Phinehas and Malachi health issues - confirmed diagnoses: herpes virus in the eye

[wolflady]

Everything has been going great with the introduction of the new kitten, but last night Phinehas had a little bit of diarrhea. I also noticed some clear "vomit" on the floor in the corner of the room, so the only place I really have to confine him is the bathroom with the kitten.
Initially when I brought the kitten home, it looked like he had a bit of an upper resperitory problem and I called his breeder about it and she said that it's best to just let them work their way through it to help build their immune systems. She said that the baby and Phinehas may even share germs, and that's ok...I should just them them get through it so they will be stronger. This is what she's always done with all of her cats.
So, I just wiped the baby's face with a warm cloth and he otherwise seemed fine. I don't know if this would have caused an issue with Phinehas or not, but when I checked on him this morning there was more diarrhea that looked like had blood and mucous in it and Phinehas was drooling. This really alarmed me, so I called KAK's vet since they are much closer to me than the vet I used to go to. I told them what was going on, and they said that they didn't feel I needed to rush him in so they gave me an appointment at 11am for today.

I'm so worried about Phinehas. Ever since I've had him, he's NEVER been ill. I start thinking about there being an obstruction or something else going on with him because what would cause the drooling and dry heeves? I'm so worried, so any prayers for Phinehas will be much appreciated.

[Karen]

Awww, poor Phinman, prayer sent!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Karen, I'm so sorry to hear this. I sure hope that he didn't eat some of the cat toys that I gave you. I warned you to be careful with the toys that had elastic attached to them so hopefully that's not it. You may want to have your husband look at all of the toys to make sure that nothing is missing or has been bitten off.

Hopefully the vet will be able to diagnose his problem easily and that it's nothing serious. Adobe is a wonderful place and everyone is so nice and caring there. I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers. Please continue to keep us updated about him. Try not to worry too much and take care. (((HUGS)))

[wolflady]

I don't think he ate anything weird and all the toys are put away unless I get them out to play with him so he couldn't have ingested any elastic. I'll have Sreedhar check anyway, just to be sure.

I really hope it's nothing serious. I have an appointment at 11, so I'm going to go with my husband since he can pick me up here at the office on the way to the hospital. I have never seen Phinehas like this. I sure hope it's nothing serious. He was doing so well just a day ago!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Be sure to have the vet to also look at his teeth and gums. If there's a problem there this could also cause drooling. Good luck.

[Randi]

Karen, I'm sorry to hear about Phinehas, but try not to worry too much, it may be something the vet can clear up in no time - hopefully! Could it be that he needs a diet with more fiber in it?

I'm sending lots of good thoughts to Phinehas, and to you.

[Barbara]

If there is diarrhoea I don't think there is a real obstruction. I would rather think that he shared one germ too much with Malachi and may now have an infection.
I hope the vet sorts it all out and Phinehas will be ok soon.

[wolflady]

Thanks for all your thoughts, guys. I'll be sure to update as soon as I get back from the vet.
**hugs**

[shais_mom]

oh poor guy! i hope he's alright.
keep us posted!

[wolflady]

We just got back from the vet and they think he could possibly have a stress induced colitis!! I've never heard of such a thing, so I hope it's not permanent. It's strange because Phinehas has never had diarrhea before and all of a sudden he does now. The stool sample I brought in showed blood and mucous, but no bacteria that would indicated an infection. They ended up giving him fluids, an anti vomit injection and an injection of anti-biotics. They also took some blood so we can start looking into his stinky mouth issue. I have antibiotics "the pink stuff" which I am to start him on this evening since he's supposed to get it twice a day and he's already had the injection. Poor guy. He was so good. He just purred on the table and let the techs poke and prod him as they needed.
The vet didn't see any concern about needing to seperate Phinehas and Malachi, so Sreedhar has dropped me off here at work and will go home and let Phinehas back in the bathroom with the baby. Cuddling should be ok

[Barbara]

So it's a colitis- and we know our babies are sensitive - even if he likes Malachi it's still a change. And he is already adjusting to this change so I hope after the antibiotics he'll be fine.
Filou had an infection with diarrhoea 4 weeks ago and he is just fine now.
Make sure Phinehas gets very light and high quality food now. Filou started with a food that contained only chicken, chicken broth and 1% of rice and that was a good start for him.
He sends purrs to Phinehas.

[wolflady]

That's true. I didn't get the sense he was stressed, but maybe he was just overly excited which is a form of stress, right? Thanks for the tip on the food Barbara. I'm glad Filou is doing better too!
**hugs**

[krazyaboutkatz]

Poor Phinehas.I sure hope he'll start feeling better soon. Has he been eating Malachi's food? Since it's a little different from his regular Royal Canin maybe this is what caused his diarrhea. I'll call you tonight to check on him. Lots of prayers and positive thoughts are being sent his way.

[wolflady]

Thanks KAK. I certainly hope he gets to feeling better. He's still pretty much the same. Very lethargic with diarrhea. He loves the red bed you brought over, so that's good. I'll give him his first dose of meds tomorrow and hopefully it will help him to feel better. I'll be sure to keep you posted. Please continue to send some healing vibes for Phinehas.

[wolflady]

No improvement with Phinehas this morning. He's still not eating and still has the bloody diarrhea. I tried enticing him with some wet food, but he wasn't interested. His medicine says "give with food", but if he's not eating...what do you do? I ended up giving him a dose this morning, because I want to get him on the antibiotics. He wasn't too happy about it and probably half of it ended up on the floor. I'm just so disappointed. Maybe bringing this little kitty home was a mistake. Phinehas was just fine....never any diarrhea or illness from the day I first brought him nome, and now if this colitis is going to be a permanent thing...it's going to be a nightmare. It's my fault he's suffering now.
I don't want to keep Phinehas cooped up in the bathroom, but it's the only room we have to isolate the kitties. My place is small and I don't want to put him in any carpeted rooms since he's leaving diarrhea smears wherever he sits down. I've been wiping his bottom, but it's not really helping since it seems he has it leaking out constantly.
I swear, I must have bad karma following me around since I never seem to catch a break. My husband is going away for 3-6 months to work a contract job since he hasn't been able to find anything out here for 4 months and we thought adding a friend to keep Phinehas company would be a good thing. Introductions went well, but I guess there was a catch to all that. Why couldn't it have just gone fine and stayed fine? I wish the universe would just give me a break! I'm so frustrated these days.

Prayers for Phinehas are appreciated.