Cat of the Month - October 2023 - George
Cat of the Month October 2023
October has seen the arrival of two new staff members in the Vet2Cat team, so lots of training and getting used to this bizarre way of vetting we call home visiting! Along the way, we have selected one very special cat to be our October Cat of the Month.
GEORGE
Gorgeous three and a half year old big ginger boy George came to live with his hoomans along with his brother Fred via the Cats Protection charity. George and Fred were another sad case of lockdown pet acquisitions that did not work out but with their new hoomans they are loved, cared for and respected.
George become suddenly very unwell earlier this summer, with the only clinical finding being a focus of pain over his chest and back. With no response to pain relief, he ended up ultimately being referred to Southern Counties Veterinary Specialists. Through a series of investigations, they found he had abscesses within his lungs, caused by a bacteria called Pasteurella multocida. This bug usually hangs out in cats’ mouths not really doing much, so how and why it in ended up causing severe disease in his lungs is a bit of a mystery.
However, that wasn’t the end of it. George started to develop painful joints and neurological signs and had to have even more tests to investigate that. The conclusion from all the tests was that his immune system had gone a bit haywire with dealing with the lung infection resulting in inflammation in his joints and spinal cord, called immune-mediated polyarthritis & myelitis.
Very unfortunately for gorgeous Georgie, he also ended up with paralysis of his left back leg and tail probably from a blood clot pressing on his spine. George is a wilful cat, which worked in his favour; he was not going to roll over and give up! So after many months of rehabilitation and long courses of antibiotics, George has made a full recovery, even regaining his leg function.
What a tough little trouper he is! Let’s not forget his hoomans who had to deal with all this worry, run him back and forth to Ringwood, cover a large part of the bill as it exceeded their insurance cover, and learn how to pill their cat successfully! Gold stars all round!!