Another 2 weeks has passed, this time because of a giant ice storm that hit Texas and wiped our internet out - as well as prevented any vet visits for a week! Here’s the recap since the last post, however.

Wakko went in because he just wasn’t feeling well. He had lost some weight, but all his bloodwork came back fine, so we are just watching him for now.

Ferrell Brown went back in to have doc look at him again. The exam was still inconclusive, so doc recommended an ultrasound of his abdomen to see what might be going on with his kidneys.
Ferrell Brown went in for his ultrasound. It was also inconclusive. He has some pockets of fluid on his abdomen that the doctor was unable to get a sample of. His kidneys are not well defined.

Those were the only abnormalities found on the ultrasound. He does have elevated kidney values, so that tracks. The fluid on the abdomen might point to FIP, or it might not. She determined that we are looking at either FIP or lymphoma in early stages. We are taking him in again this coming week for a different doctor to try to get a sample of the abdominal fluid.

After the ultrasound, the ultrasound doctor recommended a specialist go in and get a bone marrow sample and a kidney aspirate, as well as tapping the fluid on the abdomen. We scheduled the procedure, had to postpone it due to the ice storm, and I canceled it the second time because I am concerned about doing any sort of majorly invasive procedure and him having to recover from it with his body in its current condition. We are going to try a couple of less invasive methods to rule FIP in or out and then treat accordingly.

Sterling, who is a very feral boy that lives in our main enclosure turned up with a very bloody mouth. We trapped him and took him in. They sedated him in order to look at him, and to take some samples. His moth was in terrible shape. Ulcers and lesions everywhere. He was given an antibiotic and a pain shot since we would not be able to treat him at home. Test results came back. He has a severe case of Calicivirus. We will treat him the best we can.

We had some vaccine updates with Vex, C3PO, and Spock

Then the ice storm hit and no more vet visits have happened since.

The Veterinary Review February 25, 2021

Copper's Cat Commune is a nonprofit cat sanctuary dedicated to the lifetime care of a limited population of ill, disabled, immune compromised, senior, or otherwise adoption challenged cats. All Commune photography by matt & Mimi Baker of the Commune unless otherwise stated.