One of my two Oci boys is very sick. I came home from work and he was fine, we went for our usual little walk on the harness but he lost interest quickly and went inside. He played a bit with the cat tickler but a half hour later threw up. He then went very quiet and kept trying to get comfy in his bed. We fed them 15min later thinking it might perk him up as normally he is a bit of a garbage guts. He showed no interest in food, and when I checked on him he was running a temp. He has never been this lethargic, even after being neutered, and the vet was amazed at how he was after waking up.

We took him to the emergency vet who looked him over and said his temp was very high. She gave him some antibiotics as a shot and put him on a drip. He is still there for observation and if he doesn't improve they will be running blood test and a xray tomorrow morning. She thinks it's a gastrointestinal virus, and will give him an anti nausea tablet in the morning if he is still vomiting. They also have visiting hours so we can call tomorrow morning and see him in the afternoon.

His brother (same litter, same food etc) is fine but we are keeping a very close eye on him and I have alarms set through-out the night just in case. The only difference between them is Bloo went down the street on his walk, while Freckle stayed near the front garden. Freckle knows that Bloo went away in e carrier but is already upset that he hasn't come back with us. They have never been apart for more than an hour or so, and only on two occasions.

I'm hoping that others here will have had a similar experience and that their cats made a full recovery and quickly. Our boys are insured and don't have any medical history and we are pretty good about cat proofing the place and using friendly cleaners so I doubt its poison. Most likely it's a virus and I'm really hoping that I don't get a call from the vets tonight and that when I call in the morning he is a lot better and meowing the house down. He's only 14 months old and he is strong and a touch on the husky side, so he should bounce back quickly.

The vets is great and they have another cat on a drip there, no infectious cats and also a resident cat that can do blood donations in a pinch. She's met Bloo before and is worried that he is so warm and quiet but seems to think he'll be ok, at least for the short term (she did mention kidneys and liver).

Please let me know of anything similar, hopefully with a cat that bounced back after a few hours and was so happy that you felt silly for taking him to the vet. With a bit of luck the same will be true for my little boy.

Hi there!

Sorry to hear about your little cat! With a termperature that high I'm not surprised he felt awful, it can make a cat like us feel lousy indeed. Sounds like infection of some sort as well and the antibiotics should make a difference.

Try not to worry - he's in the best place right now! Hope you get good news in the morning and keep us posted.

Aww, they do worry us eh? You certainly have not been sill to take him to the vet, the fluids will be a great support for him and the cage rest does them good when they are poorly.
Hope he bounces back quickly for you.

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Nellie Paddy Mitzy Milo Peggy Murphy

Millie and Monty, the White Devils!

Yes, recently my Girly came down with a "virus of unknown origin". She was looking under the weather and I took her to the vet (felt a bit silly because she wasn't vomiting or anything, but wasn't eating well) and it turned out she had a high temp. According to the vet, they do pick up viruses and so on (like we do, I suppose). She didn't reckon the others would catch it either (they didn't)
Not silly at all: they feel awful when they have a fever and the meds from the vet make them feel better very quickly. After the vet visit, it was about another a day and a half and she was back to her normal (greedy and bouncy) self

Maudey was like that a couple of weeks ago but didn't have the fever but was very very sick, she stayed in over night on a drip and it sorted her out completely and strangely Monty didn't hiss or spit at her when she came home and he always has at any other time she been to vets and he was fine and showed no signs of illness, fingers crossed Bloo is much better today and he can come home.

Sending positive and healing thouhgts, please keep us updated x

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Fairy smiling, smokes cheroot ...
Simply doesn't give a hoot.

Sorry I can't provide reassurance, but you picked up on Bloo's lethargy very quickly, and did absolutely the right thing in taking him to the vet. It sounds as if the vet has also swung into action very fast. These are all very good things to happen to a sick cat.
It's such a worry, but he's been treated quickly by professionals, and hopefully you'll see a fast turnaround in his condition. Fingers crossed for you and your boy.

I can't offer any advice, but am glad you got him to the vet quickly. How is he this morning?

Obviously give Freckle as much love and attention as you can in the meantime.

Thank you all for such lovely messages.

I called the vet this morning and Bloo has perked up a bit. A night of fluids seems to have improved his condition and his temp has come down. She is trying him on boiled chicken later today and will update me again in the afternoon. If he makes an amazing recovery then he may be able to come home today, otherwise it's looking more like tomorrow or Saturday. Either way it looks like a bad bout of gastro, most likely picked up from outside by licking his paws after his walk. We do get to visit him this afternoon/evening so will be taking advantage of that, although Freckle cannot come.

I was lucky that we were at home and were able to get him to the emergency vets so quickly. His temperature had soared even in the 20 min it took us to get him there and I suspect that leaving it to the morning (the initial suggestion of the vet) would have resulted in a terrible outcome. She did say to bring him in once we fully described the situation. Teaches me a good lesson of the importance to know where the nearest emergency vet is, and it's only by luck that the vet that knows him was working that evening.

Stayed up and checked on Freckle every hour last night. He was very accommodating and slept right next to me so I could feel his ears and paws without even getting out of bed. He seems perfectly healthy although the poor little bloke is running from room to room to check on everyone. He knows Bloo isn't there but seems to be worried that more of us will disappear. I have visitors staying and he scratched at their door this morning demanding to know they were OK. He will have someone with him the whole time while Bloo is in the vet hospital, so hopefully he won't be too stressed.

I don't feel silly taking him to the vet now. I was really hoping that she would call back as soon as we got home and tell me that Bloo was climbing the walls and the healthiest cat she had ever seen so that I could feel silly about 'overreacting' but sadly it's not the case. But I do feel good that he is receiving great care and getting better.

I'm also really proud of him as we've spent the last few months training both cats to use the real toilet so that they don't have to use a litter box. Bloo has been the challenging one and had a few accidents along the way. Last night, running a high temperature and bad diarrhea, he still used the toilet correctly.

All in all, he handled the whole process really well, even getting his fur clippered and having the IV put in. And he is wearing a big plastic collar even though he's never worn a collar before! The vet wasn't convinced he'd need a collar but this morning said that it was lucky that we'd asked for it to be put on as he was already clawing at the drip. Bloo is the kind of cat that would have been on the drip for a few hours, felt a tiny bit better and then immediately ripped it out!

Makes me feel a lot better to know that other cats have had similar problems and been perfectly fine after. We don't know what we would do without him and I know Freckle would be inconsolable without his brother. Oh and once he is back and in good health, if he still wants to go walkies then he is wearing some nice kitty or doggie booties!

I'll let you all know what the vet says this afternoon and hopefully Bloo will be back home very soon.

Good news that the IV and antibiotics produced such an instant reponse! I'm sure he'll be home soon.