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

[wolflady]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers for Phinehas. He's not improving too much as of this morning. It seemed he started to feel a bit better on Saturday and yesterday, but I think he was just stir crazy from being locked in the bathroom. I had let him out yesterday because I needed to majorly clean the bathroom. There were stains and smears of all kind and I just wanted to get that all cleaned up. Phinehas seemed happy to be out and just laid in the windowsill most of the day yesterday, but he seemed content. He ate a little, but not much. Today he's back to having no interest in food (even the wet stuff) and still has the diarrhea. I took a bit of faith and left him in the main room when I left for work this morning, so hopefully I didn't make a mistake. He was laying in his big comfy bed which KAK had brought for him, so I just thought he might feel more comfortable there.

They did take a blood draw, but I haven't heard anything back yet. The vet didn't see anything from the stool example except for the blood and mucous which seemed to indicate this stress colitis.

I'm worried if Phinehas doesn't eat, what to do? I was thinking about trying baby food, but his breeder Linda told me that baby food will cause diarrhea in her kitties, so I don't know if that would help or make it worse. I'll see how he is when I get home today, so more prayers needed that he recovers.

[Barbara]

The food should definitely not be too fat or too human- so no baby food.
Of course having to stay in the bathroom is stress as well
Did you ask your vet whether it would make sense to give him no food for a day?

All good wishes for Phinehas and you.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Karen, I'm sorry to hear this. Yes, maybe fasting him for 12-24 hours might help him. I'd also ask if maybe the antibiotic could be causing him to have diarrhea. I'm really surprised that you haven't heard anything about his blood work yet. When I took Storm in I found out later the same day. I'd definitely be calling Adobe in the morning to ask some more questions and hopefully get some answers. Phinehas remains in my thoughts and prayers.

[wolflady]

It seems like Phinehas is having his ups and downs. Today he seems to be having an "up" day. He was waiting for me at my bedroom door when he heard me stirring this morning, which is what he would usually do when he's feeling good. I opened the door and let him in and he purred and meowed, so that's definitely good improvement in behavior.
He even ate some treats before I left for work, so I'm glad he ate something. I don't think he ate anything at all yesterday, so I'm hoping he's on an upswing here. There wan't much in his litterbox though, so maybe that's because he didn't eat or drink anything? I hope that's it and not that he's gone somewhere else. He's always been a good cat about using his box, so I hope it's just because he didn't really put anything in his tummy yesterday. I'll probably let Malachi out of the bathroom when I get home tonight since he seems ready to come out. I was just hesitant to do so with Phinehas not feeling well since Malachi kind of latches himself to Phinehas whether Phinehas wants it or not! LOL

[Barbara]

If he didn't eat anything that will be the explanation for nothing in the litterbox. And it's a good sign: you know that cats use most of the water out of their food so the longer he doesn't go the drier it should be. We hope next time he's back to a nice tootsie roll

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks for the good update. I tried calling you but I guess you're not home yet. I hope he'll continue to do well from now on.

[wolflady]

Phinehas definitely seems to be better in the potty department and he's been eating and drinking. The latest thing now is he's gagging...a lot. He's been sneezing a bit, so I wasn't sure if the gagging comes from him having mucous in his throat or something else. He seems interested in playing with the laser light and he looks fine when he's active, but when he tries to curl up in his bed, he starts having these gagging fits. I just wish he would get better. I don't know if I should bring him into the vet for this or just wait it out another day or so.