In memory of Finnegan Snowstorm
The brightest stars have the shortest life
February 14, 2005 - June 24 2005
I believe in some
magical place a kitten has become the snow leopard
he always believed he was.
Finn was a special boy that now awaits me at the Rainbow Bridge. He loved to be petted, sought out attention and purred when picked up. He was a Seal Lynx Point Snow Marble Bengal. Bengals are the only cat that can have glitter in their coat. Not all have it. When the light hit Finnegan's coat it sparkled like new fallen snow in the bright winter sun. His chocolate colored marbling made a striking pattern. This combined with his blue eyes made him the most beautiful kitten I have ever seen. He loved to play chase and pounce. He was fearless and would pounce and chase any of the other cats that would play with him. His favorite playmate was Rhiannon, a brown spotted Bengal a year older than him. In the few short weeks he lived with me he carved out a BIG spot in my heart.
Finn was taken from me by Panleukopenia (a.k.a Panleuk or feline distemper) even though he had all three of his vaccinations. Since the incubation period for panleuk is 2-7 days he must have picked it up in my house and not come to me with it. I noticed him being lethargic on Tuesday and took him to the vet. He had a high fever and was dehydrated so I left him in their care. He was placed on antibiotics and fluids. I visited on Wednesday and his initial blood work had come back OK so they did x-rays and didn't see anything. On Thursday morning when I visited he had diarrhea and his tummy was bloated. They put him on an IV drip and catheter. He still wanted to be petted and purred. Late that morning they called to say he tested positive for panleuk. When I visited Thursday afternoon he still moved his head toward me when I petted him. Friday morning at 8:10 on my way to see him they called to tell me he passed over to the Rainbow Bridge.
I suspect the source was a rescued kitten that was boarded in isolation at the rescue veterinarian initially with signs of a severe upper respiratory infection and put on strong antibiotics and fluids. I was told she hadn't shown any signs of illness for a week and was better so I brought her home. I initially quarantined her for five days, making twelve days without any signs of illness. When she was released Finn played with her. If the antibiotics administered for the upper respiratory infection allowed her to survive a bout of panleuk she could have been shedding the virus up to six weeks later. If she did survive it was a near miracle since she was only about 10 weeks old when she was initially rescued and brought to the vet. The fatality rate for kittens of that age is nearly 100%. Later in the day that Finn died I brought her to the vet to be tested for panleuk. If she was still shedding the virus she would test positive. She tested negative, indicating she had stopped shedding the virus or wasn't the source of Finn's infection. I will never know for sure where the infection came from, it is possible it came in on my shoes if I had walked in an area an infected animal had vomited or defecated and bleach wasn't used to clean up the area. That could have been at PETsMART or one of the veterinarian's offices.
