We just had to put our 5 year old ragdoll down. He had a high fever, loss of appetite, lost a good deal of weight, and lethargic. At first the vets thought it was intestinal lymphoma. We did biopsies and necropsy and they came back negative for cancer. I was told they cannot confirm FIP. I'm racking my brains to try to figure this out. Bookey used to love to take walks with me on a leash and sit in the bushes in the front of my house, always on a leash. He had not done this for probably a year...but I was thinking about the insecticides the lawn service puts down. Although I used to be pretty careful about not going out soon after the lawn service was here...but we did walk on the lawns of our neighbors. There is also a large field out behind my house that he absolutely loved to walk in...and there are deer, bunnies, an occasional cat, and even a fox back there...although we never came across one while out there. But I'm sure there was feces back there.
Then of course there are cleaning fluids in the house...like Clorox Round-up for the tile floors and wood cleaner for the wood floors...but Bookey was afraid of the sound of the vacuum and really stayed hidden when the cleaning lady was here.
The autopsy definitely showed super enlarged lymph nodes in the intestinal area and some abnormal stuff in the liver...so that doesn't speak to a heart problem.
He tested negative to leukemia when he was a baby and did not have that leukemia vaccine that is controversial.
He has never been around another kitty. Our neighbor did get a new collie puppy in the fall that came in our house once for a few minutes months ago. Lots of our friends have animals and our friends had physical contact with Bookey. But other than that, he had no exposure to other animals.
Two years ago was the last time I had taken him to the vet...I missed his annual this year. (I also missed my annual mamogram...so don't think I exclusively neglected him.) But at that vet visit he did have some teeth issues...lost one of two front ones due to decay or plaque or something...so we had his teeth cleaned.
He had a voracious appetite up until about a month ago when he clearly started showing signs of his very high fever...lethargy, hissing at Meeko to leave him alone, and very cuddly to me. Lots of coming up on my lap and sleeping close to me.
In terms of food, I always leave out Eukanuba chicken and rice. And Bookey liked Fancy Feast in a can which I used to give him whenever he seemed to want it...which was a lot. Both cats went through a period during this past year of a lot of hairball vomiting so I tried some other dry food at the encouragement of our local "fancy" pet store -- Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Intense Hairball Formula...but that seemed to make both Bookey and Meeko pretty sick...lots of vomiting without hairballs or food in it. So I stopped that after a few days. And that kind of vomiting stopped.
Over his life he got up to almost 12 lbs. as weighed by the vet. Then he came down to about 10 where he stayed for at least 2 vet visits. Then less than a month ago he started showing the symptoms I said before. At first he weighed 9 pounds and some ounces...and then over the course of the next week kept dropping weight till the end when he felt like a bag of bones.
Regarding wet or dry forms of FIP...the doctor did not see much fluid inside...although she did say there was just a little in his lungs...but very little and she thought that was from the infection...not wet FIP.
And lastly, Bookey did not nibble on things on the floor. Meeko on the other hand eats anything and everything off the floor...a clump of fur, a piece of paper or string...anything. So that doesn't fit. We do not feed either cats scraps of people food.
Do you have any thoughts on what could have been wrong? And should we wait a long time before getting another kitten?
Optional Information:
Age: 5; Male; Breed: Ragdoll cat
Already Tried:
biopsy, necropsy, all analyzed by Univ. of PA vets