runt o'the litter...

The course of events (re: Hissy) have been the following:

June 14 - Stool sample detected round worm and coccidia parasite (all of the kittens had both of these). Meds were distributed to all. 

July 3 - Spay day for Hissy! She was checked for FIV and Feline Leuk. Also given an inoculation that would require a booster in 6 weeks...and did I mention, she was spayed.

Had previously noticed that her chin was always crusty and then found out that whenever she scratched her face, she would cry. Checked it out and she had open wounds around her nose, whiskers and on her chin. Brought this to the Vet's attention and she was prescribed amoxicillin and antiseptic wipes for her face. They took a skin scrape to see if she had a fungus or ring worm or mites. They wouldn't know for 2 weeks while they grew the culture and would call us when they found out. Also at this time I asked the Vet if she thought little Hiss might have Cerebellar Hypoplasia since she was shaky and had no balance. She did not believe that she had this and thought she will grow out of it.

Hissy took the antibiotic for 10 days and had to wear a cone the entire time because she was still scratching at her face.  Michigan Humane Society called after 2 weeks to say that she was all clear; no mites, no fungus and no ring worm. Hummm, what is it then???

GONE TO MASSACHUSETTS...

July 24 - Took her to my Vet (Dr. Hoonhout at Stony Creek Vet) for her booster shot (which also included the FIV and Feline Leuk vaccine). She screamed and hissed when the doctor gave her the shot. He was surprised because he said that shouldn't hurt her. He prescribed a Lime/Sulfur "dip" because he did a skin scrape on her and thought he saw a mite.

She couldn't walk for two days without pain after the shot.  Around that time she seemed to stop scratching at her face (maybe because of the pain from the shot...?).

Waited for the Lime/Sulfur med to come in, but in the meantime she was all of a sudden lethargic and seemingly in pain. You couldn't pick her up without her crying out.

July 31 - At the same time, finally got the call from the Vet that the Lime/Sulfur dip was in so that's when I rushed home from my class and took her to the doctor. He said she had a bacterial infection ("cat scratch fever" - which I believe she gave to herself since she was scratching her face off and since the other cats have not been anywhere near her) and prescribed a different antibiotic and gave her a shot of antibiotic while in his office. She totally responded to the shot and we thought we were out of the woods but then she started feeling like crap again and was not responding to the antibiotics that we were giving her.

August 2 - I called the Vet and his advice was to up the dosage...which we did and that seems to be helping. 

As of Saturday night, she is VERY spirited and I hope that lasts. 

August 7 - Tonight is her last dosage of the antibiotic. Fingers crossed.

We have not given her the Lime/Sulfur dip because we think she's been through enough at the moment, plus she doesn't scratch her face off lately. The doctor thinks that her immune system is finally kicking in and that the booster shot helped it develop. He doesn't believe that she has Cerebellar Hypoplasia, so that is really good news. She is getting stronger and the shakes are gone, but the balance is still off.

All of this perhaps because she is the runt of the litter and from humble feral beginnings.

I am happy to say that my oldest sister and her partner are willing to adopt Miss Hissy, which is a LOAD off my mind.  They will be in town this week and will stay for a little over a week.  They live on the east coast and Hissy will become a Jersey girl and happily live with Sprite and Turbo.