Wonderful news!!! I was hoping to find this post tonight!!! Yeah!

I have to tell you about Ripley because he experienced something very similar last year in Oct. When we adopted Jazz she was very sick with several things one being a URI. Unfortunately Ripley caught it but didn't show any signs for over a month and then he started hiding, being lethargic and not eating much. His head also became very hot. I took him to the vet and they kept him for two days on IV fluids and antibiotics. We brought him home thinking all was well and he was on the mend and then very late that night he began throwing up over and over and then it turned into diarrhea. He started acting very strangely and wanted to use the bathroom in odd places like the recliner, sofa and his bed. He settled down and went to sleep and by this time it was about 5 in the morning so we waited until the vet's office opened at 7 am to take him in. I still feel terrible about waiting.

They kept him for six more days - on IVs for most of it. They did x-rays and test and couldn't figure out what was wrong. Finally the vet decided that it was a bacterial infection due to his high white blood cell count but he wasn't sure were it was located. They think it may have been lying dormant for months and the cold he caught from Jazz just set it off. He was so weak and pitiful and even the vet thought he wouldn't make it at times but he did. He weighs around 20 pounds but he was barely 15 pounds when he came home. He was so skinny and frail. I had to continue to take him to the vet for antibiotic injections every day for five more days after we brought him home and it did the trick. He slowly recovered.

I don't think he got back to normal until January and actually he was more active and spunky than he had been in years. We had his teeth cleaned in Feb. because the vet said it was needed as a precautionary measure in case the bacteria came from there.

Anyway, a lot of his symptoms were similar to Joey's and since you said they think it was a bacterial infection I wanted to tell you about Ripley.

If you find out anything more I'd love to know about it. I still wonder what exactly happened to him but I'm just thankful he is healthy.