I had to fetch Jayden from school, so husband took Juno to the vet’s. I texted all the information and the vet later called after all the blood test results.
From what I understand, Juno’s lymph nodes (inguinal, popliteal and submandibular) are enlarged/swollen. Her blood PCV is 32% which is still normal, so the vet has ruled out IMHA for now. That is such a relief as I was so worried about IMHA since her sudden symptoms are so similar to Hiro’s, and both had the collapsed lung too.
So for now, it’s not IMHA. Let’s hope it will never be.
A battery of tests were done so that we could rule out what it isn’t. The FIV/FeLV test was repeated and it is still negative (this was done two weeks ago). A full blood panel (Chem 10 and Electrolytes) was done and it was relatively normal. The vet also did the ProBNP test to check the heart and the heart enzymes are all within the normal range. An SAT (serum agglutination test) was done as well to rule out IMHA.
Juno’s temperature was normal at 38.5 degrees and her gums were just slightly pale. The PBF, however, showed the presence of much more WBC than two days ago. For kittens, changes can happen within hours. That is why not eating is always a grave concern. She was perfectly fine just last night and this morning, it’s already so different.
For now, the vet suspects it is a mycoplasma (a gram-negative bacteria) infection, probably transmitted through a blood parasite in fleas. Juno did have fleas when first rescued.
Drawing blood was very challenging and it took the vet and two assistants to be able to do it from the jugular vein after 3 tries. Poor Juno. But I totally understand how difficult it is to draw blood from such a young kitten.
The vet managed to coax Juno to eat some AD while she was there. So now, Juno is on AD (half can per day). Juno was also given a Methycobal (B-12) injection and prescribed Doxycycline paste for 14 days. Poor Juno…antibiotics again.
Home now, and definitely more active than this morning.
I had to coax Juno to eat the AD, after which she ate some by herself.
One day at a time now. Please get well soon, Juno. Be strong, little one.
The vet taught husband how to palpate her lymph nodes to check the size too. We have to monitor this daily.
Look…she’s active again now!
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