Page 5 - Spring 13

Ernesto – a case of Feline infectious Peritonitis
by Jacques Millemann, France
Who is Ernesto ?
Ernesto is an adopted castrated European male black cat, born approximatedly in June 2001 (real date unknown). He lives in a house still under construction with a great open garden. His territory and that of his female companion reaches somewhat farther as the limits of a Brittany village.
Badly nourished after birth, probably trauma- tised, he was found in the garden following the spayed house cat, trying to nurse from her. He had a purulent wound on his nose, a dull coat and was littorally covered by fleas. His ribs were visible and his belly distended. The whiskers were short and brittle, like burnt. One couldn’t approach him without some food. For years he couldn’t stand male voices, especially when they were loud. He never had real confidence in men and even nowadays he doesn’t want to be carried without struggling. It’s only with his present owner that he has nearly the same behaviour as with his caretaker.
Normally when strangers come to visit, he runs away or if on a high place and not likely to be seen, he doesn’t move. He doesn’t like intrud- ers with obvious aggressive intentions, like the neighbour’s dog or a cat, which tries to come into the barn in order to pinch his food. In a new situation he seems circumspect, more quick to flee than to be curious. In 2010, when he was kept in a dog house with his cat friend, the caretaker wondered how he managed to avoid every physical or even visual contact, so much so, that the only evidence that she had a cat visiting was the cat food and the water disap- pearing.
When people come into the house, either he escapes or he ignores them, but he doesn’t let them approach him. He and the house’s dog live side by side and sniff one another a little bit.
After 4 years cohabitation, Ernesto lets the dog sniff his backside but not for longer than a few seconds.
Consultation on 21/07/2011
He is listless; the third eyelids are protruding a little. For two days he hasn’t ask for food at all. Even the sardines in oil was not a great temp- tation, but he sipped a little olive oil. He pushes himself up against his caretaker, which shows that he does not feel well. He lets you handle him easily. He looks exhausted. The day before it rained and he stayed in the garden at the same place for more than 30 minutes.
As a self-medication he received yesterday Pulsatilla 30C, chosen on the basis of his gen- tleness. No real result was noticed.
His caretaker thinks of a food intoxication or even a poisoning. There was no real change at home, no more stress than usual, no bad news. The weather was rainy for 4 – 5 days but this is usual in this region. We just noticed that he was not himself, no vomiting, no cough, no sneezing. As his anus was somewhat swollen, his caretaker thought that he could have some constipation. Ernesto is a formidable hunter, he eats his prey whole i.e. with feathers, bill and bones when he gets a bird. The local vet seemed to agree with the cat’s caretaker and proposed to give him a sedation before per- forming an enema. As the gums were very pale, he suggested a blood analysis too.
The local vet diagnosed Infectious Feline Peritonitis on July 21st 2011: the FIV-test was also positive and he thought that Ernesto had between 8 and 14 days to live. The holiday jour- ney, planned for the 24th, was cancelled and the family took the cat home from the vet’s clinic. The cat stuck to his caretaker, purring desperately.
Medical history
• After being castrated in 2001, Ernesto made an eosinophilic granuloma, that returns when he gets stressed (but at the moment not apparent).
• Some years ago he had a severe urinary infection: there were calculi in his urine. This disappeared with changes of diet and vitamin C to acidify his urine. Today it looks like his kidneys are healthy.
• Later on he got most of his teeth removed because these were heavily covered with tartar.
• His sense of smell is really poor if not com- pletely gone, but his sight is great and his hearing fine.
• It looks as if the extraction of his teeth does- n’t bother him really : he is still a formidable hunter. Ever since he moved to the country, he is more sociable, more relaxed. It looks as if he had found his way and lives in his element. When he brings his prey back, mostly alive, he doesn’t give them away. He plays a little with it and then eats it quickly, especially if the female cat or the dog are nearby.
• He goes outside all the year round but is more often outside in spring or in summer. • He lives at the seaside, surrounded by fields
where there are sometimes cows with or without heifers and intensively farmed agri- cultural fields. A big farm with pigs and cows lies nearby. He always does his toilets outdoors.
• In summer he sometimes sleeps in the barn (very airy and not heated) in a basket or any other place, where he feels comfortable, even if he has access to the house day and night.
• When he is sleeping in the house, one can sometimes hear him breathing loud as if he has emphysema, and this especially when he lies curled up. He is often curled up, but
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