My wife and I adopted a cat in April 2005 after observing a lady

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My wife and I adopted a cat in April 2005 after observing a lady who lives close by setting it out. The cat was about a year old at the time. We took him in and added him to our family of four other male strays we have adopted over the years. He looked like a purebred and was already neutered, which made us suspect he had something wrong with him for the neighbor to set him out. We named him Barnaby.

     Sometimes Barnaby would sleep as if in a trance, with his eyes open and his tongue hanging out. We had him tested for feline viruses and vaccinated for rabies. The vet did not find anything wrong with him. He seemed ok, even though he was very small. He grew and added weight for the next twelve months. He was very sweet and affectionate, as well as playful and mischevious. All of us became very attached to him.

     Last week Barnaby went outside for about 16 hours on Wednesday, which was not totallly unheard of for him. He seemed ok when he got back, but was not very hungry. Thursday he also was not very hungry and by Friday stopped eating at all. He went out to use the bathroom Friday night for a few minutes, but by Saturday was so lethargic that I took him to a vet, who diagnosed him with a fever four degrees above normal and gave him a shot plus some medicine to give him twice a day. If there was no improvement by Monday I was to call about having him tested for feline viruses.

     Saturday night Barnaby still would not eat, so my wife and I started giving him water and low-salt chicken broth with a medicine syringe every eight hours, along with his medicine, an antibiotic. By Sunday he seemed even worse, with no energy, and still not eating. I called my wife Sunday night about 9:30 pm and she said he had walked to the back bedroom, stumbling as he went, so she put him on the bed and covered him with a blanket.

     My wife then took a nap, and when I got home around midnight I found Barnaby on the floor beside the bed. It looked like he had been dead for a couple of hours at least.

     My wife is unconsolable since Barnaby was her favorite cat and also the youngest. She thinks we may have killed him with the water and chicken broth we were feeding him. She also thinks he may have been poisoned, but since he didn't vomit at all I don't think he was poisoned. I think he was set out by our neighbor because he had something already wrong with him, and maybe being outside for so long on Wednesday exposed him to something he couldn't fight off. I know without an autopsy is impossible to say (we couldn't bear the thought of him being cut open so we had him cremated and are getting his remains back today) but could someone make an educated guess as to what may have happened that he could be so healthy and then gone in just four days?

Thank you,
Tom Bailey
tomvbailey@yahoo.com

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Status: Closed Value: $9

Dear friend,

The high fever indicates Barnaby had some type of serious infection. It was most likely feline leukemia or AIDS. That was probably the reason your neighbor put him out. Of course that was an incredibly irresponsible and cruel thing to do to an animal. Barnaby was very lucky that you and your wife took him in.

These feline diseases can lay dormant in a cats system for years and then suddenly attack with no provocation at all. Then the cat can sicken, worsen and die very quickly.

Tell your wife that this is something that was meant to be by God. Sometimes an angel cat comes into our live for a short time to teach us about love - but he is not meant to stay.

At least you and your wife gave Barnaby a wonderful life while he was here on earth.You enriched his life as he enriched yours. PLease read the rainbow bridge at www.petloss.com so you will see how Barnaby is now helping others and some day you WILL see him again.

Barnaby is with God now -may God be with you as well.

Very, very sincerely,

Terri

Dedicated to Cats and the people who love them!
Please press ACCEPT if my answer was helpful and leave feedback Thank you! Terri

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Terri,

     Thank you for your help. I forgot to mention that Barnaby brought home a friend about two months ago, a stray that we had tested and came up positive for both feline aids and feline leukemia. We named him Mickey, and found a no-kill shelter about an hour away that would take him for $15 a month, apparently one of the few such shelters in the U.S. that does that. They have cats from as far away as California, Michigan, and Minnesota. (We live in Springfield, Missouri). We can visit him as often as we want and they send us pictures of him every once in a while.

      Its possible Barnaby got the virus from Mickey, but I didn't think it could act that fast. We had Barnaby tested last spring when we first adopted him and he was ok. We didn't want to risk infecting our other cats, one of whom we have had for 13 years. My wife also said that Sunday night Barnaby started crying out every hour or so like he was in pain. If it hadn't been Sunday night she would have taken him back to the vet but then would probably have faced the impossible decision of having him put to sleep. (The no-kill shelter won't take cats that are clearly dying).

     My wife wanted to ask what we should do about our other four cats. They have all been acting very depressed and not playing with each other like they did when Barnaby was here. He was the Will Rogers of cats; he liked everyone and got them all to play with him.

     I paid my deposit plus a bonus and would pay another if that's the policy on follow-up questions. Thank you very much for your help and kind words.

Tom Bailey
tomvbailey@yahoo.com

Dear Tom,

You are very welcome.
Even if Barnaby tested negative a few months age he still could hav had AIDS or FELV in his system.I don't think he got sick from, his limited exposure to Mickey. I sincerely believe your neighbor cast him out because she found out or suspected he was already sick.

As far as the other cats - they are grieving. Most people don't know how very sensitive cats are - and intuitive too. Not only are they upset that Barnaby is gone - they sense your wifes overwhelmng saddness. That is stressing them out as well. When you and she feel better, they will too. You just have to give them some time to get over this.

The more you tell me about dear Barnaby - the more I believe that he was one of Gods angels. He made a brief vist to earth to teach you about love and enrich your lives - but he was not meant to stay. I know this because I too had an angel cat in my life that only stayed for a short time. Her name was Honey and her brief visit added a new direction to my life. It was then that I decided to go into medicine and help as many cats as I could.

I know you will never forget Barnaby - just as I will never forget Honey. He has made a permanent and lasting impact on your lives and he will live forever in your heart.

At this point, I would just give the others some time. I would not stress them further with any testing or medications, etc.

Barnaby will live forever in their hearts too. The love that you had for him will always remain permanently etched into all your hearts and souls.

If there is anything I can ever say or do to help you feel better, please do not ever hesitate to contact me.

With utmost sincerity,

Terri

Dedicated to Cats and the people who love them!
Please press ACCEPT if my answer was helpful and leave feedback Thank you! Terri

Relist: I still need help.
Terri,

It happened again. About two weeks after Barnaby died, another of my cats, a two and a half year old named Jones, also died suddenly after a short illness. This time, my wife and I were not taking any chances. As soon as Jones stopped eating and started feeling warm, we took him to our regular vet. She has her own lab to do bloodwork, so the results are available in a few hours. The first day Jones was there, he tested negative for both feline aids and feline leukemia. The vet gave him antiobiotics and cleaned out his system since he was severely constipated. The next morning she called to see if it would be ok to do more bloodwork since he was not responding well to the first treatments. That afternoon she called to tell us Jones had almost no white blood cells, and that she had given him a blood transfusion and more antiobiotics. She said he was "holding his own" and that she would keep a close watch on him. That night my wife had called me at work and we talked about Jones for a few minutes and as soon as we hung up the doctor was calling to say she had to put Jones to sleep because he was choking and suffering. She had tried to call but the line was busy. She said she was sending tissue samples to the Mariel company for testing because she thinks it could be a new mutation of panleukopenia. There had been a recent case of it in this area involving an unvaccinated stray cat, but all of my cats have had every vaccination, including the CVR. She said the people at the drug company were very concerned that a new strain of panleuk may be spreading and wanted to get to work on the samples. so far we have not heard anything back. My wife and I are both shocked and upset to lose two cats in one month, but are also very concerned about our remaining three cats. We are keeping them all indoors for now, to thier dismay, and are watching them very carefully for changes in their eating and their temperatures. The three that are still alive are five, seven, and thirteen years old, and may have already beaten the virus at some point in their lives before we adopted them (all of our cats were strays before we adopted them). I would like to know what the incubation period for panleukopenia is, and if its likely that Barnaby and Jones already had it for a while before they died. Also, what are the chances of a vaccinnated cat getting normal panleuk? Jones had just had his CVR booster in March. If this is not a new strain of panleuk, could our cats go outdoors again if they are revaccinated? Barnaby and Jones were the two sweetest cats we had ever seen. Even though they were not siblings, they would actually bathe each other and sleep with their arms around each other. They may have become friends when they were both strays, but we still think its amazing for two unrelated male cats to get along so well. Our remaining cats are a comfort, but the house seems so quiet with the two youngest ones gone. I don't think we could stand losing another one like we did Barnaby and Jones. Any help would be appreciated.

Dear friend,

I am so sorry to hear that you lost another cat. It is really heartbreaking.

I am going to give you one sentence of caution!

DO NOT LET YOUR CATS GO OUTDOORS!

I do not think we are talking about a new strain of distemper here. It is possible that some evil creep is poioning your babies or they are getting into a toxin on their own.

It is very rare for vaccinated cats to develope a life threatening form of a disease although no vaccination is 100% effective.It is a good chance if there is new strain the other cats are safe if they have no symptoms as yet.

There is also a tick or flea borne disease called hemobartonella that causes these symptoms but your vet could test for that and it is NOT contagious.

http://www.geocities.com/pvis1960/hemobartonella.html

PLEASE for the safety of thr remaining cats - DO NOT let them go outdoors anymore. Believe me they WILL get used to being indoor pets and they wil be safer and healthier.

I qm so sorry again that you have had to go through such tragedys and I will pray with all my heart that the remaining cats will stay well and safe.

With utmost sincerity,

Your friend,

Terri

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