What a long appointment we had this morning, but they were very thorough and very kind to him.

Charlie has a bad strain of several viruses- rhinotracheitis, herpes and the calicivirus, He doesn’t have ulcers on his tongue or his upper mouth, but rather in his throat! This is causing a severe case of what they just called sore-throat-itis, causing him to open mouth breathe, and also why he can’t eat certain foods. The food scratches his throat going down. It explains the gurgeling purr he has, and why his lymph nodes and throat are swollen. He even has tonsilitis- which is odd because Gaye recently informed me that cats have tonsils. I had no idea! I was thrown off the track because the last time I dealt with herpes virus many years ago, there was the typical runny nose, runny eyes that he doesn’t have. The reason he doesn’t have this is because he is so blocked up with infection that nothing can move past the swollen tissue.

The air accumulating inside of him is because he open mouth breathes- the bubbles are causing stress on his heart and lungs and putting him into pain.

They believe he is worth fighting for, so he is yes, still with us, and will remain here. They gave me Buprenix for pain he gets this every 12 hours, it will take about 45 minutes from dosing to kick in. He is also on Zithromax on a pretty rigid scheduled amount until he has had 8 doses. He also is taking sulcrafate as a coating agent to help his throat. I am to give him Lysine daily 250 mg a day. He is contagious to the other kitties, so I barricaded the bottom of the door with a piece of drywall (from our collapsed bedroom roof) so that the remaining fosters don’t catch it from him. I need to get them vaccinated against it. He may shed the virus over time and just be a carrier, but right now he is actively shedding the virus in the litter pans and the food and water bowls, so he is isolated.

Now for the bad news: In order to explore his heart, liver, lung damage that shows up a bit on the x-ray, they want to schedule an ultra-sound for him. They don’t do that in the clinic, they refer out to the vet schools. It would cost me another $380.00 to have this procedure done. They also want me to buy a nebulizer which is prohibitively expensive as well. But they say that Charlie will be long-term care for quite awhile and on medication most of his life. I am going to continue to use the vaporizer because it seems to help.

It’s ironic really, I just got through paying off the outstanding vet bill owed- and now, just on one little tiny orange kitty, I owe over what I just paid off! But there is something about charlie, I can’t put my finger on it, I can’t even explain it adequately, but something about him that grabs my heart.

They want to see him on Monday to see if the pain medication needs to be upped or continued. Typically for this clinic, re-checks are not at no charge. Although I can appreciate all they do for these cats, I can’t help but wish they would work with me to make payments instead of wanting it all up front.

We have an appointment with a feline specialist tomorrow morning at 8:30 Hopefully some answers will be coming my way afterwards.

After last night being so rocky, first thing this morning, I took Charlie into the vet’s office where they worked us in. I talked with Dr. Walker at great length about Charlie’s hitching breath, his open-mouth breathing which could indicate a heart murmur or heart problem. His passage of worms (still) the dry hacking cough that infrequently occurs and his wet almost gargly(is that a word) sounding purr.

We talked about what we might be facing with him and how best to discover what we are up against. It was decided to run a set of x-rays and see if his esophagus was constricted, what his lungs look like, and how his stomach and bowel look.

It wasn’t good. Charlie has an abnormally swollen heart that instead of sitting erect, it is sloped and tipped to one side. He has a bubbles of air floating in his esophagus, a big bubble of air in his stomach that impedes looking at the contents of his stomach, and air in his bowel as well.

Dr. Walker was kind enough to tell me what all this means. She said that most of it boils down to poor nutrition when he was born, damage from the roundworms and hookworms and tapes. She seemed encouraged that he has gained 3 pounds- that he was active during the exam and that he doesn’t seem to want to give up the ship quite yet.

We had a long conversation, and at the end of it, looking at the x-rays and watching Charlie struggle to breathe- I was at the point of asking her to go ahead and tuck him in with the angels. Before I opened my mouth, he was lying on the exam table, my arm was next to him. He suddenly grabbed on to my hand, dug his claws in, slid across the table and glommed unto my arm. He looked me square in the face and I swear he said “I am NOT ready to give up yet, don’t you dare give up on me!” So, I said nothing.

We have changed his treatment program. He got a shot to try and move some of the air through his system. He is now on Clavamox and Sucalfrate. I will move him into the cat room so he can be by himself. I will be running the vaporizer all the time for him to make breathing easier, and turn the heater on at night when it starts getting colder.

The vet and I decided that if he doesn’t turn around in 3 days, then chances are, he isn’t going to and living will become more of struggle for him. If this happens, she has kindly said she will tuck him in herself and not charge me for the service.

He is an orange fighter this boy- let’s hope that during the three-day mark he can overcome all that has been done to him and be a healthier, happier kitty.

Charlie started getting dehydrated yesterday evening. I gave him fluids and it didn’t seem to matter much. I waited for the bubble to vanish and gave him more, but he was still dehydrated. His third eyelid is creeping over on his good eye indicating either dehydration or fever or both. He has a fever. He stopped eating last night and instead of playing with the other kittens, he went and hid in the carrier (another indication he has the feel-bads). He seems to be having problems swallowing, his breath is hitchy, his good eye dull. He is gulping and gurgling again.

I separated him from the rest of the group and put him back in the cat room. I set up the vaporizer and small heater and heating pad for him. I gave him some babyfood which I was grateful he tried to eat.

I am going to take him back to the vet first thing in the morning. His erratic breathing worries me, his lack of energy concerns me. I’ve been up and down with him all night and now it is 4:00 a.m. and I am beat. I have done all I can do, if he is slipping from us, then perhaps God wants to tuck him in with the angels. I will know more after the vet visit and will log in afterwards.

Received another kitten and she is a sweetie! We are calling her Panic, because she certainly is one! She has taken a shine to Charlie and they cuddle together. I take that as a sign that she needs to stay with him. She is so tiny. Found in the pouring rain hiding under a bush. Here she is:

Charlie has made remarkable progress. He is fully integrated in with the other kittens. They play together and sleep together. He is eating, drinking and still gurgling. Mike says he sounds like a washing machine! His belly is slowly shrinking, but his gurgling is getting louder. The vets tell me his lungs sound fine, so when I put my ear up to his tummy, that is where I hear the gurgling. I have no clue what it is. He is such a love until I have to put his ointment in his eye. Then he turns into a fighter. I think I figured it out tonight, it isn’t the ointment that bothers him, it is the scruffing of his neck. Even though I am gentle, it puts pressure on his throat when he fights and I still think he has a bruised throat.

We also adopted a horribly abused German Shepherd. We were told he is 2 years old, but suspect he is much younger. He was used in a puppy mill as a stud. Everything is new to him. We have had him now almost three days. We call him Baron. I took him for a walk today in the woods and he was like a kid in the candy store. Someone has beaten the hell out of this poor dog, and I can’t fathom why? He is good with the cats, he was sexually interested in Kody even though she has been spayed- but we got him neutered yesterday. He is a real joy and we can let him outside now without a leash and he stays with us.

This morning as I was sweeping the cat room, Charlie started playing with the broom. I thought to myself “ok you, you want to play?” I took the ping pong ball out of the Drinkwell and tossed it on the floor and he scampered after it! He batted that ball from one corner of the room to the next and it made my heart sing! He is eating now everything I put in front of him. He is also still gurgling and still lurching his throat, but he is almost 100% better than when he arrived here!

Later on, I opened the doors to the kittens’ room and let them meet each other. Charlie and Shimmer had a good time playing, although he and Trump have some alpha issues to work through. Charlie spent a good 20 minutes with the other kittens and it was grand!

Charlie was left alone for a few hours while we took Chandler up to her new home in Portland! I couldn’t be more pleased with the couple who adopted her. She has this huge house to roam around in, a seven year old boy to love her and two adults who understand cats quite well. It was a long drive, but worth it. Plus she will be an only kitty! Which she will love once she adjusts to the major changes.

Charlie had a bath today. Holy smokes! The water turned rusty red from flea dirt! I thought he might be bleeding it was so red, but it was flea dirt and dead fleas. I threw some towels into the dryer so he was wrapped up in warming towels until he dried. Mike and I took turns holding him. he isn’t eating right now, but as gentle as I was, he still didn’t like the bath. So, I suspect he is just a bit upset.

Baker went to the vet today, he didn’t break his leg (thank God) but they did find he had an infection. he is on amoxy. They also took another stab at cleaning his ears= he and trump have the worst case of ear mites I have ever seen.

Here is Charlie after his bath

Passed an interesting night with Charlie. His respirations droppped about midnight and he was looking so tired, like he wanted to give up. We sat together in the silence. All I could hear was that gosh-darn gurgling noise he makes like a washing machine on the rinse cycle. I got to thinking about how his nose is so dry, but he sounds like his lungs are full of fluids. (The vet said they sounded remarkably clear). I told him it was okay to give up. I was kneeling down next to him and he looked over at me. Even though his eyes are covered with all that milky whiteness, his meaning was clear. He wanted to keep on going.

I went downstairs and dug out my baby vaporizer and plugged that in. I gave him more fluids, but I punched through him, darnit! I told him I was so sorry for turning him into a sprinkler, but he just doesn’t have anything to grab on to! Then I kissed his orangeness and went to bed.

About 3:00 a.m. we were startled awake by a huge crash! I turned on the light in time to see the rest of the one side of the bedroom ceiling collapsing! Apparently, we had a leak that got into the insulation. It hadn’t quite made it to the floor yet, but the insulation got heavy and the weight crashed down the drywall and ceiling tiles. It looked like it had snowed pieces of icy boulders. An hour later, the soggy mess was bagged for garbage and I was wide awake.

Upstairs to check on Charlie, I almost didn’t want to go. I was afraid of what I might see. What I saw delighted me! When I came to the screen door, Charlie hopped off his bed and walked over to the door. Stepping over the barrier that keeps him from having contact with the resident kitties, I was greeted by a kitty head bump!

He is now drinking water on his own! I suspect he did it out of self-defense. I don’t think he likes being a sprinkler! But I had taken a ping pong ball and dropped it in the Drinkwell bowl. The current carried it to where the water comes pouring out and it started making this strange sound. Charlie went over to investigate, batted at the ball, then licked his paw. He looked at me, then bent over and started to drink! He also left me two more deposits of parasite for my viewing pleasure. Yuck! Poor kitty- he has such a load of worms.

Right now he has the heater on, his thermal pad is available and the vaporizer is doing its thing. It’s 10:30 a.m. and I am headed for my first cup of coffee of the day.

1:00 p.m. He is eating on his own! I am so relieved. I made a small bowl of warmed A/D and put it in front of him and he scarfed it up! Thank You God!

Hourly checks on the Charlie through the night until 3 a.m. when I fell asleep. Chappy woke me at 6:00 a.m. As a precaution, I am keeping my charlie clothes in a plastic bag at the foot of the stairs. Even though he is fully isolated from the rest of the group, if he has what I now suspect he might, I could carry the organism to the rest of my group.

I am not as a rule an alarmist. In my work with these cats, I have never encountered one that had symptoms of FIP, well except when I was told Guinevere had FIP before I took her home from the shelter. I remember telling the shelter workers they were crazy. Guinevere was 17 years old then, they gave her less than three months- almost a year later, she is still going strong.

Last night when I was comforting Charlie, I was scratching the back of his belly with one finger. I heard this sound like fluid gurgling inside his tummy, and when I made contact with this larger than normal bulge on his side, it sounded much like a drum full of water would sound. It was a soft raspy sound, not typical or normal.

When he goes to eat, I almost cry because he sounds full of fluids, like a faucet that won’t stop running. He lurches his throat and leans forward. It is quite sad. He ate a little bit last night, then quit eating which started the force feedings again. He was fighting this so much that I finally decided to just quit them and let him get to sleep. That was at 1:00 a.m.

This morning, he is off his perch where he slept last night. He isn’t what I would call an active kitten, and he left me a present of roundworms which I was so glad to see. His eyes look a bit better but he is still very sleepy and somewhat dehydrated.
Poor baby…..

If I am right, then there is little that can be done for Charlie, except to keep him in a fairly stress-free environment, and keep him comforted until he passes. There is no cure, there is no test for FIP and if your vet says differently, well he is lying. The virus the coronavirus is carried by every cat especially in multi-cat homes. But it is the benign form of the virus being carried the majority of the time. Situations such as trauma, stress, lack of proper nutrition and illness can cause this virus to mutate into FIP. I put up another high barrier in front of the door so if the other cats do manage to sneak up the stairs, they can’t get close to Charlie.

I could be mistaken here. I am not a vet, nor do I play one on the Internet. He doesn’t have the fevers that go along with FIP but just to be safe, my clothes will be changed and I will take care not to bring anything dangerous into my home for the other cats.

9:24 a.m- after talking to my good friend Dusty Rainbolt- kitten rescuer and author extraordinaire, we both started hashing out his symptoms. Now, after consideration, I am leaning towards this just being a really bad load of rounds. The worms get into the lungs and other organs so this could account for the gurgling- once they break away, they can also get lodged in the throat as they die, so that could account for the hard swallowing and lack of appetite. It could also explain the swelling on one side of the belly. He does look better today, he doesn’t have the high fevers and if he did have FIP, Dust and I are in agreement that he would be getting and looking worse, instead of being a tiny bit mobile.

12:56- Talked to the vet early and his take is if this were FIP kitty would be probably be dead by now. With the obvious injury to the eye, it could be likely he had a collision on the road but that doesn’t make sense to me because such a little kitten hitting a car wouldn’t survive it, especially considering how fast some of these idiots drive.

The only thing I can do is the best I can and keep him in my prayers. He just got another helping of fluids (the only thing he is eating). I feel so bad sticking him with a big ol needle and making this huge pocket of fluid inside him, but if anything is going to pick him up, the fluids will. He keeps getting quickly dehydrated (damn worms). He has moved off the heating pad and is sitting on the floor right now under the chair looking at me like “woman if YOU touch me one more time with that pointy thing, you will feel a lot of pointy things!” He is a fighter, I will give him that.

6:52 p.m. His respirations are slowing. I talked to a vet friend I know from Cat Writers and she has suggested some holistic measures for him. I will be starting them in a few minutes- including Vitamin E, C, probiotics and enzymes. He just got 60 ml of fluids again. His body is so depleted, the pockets don’t hang around long.