Feline High White Count

[Nancy923]

Sally has chronic upper respiratory problems, she is a sneezer.  It was explained to me that when she was a kitty, she had a bad infection that destroyed all the filtering hairs in her nose that is the basis of her problem.  

Sally is now eight years old and is very small.  Her weight usually fluctuates between 6.3# and 6.8#.  This past December she stopped eating and had diarrhea.  I took her to see her vet.  Initially he gave her a shot and some Laxtone.   She was OK for about a week and than her symptoms returned.  When I took her back, the doctor did a comprehensive blood test because Sally’s weight had dropped to 5.5#.  He said all her values were normal; however she had a 44,000 white blood count which told him she had an infection somewhere in her body.   She was put on Clavamox 0.5 ml twice daily and Metronodazole 1 ml twice daily for 10 days.  Sally improved but about one month later the original symptoms returned.  Her doctor repeated the blood test and her white count was again at 44,000.

Sally has been on the following medicine for almost a month.   Amoxi Drops, 0.5 ml twice daily and Metronodazole 1 ml daily for 21 days.  Her doctor felt that Sally was initially not on the antibiotics for a long enough period of time to take care of the infection.  Sally will be going back to her doctor on 3/16 for a follow up blood test.  If her white blood count is still high, her doctor is proposing X-Rays and if those are inconclusive possibly exploratory surgery.

Her doctor is not sure where the infection in Sally’s body is but because of her symptoms he feels it is a GI issue.   I have pointed out several times that Sally’s gums are fire engine red and was wondering if some type of dental infection could be the cause.   Her doctor is convinced that is not the problem.  Sally is doing fine at this point.   She is eating and has normal bowel movements.  She has also gained most of her weight back and is again at 6.3#.

I guess I would like feedback on this situation.  I am hoping the blood work is normal but if not.  I am not sure what to do.  X-Rays are one thing but exploratory surgery seems a little drastic

[Nancy923]

Thanks so much for your input.  Actually, Sally's doctor holds a D.A.B.V.P. in feline medicine and is on staff at one of our area's largest vet hospitals.  He has been in practice for over 25 years so I am pretty confident he is laying out the exact progress of what will happen if the blood work is not normal. I just don't want to accept it.   If her blood work is not normal, BEFORE exploratory surgery, I would take her for a second opinion.
Sally has the blood work done on 3/16 and we get the results on 3/17.  I am hoping St. Patrick will smile on us and all will be well.

[Mrs_Savas]

Well, I would certainly take Sally for a second opinion before ok'ing exploratoy surgery.  It doesn't sound to me like you are 100% confident about your vet and in cases like that, especially when dealing with somthing as serious as this, I always recommend second opinions.  

If you have one in your area, I'd say try a good sized veterinary hospital with a fairly large staff.  Places like that have "seen it all" and are good resources when you have a tricky diagnostic situation.

See what happens with the blood work and the x-rays.  Maybe all will be well.

Please keep us posted.