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Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 8:02:27 AM

cloudboy

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My cat, George, got lethargic and suffered from a loss of appetite about 4 weeks ago. He is a regal, silver and white tabby Maine Coon weighing about 21 llbs (and he is lean.)

We took him to the vet several times. The physical exam revealed no problems, and blood screening revealed nothing either. This left the diagnosis as a "fever or unknown origin" (FUO). His temperature hovered between 103.1-104.5 degrees, well over the 102 normal mark, but not so high as to be life threatening.

Two rounds of antibiotics did nothing. Information on the internet was vague about FUO. He continued to lose weight and strength.

As of today, George never got better and the diagnosis was changed to cancer. This was unexpected b/c he was just 6 years old.

If you have owned a cat or a dog and suffered through this FUO, please share your experience here. Did you do anything to treat it? Did you break the fever? How long did it take for your pet to recover? If your pet did not recover, what happened?

Today we have to put George down, and its a very sad day for our household. It's really hard to lose such a battle. I wish it had a better outcome.

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RE: Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 8:03:56 AM

LafayetteLady

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I'm sorry about your cat.

I'm curious though, how did they reach the diagnosis of cancer?

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RE: Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 8:06:01 AM

pahunkboy

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Get yourself to a library and do some reading on cat vet books. DO IT. You know your cat better then the vet does. I have saved $100s this way.

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RE: Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 8:54:26 AM

angelikaJ

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Antibiotics will not cure a virus.

Also, Lyme disease does occur in cats and their test has to be sent off.

They use Doxycycline to cure that.

The symptoms include fever and lethargy along with weight loss.

edit to add:
However, if you live in New Caledonia, then Lyme does not seem likely.

I am very sorry for the loss or your dear George.

< Message edited by angelikaJ -- 6/11/2013 9:30:15 AM >

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RE: Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 9:28:43 AM

Duskypearls

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Cloudboy, it is sad and unfortunate that George was ill, and his diagnosis took a while. I can understand how difficult that must have been for you.

So many things can cause a Fever of Unknown Origin, and it can very challenging, and may takes weeks, months and beau coup bucks for many different tests to try to pin it down.

As it is not uncommon for a bacterial infection to be the cause of such a fever, so it makes sense your vet gave a couple of rounds of antibiotics to start with.

May I ask, if it does not upset you too much, what sort of testing did Vet do, and what made Vet sure the final diagnosis was cancer? What kind of cancer, where and to what degree? What diagnostic tool? Was it his kidneys?

What blood screening did Vet do?

Cats are such funny creatures, surely from another planet, and can be hard to diagnose in a timely manner. They are so skilled at keeping their illnesses, injuries and discomforts so secret at times, it is simply maddening.

And, cancers can be difficult to recognize, as they can grow for a long time without notice or symptoms, depending upon which part of the body they're in.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I know you wish you had known something was not right with him earlier, but that was not something you could control.

I wish you well, dear.

< Message edited by Duskypearls -- 6/11/2013 9:35:33 AM >

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RE: Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 9:28:48 AM

Rule

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I am sorry for your loss.

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RE: Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 9:34:32 AM

pahunkboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Rule

I am sorry for your loss.

Yikes- I missed that part of the post.

Hugs to OP

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RE: Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 9:54:02 AM

MasterCaneman

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I'm sorry for your loss. I had my little bud Highway for 17 years, and when I took him to the vet, this is what he had: Feline Leukemia. The symptoms you described were identical to his. When I got him to the vet, she said there was nothing that could be done at that point other than to make him comfortable. Again, condolences on your loss.

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RE: Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 1:09:05 PM

LafayetteLady

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Feline Leukemia is not treatable. It will, however, show up in blood work and is one of the first things they check for I believe.

A cat can have that for years and be perfectly fine, with no symptoms. But then when it does become symptomatic, that's it sadly.

Any cat who goes outside should receive the vaccine for Feline Leukemia.

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RE: Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 1:11:26 PM

tazzygirl

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My heart goes out to you. It was hard for us when we had to put our Binxie down for cancer.

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RE: Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 2:02:41 PM

cloudboy

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Thanks to everyone for the replies.

In terms of my VET experience, we never opted for an expensive workup of George, a move that would have required sending him to a internist. The trouble we had, as some of you have pointed out from your own experience, was that at first his illness was mysterious and the initial exams (blood work and physical) did not reveal anything. About two weeks after that, after the antibiotics, George simply became seriously ill and we just took a hospice approach from there.

Even though we did not go an "expensive route," we did spend $500.00 for what we did do.

He died with dignity. There was no vomiting or diarrhea. He could use his box. He got to sleep and stay on his favorite blanket.

I know this sounds really dumb / obvious, but we can't communicate with animals such that they can tell is where something hurts, if treatment is working, etc. It's a guessing game.

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RE: Fever of Unknown Origin -- Cats - 6/11/2013 2:33:07 PM

JstAnotherSub