Sores on Legs - FCV-VSD? Allergy?

[KPassa]

Okay, I know I said Mikey was doing great in my other thread, but what I meant was his diabetes is well-regulated. He's also been going through a bunch of health issues this last month or so and I think I've finally figured/seen what's happening.

It started around November 22nd with him drooling, eyes squinted closed, ears twitching, not eating, and seeming generally unwell. I thought at first he had a broken tooth and after a trip to the vet (in the midst of all the Finn vet trips), they scheduled him for blood work and a dental even though they didn't see anything but plaque build-up in his mouth. Fecal and ear mite tests both came back clean. He continued to do terribly and when I brought him in for the pre-dental blood work (Nov 30th) and told them I didn't think it was his teeth, they said that I needed to schedule another appointment to be seen again. I took him to a different vet (Dec 1st) and they gave him fluids and an appetite stimulant and prescribed clavamox (his blood panel from the previous vet showed slightly elevated WBC). He seemed to suddenly do better after that vet visit and we finished the round the clavamox on Dec 9th.

I started to suspect that maybe Finn brought something home from the vet that Mikey caught but then in the last week or so, I've noticed that Mikey keeps flicking, thumping, and kicking all four legs and I was finally able to inspect them the other day and his paws are raw and cracked. I started applying some olive oil the last couple of days and today I noticed that he's got open sores on the backs of his hind legs. (He's a triple-coat long-hair so it's hard to see through all the fur.)

He is also obsessed with sitting outside on my (enclosed) patio in 40 degree weather and camps out by the back door waiting for me to let him out every morning for the whole day and begging to go back out every night. Not sure if this is because the cold feels good on his sores/inflammation?

So, now my suspicion is that Mikey is severely allergic to the Dr. Elsey's cat litter that I switched everyone to a couple of months ago when Finn's IBD started getting really bad. I'm replacing all the litter in the house tomorrow. Either that, or could it be the clavamox? But I couldn't find anything online saying that might be a side-effect and he's been on it before without issue.

Does anyone have a suspicion it might be something else? Feline calcivirus? (calicivirus?) Neither Finn nor Dino seem to have any similar symptoms. (Dino also loves rolling around in the litter box after I've cleaned it and put fresh litter in and he doesn't have any fur issues.)

ETA: Oh, crap. Could it be he's allergic to rabbit?????

In the meantime, I have no way of getting Mikey in to see a vet until at least end-of-January/Feb and he is miserable. What else can I do besides olive oil to help him feel comfortable and heal in the meantime? Should I give him a dose of Revolution just in case or might that make things worse?

 

[KPassa]

I'm doom-spiraling now that Mikey might have FCV-VSD. Is anyone familiar with this? Do 60% of cat really die from it? Am I going to lose Mikey because the vets in my area are either terrible or don't have appointments until February?

 

[KPassa]

Oh, I also completely forgot that the vet gave him his rabies vaccine when they drew blood (Nov 30th) for his pre-dental panel. (I canceled the dental appointment.) I didn't know they had given it to him till I got an email from them later with "post-vaccine signs to watch for" and Mikey vomited everywhere. Could this possibly be a rabies vaccine side-effect?

 

[THH & Snowcrash (GA)]

It's really unlikely to be FCV-VSD. He'd be seriously ill and probably not eating, plus your other cats would likely be sick too.

 

[THH & Snowcrash (GA)]

Has he had bloodwork done recently? If so, could you post the results?

 

[KPassa]

When I was researching Mikey's symptoms, I stumbled upon Pododermatitis ("pillow foot"), which led me to the possible calicivirus diagnosis, hence my freak-out.

I finally got his blood panel back from the first vet this morning. Is there a way to upload images here? When I click "Upload a File", it says I don't have permission.

 

[KPassa]

I also added this to Mikey's Labs tab on his spreadsheet where you can also see his previous blood panels from 2015 and 2019).

 

[KPassa]

Just wanted to give an update on the Mikey situation. The (third) vet finally got a chance to look at Mikey. This was the best experience ever! It was a home visit since Mikey is so difficult and it cost half as much as the other vet visits!

They think it's a cyclical/seasonal(?) hormonal fluctuation or allergy leading to dry skin, especially since we discovered it was also affecting his nipples. It also explains all the pee issues he's had over the last 9 years where he stops using the litter box to urinate for a few months and I have to put pee pads out for him. He's on a course of doxycycline so hopefully this helps solve both the pillow foot and the pee issues!