my cat is acting different

Question
My cat is acting lethargic, i noticed one morning he was walking very sensitively on his hind ledg.when he went to sit down he looked like it hurt him to sit on his butt, so he slowly sat to his side.he hasn't had a change in diet and is going to the bathroom normally.he had been sleeping all day and had not gone outside.he is usually outside playing.i took him to the vet and his temp the first day was 104.8 they took blood work which came back all normal readings and took x rays that said they couldn't see anything abnormal, the vet said it is possible that he ate something that may still be in his stomach but it was odd to her because if their was there would be vomiting.i don't know what else to do.the doc wants to take an ultra sound and also inject my cat with a white chalk substance that quill show if anything is in the attache and intestines, this is way to costly so i just chose to give my cat antibiotics for now  .help???.if there is something in there will he eventually pass it?

Answer
Jasmin,

104.8 is an incredibly high fever for a kitty so I think that the antibiotics are a good call. I'm a bit puzzled by the fact that his blood work came back completely normal - I would think that his white blood cell count would be elevated with a high fever like that. It is possible given that he seemed kind of sore on a hind leg that he has a bite wound that has abscessed which might explain the fever but I would think that the vet would have found that on physical exam and drained it. Another question is whether or not your kitty is current on his vaccines... If he goes outside he should have his routine vaccines regularly to keep him from picking up preventable diseases from other cats and animals that he might run into outside.

Has he been tested for Feline Leukemia and FIV (kitty AIDS)? Both of those viral diseases could explain odd symptoms. If your kitty is a fairly young kitty FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) is also a possibility. Of those three issues FIV is the best possible case scenario because it is treatable in the long term and doesn't tend to affect a kitty's lifespan too much if they're getting a good quality diet and proper medical care. Feline Leukemia is highly contagious so if he tested positive for that he'd have to become an indoor only kitty and sadly his lifespan would be shorter than normal. FIP is a condition caused by exposure to a coronavirus. It can show all kinds of odd symptoms and typically shows up in cats between 3 months and 3 years of age although older and younger kitties can sometimes have it too. If your kitty has FIP this is an incurable condition and if he doesn't come back around the kindest thing may be to ask your vet about palliative (hospice) care or even letting him earn his angel wings.

The ultrasound with contrast that your vet is talking about might not be crucial at this point. From what you've said the x-ray was normal and often times your vet will see specific patterns of gas and the way that the intestines sit in the abdomen if your kitty has a foreign body in his tummy or intestines.

For now I would say the antibiotics and a wait and see approach are best. The best case scenario is that this is a one time thing and your kitty is going to go on and continue to live a happy, healthy life once he's feeling better. All I can say at this point is to give your kitty his antibiotics as prescribed by your vet and seriously consider having him tested for Feline Leukemia and FIV since he goes outside. FIP isn't very common and unfortunately there isn't a good, accurate test to detect it and there's no vaccine against it either. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me again at any time - I'm more than happy to help in any way that I can.

Kind regards,

Ali