Savannah Cat Chat - THE Place for Savannah Cat Talk

Welcome to the Savannah Cat Chat Forum! Our forum has been in existence since 2012 and is the only one of its kind. We were here, serving the savannah cat community before Facebook and Instagram! Register for a free account today to become a member! Please use an email program other than Hotmail, since Hotmail accounts are blacklisted by many servers and ISP's. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site in some of the forums by adding your own topics and posts. But in order to take advantage of the full features, such as a private inbox as well as connect with other members ad access some of the larger topics, a donation of $2.99/mo or $25/yr is requested. This will allow us to continue running this forum!

Whipworms, Juvenile Roundworms, what is this?

WitchyWoman

Admin
Staff member
Any suggestions as to what may be going on are greatly appreciated!
With symptoms that come and go and that don't fit a definitive pattern for disease or organ issues, the treatment becomes a process of elimination -- try this drug, try that treatment and hope that something resolves the illness. Was PCR blood panel done? How is his kidney and liver function? Is the vet discussing the possibility of a viral (other than FIP) or bacterial infection with you? How about the possibility of an unusual bacterial infection -- brucella, mycobateria, norcardia, actinomyces, yersinia?
 

Moggieslegacy

Savannah Super Cat
Thank you for the suggestions of things to explore! (and for taking the time to read through all that!:eek:) It is much appreciated. I will ask the vet about those things you mentioned. I had to look them up and none seem very likely, but if Moggie doesn't improve after the parasite treatment and depending on what a radiograph of his intestines show, they may be possibilities to explore! Moggie was tested for feline leukemia and the feline immunodeficiency virus and both tests were negative. At this point I really regret I did not know about getting pet health insurance, before my kitten got sick. It is something I could have afforded. I think my vet is doing what you are suggesting and is starting with the most likely and easiest to treat and working back from there. My new vet has not suggested a blood panel at this point. Probably in part because he knows I have limited resources and is focusing on seeing if there is any curable conditions I could afford to treat. Or that would be a simple one time expense and then cured. But if Moggie needs something extraordinary, like a liver transplant, or very expensive monthly meds, unfortunately that is not going to happen... But his skin is not jaundiced and he seems to be drinking and peeing regularly. I would love to get him tested for everything, and be able to treat whatever we found, but that is just not possible.
 

Moggieslegacy

Savannah Super Cat
Rafiki.. I just saw you post, and yes, thank you for that insight! I have noticed his appetite rebounded when the course of antibiotics was completed. Besides the shot of Convinia on Oct 5th, he was put on a 1 week course of Metronidazole, and it was a day after his last pill he got a crazy appetite for chicken. 3 days later on Oct 13th he went back to the vet because he was eating a lot but not pooping, he still had a fever of 103.4 and he was put on Baytril for 7 days which he finished day before yesterday. And his appetite has rebounded.
 

Rafiki

Site Supporter
If he gets better after antibiotics but it does not last, this may point towards something bacterial in nature that he has not received the proper antibiotic for - the antibiotics he was given may help but are not able to kill the organism off completely.

In regards to the soft mucus-filled poop.....are you giving him anything to help that? The antibiotics he was given probably killed off his gut flora and that will give him the runs. If you do not have any cat-specific probiotics, a human one like Florastor will work. Just make sure that it is a capsule so that you can sprinkle it into his food and avoid the need to pill him. Also psyllium husk powder (unflavored Metamucil) will help him retain water, prevent dehydration and firm up his stool. Lastly, a 1/4 pill of Pepcid AC for 4 days, may help soothe his inflamed bowel.
 

Moggieslegacy

Savannah Super Cat
Rafiki, all of that is really helpful information! Thank you! I have been giving him Fortiflora. Not sure if this is something that will help. At this point I think it may have saved his life because he likes the flavour and if I put it on his food it often makes the difference between him deciding to eat or not.

Is it OK to give him cows milk probiotic yogurt? He has been allowed to lick a dab of this off my fingers and seems to like it, but I know cows milk can be bad for cats.
 
Last edited:

Rafiki

Site Supporter
Fortiflora is not the "best" probiotic but it has the advantage of being the tastiest and if it makes him want to eat I would not change it.

Many cats love yogurt but never one of mine. I have never heard of any bad results.
 

Moggieslegacy

Savannah Super Cat
Thanks again Rafiki. I will get some better probiotic (hopefully what you recommended) next time I get into town.
 
Last edited:

Rafiki

Site Supporter
Can too much probiotic be given? If he likes the Fortiflora (and many cats LOVE this stuff), I would not stop adding it to his food. I used to even add expired FF to their food just for the flavor and not the probiotic benefit. I don't know if you could add something more potent as well and continue sprinkling on the FF for flavor.
 

Moggieslegacy

Savannah Super Cat
Thanks for trying to help Rafiki. I hope to get to town in the next couple days to look for more probiotics... probably a bit too much would just harmlessly get pooped out.

The Panacur he was given for 3 days has not seemed to help, so I guess the whip worm theory was a dud. If anything he is continuing to decline. He is now loosing his balance and coordination and has fallen several times if I don't help him get down from the window sill he likes to sleep which is only 12 inches from a chair with a spot he can use as a step in between. I have called and emailed the vet asking about our options, what might be going on and how this would be treated, and whether the radiograph and a blood panel might find a treatable condition. Or conversely a painful terminal one, but so far no one has gotten back to me or suggested I make an appointment to discuss this.

I am starting to feel many vets are so busy they don't remember all the pieces of the puzzle, and if the main vet I was referred to really does think my cat may have a partial GI obstruction, it seems that is urgent enough they would have wanted to do a radiograph when I first saw them almost 3 weeks ago, or at least get back to me quickly now. The clinics in this area now seem to have several vets working out of them and they all share patients which also seems to make it easier for miscommunication. Anyways, with no vomiting, no bad breath, slow onset over the past 5 or more weeks, an inflamed colon with no palpable lumps or constipation, the persistent fever, the fact Moggie is still on rare occasions eating almost normally and pooping a bit, and he still seems to enjoy a tummy rub, and a few days ago was well enough to jump 4 feet up onto my bed and 3 or more feet in tall grass, (on his harness) makes me wonder how likely this is a partial GI obstruction? I can tell he feels really crappy like he has the flu. But have no sense of anything specifically pressure or movement sensitive in his smaller or larger intestines

Turns out he no longer likes yogurt, though I did get a bit into some food he ate. Yesterday I did some research and decided it would be OK to include some mushy cooked rice with his chicken. With his carb fetish he loves that if he can bring himself to eat at all, and this morning I used my hand as a bowl and with a lot of encouragement probably got him to eat 1/2 a cup of chicken and mushy rice cooked with the chicken. But this afternoon he does this thing where he looks interested in eating, approaches the food, and then pulls back like it smells horrible. And he spends a totally insane amount of time wanting to cover up his food while he nibbles it. It is almost like it hurts him to eat. I just opened a can of salmon and he woke up, got excited meowed for some so I put a piece in his bowl and he ran up to it like he was going to eat and then pulled back like it suddenly smelled really bad. And now he is seeming to prefer food without the fortiflora. I wonder if he starts associating whatever he was eating with when he felt sick afterwards, so he decides to avoid everything after he eats it for a bit?

Sorry to go on and on about my kitten. I find the information I have gathered here tends to be more trustworthy than a lot of other places. And I want to help him if this is practically possible.
 
Last edited:

Rafiki

Site Supporter
Has he had any bloodwork done? If his liver values are messed up (very possible with his anorexia), it would give him nausea and negatively effect his appetite.

I know your frustration......2 years ago was when we battled Rafiki's liver fibrosis. She is holding her own now but we are still not sure about the cause and have to continue to monitor both cats with quarterly bloodwork. Many theories.....some we have managed to debunk, others are still a possibility. This site is an awesome place to discuss theories, treatments and just to vent in general.
 
Top