Years later Lolita is healthy and doing great! No special care or problems. Gosh, I love her so much. When she's in the mood, she'll jump on my shoulder and drape herself around my neck. It's been years now since we lost Max, but we still miss him.

The world is looking less skewed...

Lo has just about finished taking a round of Clindamycin and her pupil symmetry is about 95%.
Behaviorally she's great. No problems at all!

Movie Star Lo

Here are some pictures and a movie of Lo.
Lo's third eyelid was visible Sunday, but no longer.
Her pupil does respond to light, but just not as much as her other pupil.
She occasionally swallows with some effort.
She does not appear to have any balance problems.
She coughs occasionally.
Her stool is solid. She is eating well and her activity level is normal.
The pictures can be clicked on to enlarge.

Mixed news for Lo

As you can see below Lo's bloodwork and FCV titer are encouraging.
Unfortunately, as of Sunday, Lo has symptoms of Horner's Syndrome.
She also has some coughing and rough sounding purring.
She has been regularly scratching at one side of her head and ear
She does not have a fever. Inspecting her ears did not reveal any obvious problem.
She does not show any signs of head tilt or gait problems.
I took her to our veterinarian today.
She is now taking Clindamycin Hydrachloride liquid orally 1 m/l twice per day.
Our vet also gave us some Marbofloxacin (Zeniquin®) pills as an option, but after reading about this antibiotic it sounds like it might have a greater chance to cause harm.
I am continuing to treat her with interferon in addition to the Clindamycin Hydrachloride.
Behaviorally she is active with a good appetite.
This could either be very bad or relatively innocuous.
With her encouraging bloodwork I'm hoping this is NOT associated with a FIP coronavirus (very bad) and instead is something that will either resolve on its own or respond to the antibiotics.
Note that you may click on the images to enlarge them.

Lo

Lo continues to do well and she consistently weighs just a bit over six pounds.
She's definitely the smallest cat I've know. She has now been taking IFN omega 50,000 units a day orally for about four months. It could be the interferon has been important for her, but it's impossible to be certain under these conditions. I would like her to be drug free if possible. As her weight has been stable, I took her in for a blood draw and learned today her general blood workup is normal (including globulins). This is absolutely good news. Her FIP blood work should be available in a couple of days. I will post both reports here for review. Our local veterinarian continues to be excellent (see Hillcrest Animal Hospital link on left). I also plan to consult with Dr. Addie (also see link to left) once I have both reports. 

Lo

Lo continues to live a happy life, but has stopped gaining weight. I'd hoped she was just a tiny cat, but after plateauing at about 6lbs she has lost a few ounces over the last week or so. I have started her on IFN omega 50,000 units a day orally on Monday May 24th.

• Lo
• No neurological signs, cat behaviorally "bright" 
• Firm stool
• Appetite good (recently fair to good)
• No apparent clinical symptoms
• Rectal temperature normal (most recently 101F)
• Head, hears, and paws regularly feel very warm
• Low weight trending to weight loss (5lb7oz)

Lo

Lo continues to do well. Here she is discovering snow! Lo lives upstairs for now, but she does get supervised visits to our deck and I couldn't pass up letting her see the snow as it's pretty rare where we live. You may notice she walking ON the snow. Maybe she thinks shes an elf! She weighed 5lb9oz today. I plan to begin testing her for viral shedding soon!

Missing Max

Wow, I sure miss Max. I guess I just want to say that caring for a sick kitten and helping him/her have the best life possible can be rewarding. I'm glad to have known Max and I'm sorry that he's gone.

Max moves on

Max passed on yesterday morning. He showed signs of what appeared to be neurological involvement and rapidly declined. We held him as he died. I believe he had the very best life possible, all things considered. Without a necropsy we'll never know for sure FIP was his primary disease, but it is highly likely. We very much miss him. Please visit the links to the left to learn more about FIP.

Rooting for Max

Below you'll see a nice picture of Max playing. Unfortunately Max doesn't have enough energy to play lately. He still very much enjoys eating and will run to enjoy a nice meal though and I feel his quality of life is still good. He very much enjoys laying on his heating pad and laying in front of his heat lamp. Sister Lo continues to be symptom free and normal in temperature!

Anemia

Unfortunately, Max is profoundly anemic (nonregenerative), see recent test below.
Max's appetite continues to be very good although he is certainly not gaining weight.
Max and Lo seem to be able to tolerate Hill's Z/D dry and Iams lamb and rice wet, both mixed with some organic pumpkin. They also have dry Hill's W/D and Z/D dry, ad libitum (i.e. a bowl full at all times).
Stools for both cats are mostly firm to partially firm.
The vet tech thought that Lo was Max's mother yesterday. Poor little guy. On the positive side, Max's quality of life continues to seem good. He responds energetically at feeding time and purrs when receiving petting. Also good news, Lo remains symptom free and her temperature is normal. I have a rectal thermometer now! I've not had good luck with the ear thermometer.
Max 2lb6oz
Lo 5lb

Max's Latest Blood Work (click on the image to enlarge)

Max 2lb6oz
Lo 4lb14.5oz
Trying some Hill's Z/D today.
Purchased a rectal thermometer.

Questions to ask veterinarian

Questions to ask veterinarian
I will take Max in soon for another general blood test.
Questions:
How can we tell if his anemia is regenerative or non-regenerative?
How do we know what the status of his mesenteric lymph nodes are?
Comment to self:
Buy a pet appropriate rectal thermometer.
Max 2lb6oz
Lo 4lb13oz

Mixed news

Max just passed a firm stool: good news!
It was in my study: bad news.
Oh well, I'll take it. His bouts of diarrhea leave him with some stool placement problems I suppose.
Need: cat rectal thermometer and low fat hypoallergenic cat treats.

Hopefully on track

Max weighed 2lb7oz today, but no vomiting and firmer diarrhea.
Lo weighed 4lb12oz today and solid stools!
Both kittens lost a couple of ozs, but hopefully Lo is leading the path back to solid stools and some weight gain.

One step forward and two steps back.

Max weights 2lb9oz today. Lo had an excellent solid poop this morning and I awarded her poop of the wek. Unfortunaltey, after eating organic pumpkin and some Hill's kitten formula dry yesterday and this morning, Max and Lo have developed diarrhea this afternoon. Max had very minor vomiting today as well. This could be coincidental, but I am returning their diet to Hill's wet W/D again. When their stools are stabilized I will try organic pumpkin and a different kitten food. Both cats have good appetites as usual. Note: Haemobartonella (-osis) and Inflammatory Bowel Disease have recently been suggested. Lo seems to be running a fever this evening. My instant ear thermometer is not reliable so I'll need to get a rectal thermometer.

Max: weight and food diary

Max weighed 2lb9oz yesterday and 2lb11oz today. He is currently eating well. His diet is comprised of Hill's W/D wet and dry (ad libitum) with some added organic pumpkin and plenty of water. The goal is to begin adding a high calorie kitten food slowly enough he does not experience vomiting and diarrhea.

The Max and Lo Story

Please find images of the kittens at the bottom of this page.
All images may be clicked to center and enlarge.
These kittens reside together isolated from other cat populations.

• Lo
• Early high titer (see below)
  
• Recent normal blood work (see below)
  
• Weight normal (see images below)
  
• Appetite normal
• Stool firm
• No neurological signs, cat behaviorally "bright"
• No clinical symptoms
• Max
• Early high titer (see below)
  
• Recent high titer (see below)
  
• Early abnormal blood work (see below)
• Ultrasound revealed no effusions
• enlarged liver
• thickened intestinal walls
  
• Weight low (very low muscle mass/fat; see images below)
• Early rough fur, now soft (grooms normally)
  
• Appetite voracious
• Stool firm
• No ocular signs
• No overt neurological signs, however, appears behaviorally "dull"
• Significant lethargy
  

Lo's Early Titer and Recent Bloodwork

Lo's Early Titer and Recent Blood Work

Max's First and Second Titer

Max's First and Second Titer

Max's Ultrasound

Max's Ultrasound
You may click on the images to enlarge and see the entire image.

Max's First General Blood Test

Max's First General Blood Test
You can click on the images to enlarge them.

Introducing Lo

Max shows his skinny legs

Here's a pic where you may be able to see how skinny Max's legs are.

Lo plays and Max watches

Lo plays and Max usually watches. Max loves to eat and gets very excited at mealtime. Otherwise, he relaxes.

Max and Lo

Here we see Max looking out the window and Lo checking out a reflection on the wall. It's difficult to appreciate from the picture, but Max is very skinny and Lo has grown normally.

Introducing Max

one