has diarrhea. I have to call
back
this afternoon and try to speak with the vet to get more detail.

Other than indicating bleeding in the lower intestine I'm not sure what
this
all means or what could be causing it.

Any ideas?

Tell the vet to look for campylobacter in the feces- I know he did a fecal
for worms but he needs to use a gram stain or do a fecal culture on
campylobacter
blood agar plates for campy.


Keep me posted on this.

Good luck.

Phil

"Wendy" wrote in message
. ..
Not sure if the blood work was done after fluids administered or not. I
would imagine so as they were having trouble getting any blood out of her
when she first got there.

They ended up sending her home last night. They said she was still quite
'pale'. She's on Flagyl. She still has a soft stool but no bleeding and no
vomiting. They want her to remain on I/D until the stool is back to normal
consistency.

The vet called this PM to see how she was doing and said they really have
no
clue what caused all of this.

It certainly sounds like an infection caused by some bacteria- either campy
or E. coli or even salmonella since she's a kitten. Some vets are really
lazy- too lazy to perform a ssimple smear and culture.



I have her separated from her sisters at the vets request. I guess I need
to
have her by herself until she's back on regular food.


Good idea- if she has a bacterial infection she's probably shedding bacteria
in her feces.

Phil



Wendy



"Phil P." wrote in message
news:AbBBi.6345$J65.927@trndny08...

"Wendy" wrote in message
. ..
Sunday morning I went in to take care of my fosters and I noticed one
of
them was just laying in the bottom of the playpen and there was a lot
of
bloody diarrhea in the litter box and vomit on the towels. Her
temperature
was so low that she felt cool to the touch. Her two sisters, who share
the
playpen with her, were and still are fine. This kitty had been fine the
day
and night before and in fact had spent Saturday at the store for the
adoption day. This is a kitten who is about 12 - 14 wks old. We were
told
that she was born outside under someone's porch. She was 8 wks old +
before
someone brought her inside and was being kept in an unfinished basement
until I had foster space open up here and brought her home.

I got the ok to take her to the emergency vet. They tested her for FIV,
FeLV
and Parvo and all were negative. She had been wormed a couple of weeks
ago
and had gotten her first distemper shot 2 weeks ago. They ran a fecal
and
it
came back negative. They wormed her again anyway. They did an
ultrasound
and
didn't see anything that would indicate a blockage or foreign body in
the
digestive tract. They put her on IV fluids and antibiotics but were
only
giving me a 50/50 chance that she'd make it.

Her blood work results showed
NEU (2.50 - 12.40) HI at 14.37
HCT (30 - 45) LOW at 19.8
RBC (5 - 10) LOW at 3.99
HGB (9 - 15.1) LOW at 7

PCV/TS/BG Test showed
PCV (37 - 55%) LOW at 34
TS (5.3 - 7.8 mg/dl) LOW at 5

Albumin (2.6 - 3.9 g/%) LOW at 1
ALT (12 - 130 IU) HI at 181
Creat (.8 - 2.4 mg/dL) LOW at .4
TP (5.7 - 8.9 g/dL) LOW at 3.8

The bloodwork was done after the kitten was given fluids, right?




Monday I picked her up at the emergency vet and transported her
directly
to
the regular vet who has been keeping her on IV fluids etc. since. She
was
more energetic than when I took her to the emergency vet but that was
probably as a result of being kept hydrated. She was too wobbly to
stand
up
but was moving around and shifting position. Sad state of affairs when
that's an improvement from just laying there limp. When I spoke to the
vet
yesterday she said that the kitten had been able to maintain body
temperature overnight without the heating pad and they didn't think she
had
been vomiting but was still passing a lot of very bloody diarrhea
(frank
blood). I called
this morning and they said that she still has diarrhea. I have to call
back
this afternoon and try to speak with the vet to get more detail.

Other than indicating bleeding in the lower intestine I'm not sure what
this
all means or what could be causing it.

Any ideas?

Tell the vet to look for campylobacter in the feces- I know he did a
fecal
for worms but he needs to use a gram stain or do a fecal culture on
campylobacter
blood agar plates for campy.


Keep me posted on this.

Good luck.

Phil