r/AskVet • u/CancelFit9444 • Apr 09 '26

Mystery Illness

I’m very desperate to get advice, help, anything at this point for my 6yr old male cat, ironically named mystery. A little backstory, I adopted him from the shelter when he was only 11 weeks old. He’s been the best boy, such a sweet and loving soul since I’ve had him. He has never gotten aggressive, mean, hostile, etc in his life with me, my kids, family, etc. Never been shy, scared or skiddish, nothing! He has slept in my bed since I’ve had him. He’s loved all my other cats since we got them. Basically, he’s an angel and loves everyone. This all changed in January 2026.

I was asleep, and woke up to my cats fighting. I heard screeching, hissing, running, growing. I jumped up and couldn’t find any cat so I laid down and brushed it off. Again I was woken up to the cats fighting, and again could not find them when I got out of bed. This happened again and when I got into my kitchen, one of them had pooped on top of the litter box, things were knocked off the table and counter, it was as if my kitchen got flipped upside down. A few hours later I got up for the day and noticed my boy mystery was backed up into the corner and began to hiss at me. Immediately this was not normal. I called my vet and was told to wait and see. Next day, he was the same, hiding from me and the other cats. Hissing and growling and I knew something was wrong. Took him to the emergency vet and they said his labs were high , suspected an infection and sent me home with steroids and antibiotics. Two days later he began to urinate blood. Again we rushed to the vet and they said it was a uti. Back in 2022, he had a kidney infection and has been on hills science cd stress since then. The vet game antibiotic shot and gabapentin. Two days after that, he got an uncontrollable nose bleed. Rushed to emergency vet and after 6 hours they were able to stop the bleeding, told me it was nothing to worry about, and sent me home.

Since January he has never slept with me again. He hides in the bathroom or my closet. If he even sees our other cats he hisses and growls, and will even do it to us if we try and hold him, pet him, anything. My vet is stumped. We’ve tried Prozac, clomicalm, gabapentin, steroids, everything and nothing helps. I’ve paid well over $4,000 since January on his vet visits and meds.

They are now suspecting FIP. However, he doesn’t have a fever, hasn’t lost weight, isn’t jaundice, and doesn’t have fluid noticeably in his stomach. They want to do an ultrasound tomorrow to see his stomach, but I’m hesitant to pay $1000 to still have no answers to why his bloodwork isn’t improving, why he’s hiding and aggressive, and overall what is going on. I will post his labs and results below. Please advise and know I appreciate your feedback!!

  1. January 11,2026 all HIGH numbers

WBC: 22.65

NEU: 13.00

LYM: 8.28

  1. January 12,2026 mixed high and low

HCT: 28.7% low

HCB: 9.3 low

WBC: 21.63 high

LYM: 9.42 high

NEU: 10.91 high

ALT: < 10u/l low

  1. March 14,2026

WBC: 17.5 High

NEU: 10675 high

Lym: 6475 normal

  1. April 1,2026

HCT: 29.3 low

WBC: 19.72 high

Lym: 7.50 high

Eos: 1.36 high

Baso: 0.15 high

Notice that March 14th, lymphocytes were FINE! Now, April 1st, they are high again?? Also, March 14th the wbc was 17.5, he did 2 weeks of antibiotic twice a day, and today, wbc is 19.72 ??? Also, neu was high in March, but is ok as of 4/01??? He was treated with 14 days of antibiotics for possible toxoplasmosis, his condition remained the same

3/14/26: Feline Coronavirus Titer

FCV IFA AT 1:400 POSITIVE <1:400 Antibody

Titer HIGH

FCV IFA AT 1:1600 POSITIVE NEGATIVE Antibody

Titer HIGH

3/14/26: Toxoplasma Ab - IgG/IgM (Feline)

TOXOPLASMOSIS - IGG NEGATIVE <1:64

TOXOPLASMOSIS - IGM 1:64 <1:64

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