# FIV cat trembles, has low body temperature



## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

Greg, my FIV kitty who is frequently ill, has started intermittently trembling. This started last week, and his abdomen was also suddenly tender, so I rushed him to the vet. He was examined, x-rayed and had a blood panel done, but the vet couldn't find anything wrong. She gave him a thorough deworming, and an antibiotic just in case.

He has also had ongoing soft stools that two previous vets failed to find a cause for -- and refused to give me a dewormer when I asked, because he gets Revolution "so he doesn't need it." FIV cats frequently have diarrhea, so it was supposedly no big deal. :evil: I'm boycotting those idiots from now on, because this new vet cleared it up in one day.  Both the diarrhea and abdominal tenderness are gone. 

But he's still trembling on and off. He has no other symptoms, doesn't seem to be trembling in response to me touching anywhere specific, and seems otherwise fine. I think he might just be cold, because the outside temperature has dropped down to the 50's F. The vet also noted during his exam that he had a slightly-lower-than-normal body temperature. When the trembling first started, I checked him at home with my ear thermometer and also got a low reading. 

The vet didn't seem to be concerned by the low body temperature and I didn't think to ask about it at the time. Google is no help. Does anybody know what could cause it, and if it could it be making him shiver? Oddly though, he has a nice warm and cozy cat bed where he usually lays when it's cool, but he's refusing to use it right now. I'll call the vet tomorrow, I'm just obsessing tonight and wondering if anyone has any insight -- thanks, as always.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Is his trembling actually shivering? Shivering is what muscles do to generate heat, and with you stating his low body temperature, I wonder if the trembling is his body's way of trying to warm him up... Can you give him some warmed canned food? Can he come inside where it is warmer? If he has a warm cat-bed and won't use it, maybe it needs to be laundered? Put a fresh towel inside? I got no clue, I'm grasping at straws...


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## Kobster (Feb 1, 2007)

Cats can tremble for one of three reasons, pain, cold or a neurological deficit. Since he has a low body temperature, I would guess he is trembling due to cold or pain (since chronic pain can cause a lower body temp). What is his temperature tonight? Does he quiet down when you hold him? I wish I knew what to tell you. Hugs to your kitty.


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## Mom of 4 (Jul 29, 2006)

Agree with the above and one more suggestion.
With a virus, the body temperature usually drops just before the virus takes off and shows symptoms.

What about warming some bath towels in the dryer and laying your cat on those? we did it for traveling in cold weather and it seemed to help.


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

Thanks everybody for the suggestions. Well, I just went out and sat with him again for awhile, and I no longer think it's just the cold. I was cuddling him on my lap with a sweater over him, and he kept shrugging it off. (It's 59 degrees F., I should clarify, so it's not super cold.) He was trembling less with it off, and I finally realized that touching him anwhere on his back seemed to be making it happen. He wasn't reacting like he was in pain, though. He was barely even annoyed.

I've noticed lately that the muscles on his back have seemed mildly twitchy or flinchy at times when I've pet him, although it's been nothing to this degree. Also, he has developed an odd reflex: when I scratch the place where his back meets his tail, he closes his eyes and flicks his tongue in and out rapidly. I thought it was because it felt good in that spot, but now I don't know what to think. :?: :?: :?:

I will keep a close eye on him tonight. I did finally get him to lay in the bed, and he has a quilt and heating pad if he wants them, and my lap. He does seem a bit sleepier than normal, so maybe it is an oncoming virus. I will definitely be hovering.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I hope you get some answers. Best wishes from me and my girls.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

It sounds neurological to me, JG. I got like that periodically after a thorocentesis (lung tap). I know the doctor hit a nerve, because the pain when down into my hip. For months after I went home from the hospital I shook all over, and I was neither nervous nor cold. It stopped in about 5 weeks, thank goodness. 

Did he have an injection which might have hit a nerve? I wouldn't even reply, except that it sounds so much like what happened to me, and the nurse who came to the house and the doctor both agreed that it was physiological. I knew exactly when it started, and the only unusual test was the lung tap. I would imagine it could happen any time a nerve was disturbed. I was quite ill, so that might have been a contributing factor. I hope the problem is as simple (although a bit frightening) as mine was. 

You're such an angel to Greg! I think he likes being scratched at the base of his tail.


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

That sounds scary, Jeanie! 8O I'm glad it went away, and I hope you're fully recovered from whatever made you ill.  

Greg hasn't any injections lately -- but he's doing much better today.  I haven't detected any trembling, no matter where I touch him, and even though it's ten degrees colder today than it was last night.* 

Before I went to bed, I finally persuaded him to get in his cold weather shelter and stay there. So he has been toasty warm in his faux-fur bed on top of a heating pad, with a quilt wrapped around as a windbreak. Maybe he really was just shivering from the weather before that, or maybe he was coming down with a touch of something and managed to sleep it off. I'm still keeping a paranoid eye on him, and if the trembling comes back he goes straight to the vet. But for now he seems OK.  Thanks everybody for all your advice and concern.

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* 48 degress F. at last check. Opinions of how cold that is evidently vary. Greg's companion cat Gladys has been running around playing, oblivious to the cold; a neighbor's cat has been sunning himself on the grass; and a human neighbor has been walking around in shorts and flip-flops. Meanwhile I've been wearing my heaviest coat, with Greg on my lap bundled in a blanket. Maybe he and I are just wusses? :roll:


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I had pneumonia, JG. The lung tap was not necessary, so I was really upset about getting it.  

I'm so glad you got him into his warm bed. Our babies are such a worry at times.


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## Mom of 4 (Jul 29, 2006)

Now I'm confused. Is Greg an indoor or outdoor cat?

My understanding, which is limited, is that FIV+ cats should be indoor cats to maximize their health and longivity.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Since Jet Green cares for ferals, it's probable that he is one of those she cares for. I'm not positive, but knowing how much she does for the ferals and strays, I think it's a good guess.


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

Oh, sorry for the confusion! Greg _was _one of my ferals originally, but one day he decided quite insistently to be my pet cat. Sadly, for a long list of reasons I am unable to bring him in the house. He lives instead on a large screened-in porch on the back of my house, together with his (now platonic) mate, Gladys, who is also FIV+. 

The porch is sheltered and comfortable with lots of furniture and plants. The weather is usually warm here, with just a handful of cold days a year, and I have gear for dealing with that. There's a slight risk that he or Gladys will rub noses with another cat through the screen and catch something from them, but that hasn't happened yet that I know of. There's probably a much higher risk of them getting sick inside the house right now, because my indoor-only cats have been trading a coronavirus back and forth for the last year, and a kitten I fostered recently came down with a URI after interacting with them, so they are probably also shedding feline herpes.  

Greg is the sweetest of all my cats, and despite his quasi-outdoor status, I spoil him as rotten as humanly possible and guard his health with extreme paranoia, as my many posts about him here will attest.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

You have a big heart, Jet Green. You are so good to your kitties, pets and ferals.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

Jeanie said:


> You have a big heart, Jet Green. You are so good to your kitties, pets and ferals.


i know, its so great!! theres so many people that would just pass them by. ive debated myself about when i move out having my own little animal shelter.... but then i know id fall in love and want to keep every single one!! lol


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