Ideas - Cat with high temperature, not eating, but . .

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

Thanks - he came out a bit ago, so he got his subQ’s and pred, and is now safely and comfortably ensconced in the crate. He doesn’t look bad - but it was a long day. I couldn’t get an appointment (well, I thought it would be a simple drop-off for his B12), so when I went to pick him up, the vet wanted to talk to me, but an emergency had just arrived (dog vs car; he didn’t make it out of surgery), so I came back later. Still had to wait a while. I think he was stressed from that.

Hopefully he’s a little better tomorrow.

[Zu_Zu]

@Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom

Thanks - he came out a bit ago, so he got his subQ’s and pred, and is now safely and comfortably ensconced in the crate. He doesn’t look bad - but it was a long day. I couldn’t get an appointment (well, I thought it would be a simple drop-off for his B12), so when I went to pick him up, the vet wanted to talk to me, but an emergency had just arrived (dog vs car; he didn’t make it out of surgery), so I came back later. Still had to wait a while. I think he was stressed from that.

Hopefully he’s a little better tomorrow.

That sounds like a stressful vet event !

Jingles & AO for a nice, sunny, quiet day for Nigel & his mom tomorrow ~ Sounds like you two need a break !

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

Thanks - it was stressful. That poor dog - the owners didn’t want to accept that he was that badly hurt. Took a while for the vet to convince them to even do x-rays. And I’ve been making appointments for Nigel to avoid just this situation… the one day I don’t!

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

A quick update - Nigel’s fever never went away, so my vet talked with internal medicine at K-State. They suggested we test for - wait for it - histo. So we did.

Results were back today: positive.

I don’t know if it will make a difference at this point, but we will start treatment for it today. I should have listened to my gut and tested for it two months ago. Histo f#cking sucks.

[BUSY]

@Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom

A quick update - Nigel’s fever never went away, so my vet talked with internal medicine at K-State. They suggested we test for - wait for it - histo. So we did.

Results were back today: positive.

I don’t know if it will make a difference at this point, but we will start treatment for it today. I should have listened to my gut and tested for it two months ago. Histo f#cking sucks.

wow ! Jingles for the treatment plan to help him !

[rubygirl1968]

Oh my goodness! Poor Nigel.

I hope now that they know what is causing the fever he gets better soon.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

Thanks. I hope so, too. The procedure is an injection every 3 days - if it’s Sunday, the vet will still meet me to do it - and we’ll also try the oral antifungal, though we know he doesn’t tolerate it well. We will try it for 2-3 days; if we get a bad reaction, we stop.

Been here, done this. Can’t believe we’re doing it again.

[rubygirl1968]

I can’t believe it either.

Jingles for Nigel and you.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

Thank you. We’re both exhausted, but he was less antisocial tonight than he has been. It’s silly to think the injection is helping already, but he just seems a bit perkier tonight.

[ravenclaw]

Ugh!!! I’m so sorry for Nigel and you. Both of you keep hanging in there. In a way, is this possibly a good thing because you know what to do for it?

I hope both of you have a good weekend.

[shiloh]

Poor kitty! But I am glad you caught it and insisted. I hope he feels better. And this time around it gets rid of it for good.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

It is, in a way - at least we know what the underlying problem is, and we can treat that. I still can’t say if it will make a difference, really - but at least we can try. Honestly, if the test came back negative, I was going to have to seriously consider letting him go: he’s been awful all week, not eating, really depressed. But histo, I can fight.

[BUSY]

Jingles - admitting I am a bit shocked and speechless and know others must be worried and puzzled also.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

I know. It’s like I’m living some kind of reverse Hallmark movie.

My vet said he grilled the lab about the test. It tests the urine for traces of the fungus, up to, IIRC, a positive rating of 20. Anything over .01 is positive for histo. When a cat tests 0.0, they no longer have histo - they’ve cleared it completely. In other words, there’s no false positives or negatives, according to the lab.

So that means that sometime between March and August, while Nigel was going outside during the day sometimes, he must have come into contact with it again. Now I am freaked out for my barn cats, and wondering if I should get them all tested, or tested annually at their checkups. None have ever shown any signs of it, but … yeah. I am floored.

If he survives this, he will never go outside again unless it’s in a little hazmat suit.

On the up side, he is still being somewhat better this morning. He was under the dresser - which is FAR better than being under the couch, believe me - and I was able to coax him out a bit ago for his syringe feeding. I put the Intrafungol in his food, and he never even knew it was there. Since he’s not eating anyway, I figure it’s not going to hurt to try it (we put him on it last year, but it made him depressed an anorexic). He’s off the Veraflox and Prednisone (apparently steroids are just food for the histo, BTW), so aside from his subQ’s and occasional Cerenia if needed, he’s only getting syringe fed, which should make him a little happier. He drank quite a bit this morning on his own.

I swear, I could write the book on histoplasmosis in cats.

[CindyCRNA]

We got a young shelter cat about 5 years ago that developed a fever and wouldn’t eat. We tested for everything including histo. Unfortunately it was FIP. So heartbreaking. Glad you have a treatable diagnosis. Jingles for Nigel.

[BUSY]

Jingles for Nigel. How is he doing with his shot treatment ?

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

I was very hopeful on Sunday - he was energetic, eating on his own, happy.

By Monday, he wasn’t feeling as great. Yesterday, even worse - I’ve never seen him look quite that bad. He won’t eat on his own; he wants to drink, but won’t most of the time.

Today he looked/acted a smidge better, but still not eating on his own. I ordered the Carnivore Critical Care that got him through the last bout of histo, and it will be in today (thanks to 1-day Prime shipping), but it may be too late. He has lost a ton of weight in the last few days and has very little energy at the moment. I can’t tell if it’s the Intrafungol (which makes him depressed and anorexic, and we know that, but it’s the best chance to work in tandem with the shots to clear the histo as quickly as possible - it’s 7 days on, 7 off, so Friday would be the last day for a week), or if his kidneys are simply beginning to shut down.

I think we are taking it one day at a time right now. I want to give the histo meds a chance to work, but I am afraid we are too late with the treatment.

[BUSY]

((hugs)) & Jingles !

[beowulf]

Huge jingles.

[ravenclaw]

So sorry to hear this. Come on, meds. Come on, Nigel. Hang in there a little longer so the meds can work. Hugs and love to both of you.