posted 01-07-2004 12:21 PM         

For anyone who has never experienced distemper here is a mini lesson. It mimics other diseases. Any time a cat is lethargic, vomiting, diarrhea, it should be checked for distemper. It is usually accompanied by a fever which drops below normal right before death. They will refuse to eat/drink. My rescues did not have a fever and showed no signs of being ill. They went lethargic and died. The only other thing that stuck out was the third eyelid that was always covering the eye. Distemper is hard to diagnosis. Blood tests showing low leukocytes can be an indication. There is also a test, I think its called a fecal elisa that can be fairly helpful. Otherwise a biopsy of an affected organ is definate. Distemper attacks rapidly multiplying cells like the gi tract and bone marrow, hence the reduction of lymphocytes. Long post, but I had never experienced this before.