[drunkenmonkey]

Our cat Willy, a male domestic shorthair, is five months old. He was born outside and lived that way with his mother for a month, then spent another month in a great foster home before we adopted him. He has a congenital eye deformity but otherwise seemed to be in good health.

About two weeks ago I was brushing his teeth when he lost a baby tooth. I didn't think any of it initially -- I knew he still had some to lose -- but then I noticed blood on the toothbrush. The spot where he had lost the tooth was still bleeding the next afternoon (ended up bleeding for a day and a half) so we brought him in to the vet. They initially suspected a vitamin K deficiency, but a blood test showed that his platelets are really low; a cat's should be between 200-500 and his were 35. His white blood cells were also quite low. Everything else showed up fine -- his red blood cells were slightly low, but that was likely because he'd lost some blood -- and he tested negative for FIV and feline leukemia. He started a two-week course of steroids and antibiotics that he is almost done; we're scheduled to bring him back for a follow-up and another blood test on Saturday. We'll also be bringing in a stool sample for a parasite test then as well, which we were planning to do before this all happened.

He seemed to be doing well, but earlier today my husband noticed that his mouth was bleeding again. As good a look as I can get at it, he seems to have clots now on each side of his top molars. He's also got a red spot on his ear -- seems like it's under the skin instead of an open wound -- that's gotten bigger since Sunday night. He seems to be himself, and has eaten supper and was playing earlier, but of course we're worried. And we have no explanation right now for what's causing the bleeding in the first place.

Has anyone else had experience with this? I wish I knew the cause of the low platelets, and also what we can do to boost his immune system. Any advice or insight?