The last two days have been very worrying for us.
On Thursday, out of the blue, Rey skipped his breakfast. This was definitely an anomaly as Rey has never skipped a meal before. I thought it was a tummy upset and gave him some probiotic. He did not look sickly. In between, I offered food, but he wasn’t interested at all.
By dinner time (which was early, at 4.30pm), Rey still refused to eat. I quickly called the neighbourhood vet and took Rey to see him.
Upon checking, Rey was having a fever of 40 degrees. The vet gave him an Onsior and Baytril injection, to be followed by 7 days of Doxy antibiotic, starting on Friday. The vet said it probably an infection so, hopefully, the injections and medicine would help.
The moment we returned from the clinic, to my utter surprise, Rey immediately asked for food. He ate small amounts throughout the night and I thought he was already feeling better. It was a little strange, though, because the injections wouldn’t have worked so fast, but never mind, the important thing was that he was already eating again. And his behaviour also returned to normal. He was active and appeared to be happy. He also kept doing slow blinks to me, probably to tell me he was feeling much better.
Unfortunately, on the next day (Friday), Rey skipped breakfast again and this time, he was just sleeping on the highest platform while the rest of them ate. He showed absolutely no interest in food again. It was back to square one. I consulted the vet and he said to bring Rey in to check his temperature in the late afternoon. Throughout the day, I offered food and he was totally uninterested. He just kept sleeping all day while his brother, Robin, stayed close by. In fact, everyone stayed close by; it seemed like they were all giving him moral support. I did force feed some food in between, as I know he should not go without food for more than 24 hours. But I was also worried about creating an aversion to food in him since he had no appetite. It was tricky.
By late afternoon, I took him to the vet to have his temperature checked and it was still at 40 degrees. But granted, Rey was really stressed so there was that stress factor as well. The vet said this warranted a thorough blood test but his clinic did not have some of the tests. He also said there were other possibilities like pancreatitis or even the dreaded FIP. I was very worried, so I quickly called our regular vet and thankfully, I was able to take Rey in for a check-up.
So, off we rushed to our regular vet in PJ in peak hour traffic. Rey was very stressed in the car and that was why we opted to see the neighbourhood vet in the first place, but now, we had no choice but the make that journey to PJ.
At our regular vet, Rey was not as stressed and his temperature, taken twice, was 39.1 degrees, which is considered still normal. A complete blood test was done and I’m relieved there was nothing alarming. His kidney and liver readings were normal. So was his pancreas, so that ruled out pancreatitis. FIP was also ruled out (what a relief!). Mycoplasma was ruled out as well. Only the WBC was elevated, which suggests an infection.
The vet gave Rey a Metacam injection and also a Marbocyl (antibiotic) injection to kickstart the treatment and she changed his antibiotic to Marbofloxacin so I will continue with this oral antibiotic for 7 days. To help with appetite, the vet prescribed transdermal Mirtazapine.
We came home and after awhile, Rey ate a small amount. And again. Just small amounts, which was good enough for a start. At least he is now eating on his own and I did not have to force feed him anymore. I tried very kinds of food to entice him, but all he wanted was raw cut chicken.
This morning, I’m so relieved that Rey ate his breakfast with the rest though it was a small amount compared with what he normally eats, but he is showing interest in food again.
I really hope we have turned the corner now and that Rey is on the way to recovery. As long as he continues eating, even small amounts, that is very good.
Finishing up a small amount of food while Robin watches.
Please get well soon, Rey.
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