Your thoughts? (long)

My wife and I lost Sam, a Siamese, several months ago. He had several
problems and was "shutting down". He may have had FIV among other things.
We believe he may have contracted the disease from fighting with an outdoor
male cat that keeps wandering onto our property. Now, our second cat, a
Persian, is exhibiting much of the same behavior/symptoms. He is now at the
local Vet's office and will be there at least through tomorrow. They did a
blood work up and the only abnormality seemed to a slightly lowered WBC. We
live in a very remote area and don't have ready access to a lot of Vets.
Here is the fax that I sent to the Vet tonight so that he can read it when
he comes into the office in the morning. If anyone has any
suggestions/opinions etc., they would be appreciated. Losing our second cat
within a relatively short period of time would be tough...especially if it's
because of something we did or did not do to protect him.

Thanks
Barry (email ) Note: remove the "7" from the
address when responding.

Here's the fax to the Vet that I just sent:

Mark.



Our Cat "Max"



I'm not sure what tests you've run so far but I have been thinking about Max's
symptoms and those that precipitated the death of "Sam", our Siamese. I
think Sam had a number of problems but one thing we suspected (but I don't
recall if you were ever able to confirm it) was the possibility that he had,
among other things, FIV. When we moved to Hiouchi about three years ago,
Sam fought continually with an outdoor cat that hung around our property. I'm
thinking that Sam may have been infected with FIV from that cat.and may have
transmitted it to Max.



Aside from the low WBC, Max has had eye problems (although his breed does
have a propensity for that), respiratory problems, vomiting and
regurgitation (more during the last month) and an obvious personality change
during the last few weeks. He's more lethargic, seems to need more
attention, does not want to leave the house and no longer wants to sleep on
our bed at night, which is something he's done for years. Mitigating an FIV
concern is that Max has not been losing weight, has not had a problem with
diarrhea, has not had a fever (that we know of.but we don't check him) and
when palpating him, he doesn't seem to be tender in any places nor have I
been able to feel anything that seemed enlarged. However, I could certainly
miss something as I don't really know what's normal.



Have you tested Max for FIV antibodies and/or all other autoimmune diseases?
I hate to think that we may have contributed to the death of both of our
cats because we let an outside cat have access to them. But, it sure seems
like that's a possibility.at least enough of one to ask you about it. If he
does have FIV, then we need to advise the owner of the outdoor cat that she
may want to have her cat tested. He seems healthy.but he may be more of a
"carrier", I suppose.



The other possibility is that Sam contracted something from being around a
lot of raccoons. When lived in a redwood forest in Eureka until moving to
Hiouchi about three years ago and had about seventy raccoons (believe it or
not) that roamed around our property (we were engaged in animal rehab work
at the time). Both Max and Sam came into contact with the raccoons
periodically.and probably raccoon urine and feces. I understand that
raccoons carry FIV as well.



We'll be home all day today. If you need to reach us and we're not at home,
either Yvonne or I will have one of our cell phones with us. Yvonne's cell
number is ******and mine is *******



Thanks for the on-going help. As I mentioned during my phone conversation
with you, your obvious compassion is noticed and appreciated.



Barry & Yvonne

Hiouchi