Kitten News

So, the kitten is back from his vet appointment, and the results are...

Drumroll please!

...inconclusive!

Sigh. Yeah, they palpated his abdomen and did more x-rays, and it looks like there's a little more fluid in there, but they're still not sure if it's FIP or not. They're going to run some blood tests, too, which will likely also be inconclusive, because you basically have to be Veterinary House, apparently, to pin down this particular disease accurately. Although, one of the tests, which the vet offered almost as an afterthought, may give some information. It's new and it's expensive, and it's got a huge false negative rate but a very low false positive rate, which means that, for your money, you get either bad news or no news at all. But lack of information raises my stress levels, and anything that might remove uncertainty can lower them a lot if it works, and right now I've got this massive knot of spasming muscles right at the back of my neck telling me that anything that holds a possibility of lowering my stress levels is worth another $70. So I told him to go ahead and do that one, as well. I should have the results (or the lack thereof) in a day or two.

In the meantime, the little guy seems to be doing really well otherwise. And I will be able to board him at the vet while I'm gone next week, which means that it's OK that I don't have all the answers right now, because I don't have to do anything drastic before I get back. If he does have FIP, he could be okay for some time before he gets really sick, especially with treatment for the symptoms. There might even be a (very, very small) chance he could survive it. And as long as he's kept separate from the other cats, the odds of him infecting them are extremely low. So, wait-and-see is doable. And for the moment, he's a pretty happy little cat, which is something I'm content to let him go on being for as long as it lasts.

Oh, and he does have a name now, by the way. It's Mickey. He was doing so very, very much better that I unilaterally awarded him Most Improved Kitten status. MIK, Mickey... It seems to suit him, somehow.