Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / November 2005

About two months ago, I adopted a kitten from a rescue center.  When
she came home, she had very bad diarrhoea, passing no solid material
whatsoever.  I tried worming her and changing her diet, which in the
short term didn't seem to have any affect.  Referring this condition
to the vet, his suggestion was that the diarrhoea could be stress
related and would settle down.  Over the past three weeks, the
kitten's formation of faeces has greatly improved, and although not
fully firm, resembles "normal" material, but more often than not is
much softer than my other cat's bowel movements.

The kitten has recently been spayed.  During the operation, the
veterinary surgeon noticed that the lymph nodes on the kitten's
intestines were abnormally large.  Apparently, the lymph nodes were the
size of a cherry stone as opposed to the normal size of a lentil.  As
this raised the vet's concerns, he took the time during the operation
to perform a test for FIV and Leukaemia.  To my relief, the result of
the tests was negative.

Currently, the vet is administering antibiotics (an injection) every
two days and monitoring progress in an attempt to address an intestinal
bacterial infection.  However, it is difficult to find any improvement
of the kitten's bowel movement- and we no longer have the advantage
of being able to examine the kitten's bowel lymph nodes through the
abdominal opening available during the spaying operation.

The situation now has raised questions as to why the cat's lymph
nodes are so swollen, if this is indeed an issue, and what, if
anything, can be done.   Strangely enough, the kitten is bright,
doesn't appear to be in any pain, is very playful and does not
exhibit any signs of illness at all (other than soft bowel movements).

I'm not in any way attempting to pass derogatory comments about my
vet- in fact he an excellent track record and I would highly recommend
him.  However, I would be grateful for additional advice and opinions
as to what could be causing the problem- if at all there is a problem.

Thanks in advance for any advice.