Bless your heart. This is one very sick kitty and I'm so very sorry!

My gut reaction is that she got into something very toxic which has really compromised her system. Your vet seems to be on top of things, but s/he may want to call a veterinary college like Cornell and see if they will work with him/her over the phone/internet in helping diagnose this problem. There are several vet help lines that professionals can use - Cornell and Tufts come readily to mind, but I don't know the numbers. You may want to seek out help from any local veterinary schools. Talk to your vet about this. Remember that if s/he is stumped it is not a reflection on his/her ability, just a lack of experience which can happen to any one.

Good luck. Please keep us posted.

>Hi - My 7 year old cat is very ill and my vet is currently stumped about what is going on. I'm looking for ideas and other opinions. Here's a description of what's happening and thanks for reading, its a little long.
>>
>>Beginning in late December she started hiding in a closet - very unusual for her. After a trip to the vet we discovered she had dermatitis on her back, she got a shot of steroids and improved within days. A month later the same problem developed, and again treatment with steroids but with caution - we wanted to determine what was causing the allergic reaction and not continue with steroids.
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>>As of early last week she was normal. Beginning Thursday I noticed some hiding/skiddishness, and by Friday she was hiding under the bed and would not come out - even to eat or drink. Back to the vet this Tuesday and they did more tests. All blood work was normal except for a slight decrease in monocytes (maybe from infection or steroid treatment?), slightly increased hematocrit, and low BUN (presumably from dehydration and anorexia). Urine sample showed some white blood cells. She was rehydrated with IV fluids and sent home with an antibiotic and prednisone.
>>
>>But by Wed her condition deteriorated rapidly. She would not eat or drink, was hiding, and seemed not to recognize me. When I approached she would growl, groan, and hiss (she has NEVER done this before). When picked up she was totally limp, eyes lifeless, and they would roll up in her head. She would fall over occasionally when placed on her feet. We rushed back to the vet and she was admitted and rehydrated again. They did an x-ray to rule out obstruction and tumors and found nothing.
>>
>>This morning she was slightly better - seemed to respond somewhat to the staff and urinated in the litter box. She is not falling over like she was, but was again dehydrated. Tomorrow they will be starting force feeding her if she does not eat. They ran a thyroid test and results will be in tomorrow, and are repeating the blood work just to be sure. But my vet just can't figure out what's going on and is looking for some sign of what's happening.
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>>Does anyone out there have other ideas of things we should check, or what the reason may be? As you can imagine we are very upset and scared.
>>
>>Thank you so much for reading all of this and for any ideas you may have.
>>
>>Nikki
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

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