Tuesday, April 13, 2010

News from Pet Land

You girls are amazing, thanks so much for your comments and support.

So Patches fever had disappeared by early afternoon, I went visiting him and he was really happy to see me, curious and playful. The usual Patch. The vet called again around 9 pm to tell us that he was still without a fever and doing well. The problem is that they don't know what brings these fevers. They feel it's unlikely to be FIP because cats normally don't go in an out of it, symptoms get worse and that's it. One possibility is that he may have a herpes virus (not contagious to humans) which is affecting the respiratory tract. Due to the nature of the virus he is not really getting rid of it and stress can cause it to replicate and the fever spikes (to prevent the virus to replicate further). It's a bit of a pain, like a cold sore, but manageable. They want to retest him in a month time for FIV and FeLV in case what they have seen so far are false negatives due to maternal antibodies masking the results (not sure this is really a possibility though). The strange fact is that The Dude is in perfect health. You'd think a virus would spread to him too.
This morning Patches was still without fever and eating "like a horse" as the vet said so we'll bring him home later today!
And this morning I also brought The Dude to be neutered so hopefully everything will go well and we'll pick him up tomorrow morning. Patches will have a quiet house for a day at least, and hopefully it'll be little longer before he has another episode...I'm dreading the time when we'll go on holiday and board the two of them...but the cattery we selected seems great, they even use our same vet, so hopefully everything will go well.

9 comments:

Heather said...

Yay for Patches! I was worried about him yesterday. (Yes, I'm that much of a cat person that I worry about other people's cats. LOL!) What a strange thing though with the fevers. I wonder what is causing them. The fact that his breathing was normal this time around is a good thing, perhaps he's slowly battling it down.

I hope the boarding goes well when you are in vacation. I was just looking at our pet sitter's business card yesterday. She specializes in special needs cats. (Where's that eye-roll smiley when I need it?) Lucy fits the bill for special needs! UGH! The things we do for pets...

TeeJay said...

I'm so glad Patches is doing better! I'm so hoping that he doesn't have anymore episodes and that he continues to heal. And it's great news that the pet boarder uses the same vet as you. At least they are familiar with Patches and his situation. Continued best wishes for a healthy kitty!

Adele said...

I'm so glad that Patches is coming home, and that he'll have a good convalescent day to rest. It's great timing with The Dude's neutering, too...they might both be under the weather for a few days, but that way they can keep each other company in their convalescence:)

Lots of ups and downs. So sorry you're dealing with this, Fran, on top of everything else. I can imagine it's well worth it (and will especially be worth it when you have them both home again) but I'm sorry that you've had to deal with this. And I'm thinking good thoughts for Patches. A friend's cat went through something similar - lots of episodes, but then it finally passed. Here's hoping that this pesky virus leaves the building. For good.

Best When Used By said...

Patches really is a fighter! It seems a strange malady, but hopefully it will be manageable. Now we need to send love and recovery wishes for The Dude....ouch!

junebug said...

Oh odd but I'm glad he is looking much better. Lots of love for you and Patches.

TwoDogMama said...

I am so glad to hear Patches is doing well. I was worried about him, the Dude, and you. Patches is a fighter just like you and you picked him for a reason. I hope he gets some needed rest while The Dude is recovering from his surgery. Hang in there.

Anonymous said...

Really glad to hear Patches on the mend, a nice surety in an unsure world x

Wishing 4 One said...

Yeah for tough guy patches, tough just like his mama. Hopefully they will find out everything is fine and he will back to regular soon. xoxo

Unknown said...

Yay! I'm so glad to hear he's doing better! I hope that once you get the Dude neutered, things will settle down for you guys.