I told Mikesch that he wouldn't have to go back to the vet for a year after we got home from his last booster shot on Tuesday, but I had to break that promise and take him to the emergency vet today. He's been throwing up and suffering from diarrhea and loss of appetite for 2-3 days now and was looking sick and dehydrated this morning. It started just 1-2 days after the vet visit where he got his third FVRCP shot. I asked the vet whether it could be a reaction to that and he said it's possible, but rare. Has anyone else's bengal had a negative reaction to FVRCP vaccination?

The other possibility is that he swallowed something that might have gotten stuck in his intestines. They did an x-ray, but nothing showed up, and his diarrhea indicates that he's not blocked. The vet gave him something to suppress the vomiting and an anti-inflammatory medication, just in case it's a vaccination side-effect. They gave me some hairball paste that he's supposed to take, just in case he swallowed something, and if he's still not eating and getting better by tomorrow, I'm supposed to come back for an ultrasound to see if that shows anything that the x-ray missed. What else could be wrong with him? He's young (probably almost a year old now) and the food I've been feeding over the past few days was the same as usual (although he hasn't eaten much, the other cat has eaten most of it and hasn't been sick at all).

More than likely just a bad reaction to his jabs, we've had a couple of bad reactions in the past although all of them have been kittens having their first vaccs.

Keep a close eye on him through the night and try to encourage him to keep taking fluids in whilst he has the diarrhea, even if thats just his favorite wet food (pick him up something real special he just can't resist)......also get him some pro-biotic paste to help his tummy settle. (maybe thats the same as the hairball paste they gave you.....not sure on that)


Hope he's feeling better by the morning!

He's stopped vomiting, but he's still not eating and his diarrhea seems worse (it turned projectile, combined with flatulence), so I took him in to the vet again to make sure he wasn't dehydrated again. They said it's quite possible based on what he's been passing as stool that he is having a bout of stress-triggered IBD (the stress coming from the vaccination).

Those of you on this board who have bengals with IBD, do you have any suggestions what to do to 1) get a proper diagnosis, 2) get it under control, and 3) entice him into eating again? The vet suggested offering boiled chicken with broth, but after taking one piece he stopped eating again. The only other thing he's eaten today are a few morsels of dry food, which doesn't help to get fluids into him, of course. He refuses any kind of wet food, which worries me.

In the meantime, Binky appears confused why Mikesch isn't chasing him and pouncing on him as usual. This morning, he even tried getting Mikesch's attention by pouncing on his tail. And here I thought senior Binky was annoyed by Mikesch's usual playfulness, but I guess not... He's definitely been enjoying having Mikesch's uneaten food to finish off, including the prescription food from the vet, which he apparently thinks is the best treat ever. I guess I will have to feed them separately until Mikesch is eating properly again or Binky will balloon out of proportion.

There's a yahoo group based around feline IBD, they have some quite extreme cases on there but maybe the members can lead you in the right direction for Mikesch.

I'm hoping his condition is just tempory due to the bad reaction!

Also its worth noting that the Hills PD is thixotropic, so you could mix it to virtually a liquid.....maybe he'll take some this way!

Did he still drink the broth after eating one piece of chicken?

Thanks for the tip about the yahoogroup! Checking it out right now. He isn't drinking much, so that's what worries me the most (and why I took him in again to see if he needed fluids again). I'm mixing the wet food with warm water as the vet recommended, but he just turns away from it. Right now he's sleeping. I hope he'll have a little bit more appetite after he wakes up.

Well, he definitely acted hungry this morning, but he refused to touch the prescription food. I managed to coax him into eating some of his favorite wet food though, so that's progress. I think he's eaten more this morning than he has for a couple of days, so now I just hope he won't throw it back up again.

Seems Mikesch is back. He has enough energy to put up quite the struggle against being pilled and he's found his appetite again. When I got home, he came running to greet me with a meow instead of hiding in the closet with a pained and listless expression on his face and ravenously devoured the cooked chicken treats he refused to eat two days ago. He's back to rolling around and stretching his tummy out across my desk, batting at his toys and already tormenting Binky again with his antics.

The vet suspects that he probably had indeed a bad reaction to the vaccine and is trying to get the company to reimburse me for the emergency vet treatment. We'll have to see what to do when he's due for his annual shot. I wouldn't want to make him sick again.

I took some pictures, but since I'm one of those people who don't have a digital camera yet, I'll have to fill up the roll and have it developed. I've got a couple of pictures from shortly before we went to the vet though. For example, this is his favorite belly-up sleeping position:



He hasn't done it for a couple of days (I assume his tummy hurt too much), but he's back to it this evening.

And tempting as it is to scratch his fluffy tummy when he rolls over like this, you have to watch out for your fingers because he'll turn into a vampire cat if you do.

How frustrating that you can't rub his spotty belly! Just as well you warned me, it's the first thing I would have done! (If I weren't, y'know, in Australia...)
We're trying to get our two used to belly rubs while they're little. (One doesn't mind, the other seems to have been talking to Mikesch!)
Glad to hear he's doing so much better, it is so scary when they're sick!
Emma

Thats great news!

He's a lucky boy to have someone who cares sooOOO much for him.


Looking forward to seeing some new pics posted of Mikesch when you get them!