The medical management of a 2-year-old, neutered male cat presenting with haemorrhagic diarrhoea, anorexia and pyrexia

In early 2016, a 2-year-old, neutered male, domestic shorthaired cat was admitted to a first opinion veterinary surgery, presenting with haemorrhagic diar-rhoea, anorexia and pyrexia of 24–48 hours duration.

The patient was examined and a clinical history was gathered. The presenting symptoms included: haemorrhagic diarrhoea, a temperature of 40.8°C, lethargy and an absence of the patient's usual personality and behaviour. The veterinary surgeon (VS) admitted the cat with a guarded prognosis, as the cause was yet to be diagnosed. After admission, the following care was administered, based on the VS's prescriptions and diagnostic plan:

Please note that normal reference ranges can be found in Box 1.

Box 1.Normal ranges and equations

A care plan was completed by the author (Figure 1 and 2), as well as the home care plan for the owners (Figure 3). Long-term management consisted of tube feeding until solids consumed, as well as the administration of medication. Owners came into the practice every day for temperature and bandage checks, while the feeding tube was in place. Once the patient was appetent and relieved of diarrhoea and pyrexia, veterinary care was withdrawn. This took 3 to 4 weeks from admission to recovery. Table 1 summarises the care planned and delivered over the patient's 5-day hospitalisation; for the rest of the recovery period the patient was at home.