This morning, although his eyes look better, he has bubbles coming out of his nose. He shows no interest in food- he just wants me to love on him. When I tried to assist feed him some pureed baby food, he spit up large amounts of mucous. He spent the better part of the night hugging the vaporizer and his tail switching tells me that leaving him alone for now is the thing to do.
Mike goes to see the vascular surgeon today but I should get the results to Zavan’s bloodwork today and have a clearer picture of what we are looking at here. I also am going to ask my feline specialist to take a look at him later in the day.
He is such a love- but his boneyness is alarming. He has a sweet disposition- but when he tires of you- you better look out! LOL That tail switching means business. Sometimes just letting them be in the dark alone is good because some cats have amazing regeneration properties- but again something has caused him to drop alarming weight- he should be at least 12-14 pounds as he is long and lanky.
It’s going to be a busy day will try to keep everyone informed. By the look of my in-bin I am not the only one who has fallen in love with this Chocolate Boy!
3:30 update: The blood tests indicate Zavan has bartonella and is extremely anemic-at the very edge of needing a blood transfusion but not quite there yet. It is a flea-born disease and cats who carry it also give humans who have low immune systems cat scratch fever.
There is a specific blood test to prove that he has it, but it is prohibitively expensive and so we are just going to put him on Doxcyclycline the wonder drug. The problem comes with the fact that Zavan can’t swallow pills because his throat is so inflamed and even liquid is a challenge. We are looking into a Doxy patch to see if anyone in this area can make such a creature. That would be wonderful! He could have the medication without the stress of pilling and holding him to squirt liquid into his mouth.
I just got home from the doctor’s and Mike will be admitted to the hospital on Friday where they will remove a growth that no one seems to know what it is, nor have they ever seen anything like it before- and we just got back from the vascular surgeon and he is scratching his head. They will rush it to pathology and let us know the results as soon as possible-
(OK God, you can stop any time now- my prayer life is very strong!) 🙂
Thank you so much for your update on Zavan. God bless you for all you are doing for him! Let us hope the antibiotic injection is “burning” and driving the bacterial infection out of him, hence the bubbles coming from his nose! My hope and prayers go with you and Michael today as well! Thank you again for all your love and efforts for Little Zavan. He is such a doll and a fighter!
Bill,
Most people would have just left him on the street where you found him. They would have either not noticed him, or just drove by because their life was more important than a straggly old stray cat. THANK YOU for NOT being that person. Thank you for stopping, for caring, for remembering Chris and for presenting him to me. I am honored to care for him and will do the best I can to be sure he gets healthy and happy. He’s having a bad day- perhaps all of the stress is catching up to him, I don’t know- but at least he is moving around the room and trying to find a spot where he can rest in comfort. He is as amazing as you are Sir- and I feel blessed in meeting BOTH of you!
Thanks for the update! Poor sweet boy. Please get well Zavan. Thanks to Bill and you for giving him a chance to recover and giving him the love he needs. Yes I too am in love with that chocolate boy. 🙂
MA, thank you so much for all you’re doing to get sweet Zavan back on his paws again. I’m holding him in my heart, hoping the news from the vet will be encouraging. You’re so right – Bill is such a special person for stopping to help Zavan. There must be a reason that the three of you were meant to come together!
I hope he’ll turn around as fast as my little Lyra..once she began to be able to smell something, and with handfeeding, her appetite is coming back – thanks also to her love of stinky tunafish cat food and her beloved KK.
He very much looks like a Havana Brown to me..a still somewhat rare breed, I believe. I knew a breeder of them back East.
Look around for a compounding pharmacy. They make specialized medications. Most large towns have one floating around somewhere, although they usually don’t advertise all that much. Luna took amitriptyline as a gell on her ears for a year or two. Something like that would probably help Zavan.
Purrrrrss for you, Mike & Zavan. Hang in there, all of you.
Bless you and Bill for taking good care of little Zavan! We are sending lots of love and purrs to you all, and hope he starts to feel better quickly. When they can’t smell, they won’t eat – been there done that. He is happy to be with you, which he shows when he is not being bothered. Thank you for updating us.