My Cat Has a Collapsed Lung
friedajune
16 years ago
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bill_g_web
16 years agoTerrapots
16 years agoRelated Discussions
My very old cat is dry heaving A LOT (sorry very long post)
Comments (51)Hello again all, I have been taking these past few days one at a time. Some are good days and some are bad days (both for me and Jelika). But we are trudging onward. I am so grateful that I can come here and read all your posts of encouragement. It appears I am not the only one who has gone through this type of pain (even though some days it feels like no one in the world can understand what I'm going through). I am so glad that there are so many pets out there that have good and obviously loving homes. It makes me feel better. Biwako, my hat is off to you for bringing 15 deserving kitties into your life.. I don't know if my heart could stand losing that many... Yesterday was a bad day. I came home and Jelika did not want to eat or get up all that much. But Saturday was a relatively good day. Again we went outside in the sunshine and just sat there (which was nice because we have had about 35 solid days of rain here.. and she so loves to sit in the sun). She is still on Pred.. this coming weekend I may start the weaning dose... the vet wants her to come in for another check up but I just don't know if I can do that to her. She hates it so much. She may be getting slightly more dehydrated though so I should bring her in for a shot of the sub-q's. I really don't know why they didn't show me how to do it at home when i specifically asked them to last time (so that I wouldn't have to bring her in again for it!). Grrrr. It is so frustrating. Also, I am experiencing a problem that may be of my own making. My other cat, Kitty, has started "attacking" Jelika a little more lately.. and she has been acting like she's holding a grudge.. which she may be. I know I have been ignoring her a bit lately because I want to spend all my time petting/being with Jelika. Because I just can't stand the thought that one day soon there won't be a Jelika there to pet anymore. I do try to make a little "Kitty time" each day. But because I have to feed Jelika special food (stuff that Kitty really likes too, but she's a little too..uh...healthy (read fat) to eat it all the time) So she just sits there and watches me feed Jelika. I do try to give her a couple of "treats" at the same time so that she doesn't feel too left out, but I think she does anyway. I feel really bad about it. They have never been the best of friends, and Jelika has ALWAYS been jealous of any time that I spend with Kitty. If she ever saw Kitty in my lap cuddling, Jelika would come right up and sit even higher up on my lap or chest.. to get in front of Kitty (as if she OWNS me.. well I guess she does :) So anyways I have this dilemna because I don't want Jelika to see me spending too much time with Kitty in what could be her (Jelika's) last few weeks, but I also don't want to ignore Kitty too much and alienate her... I mean they do get along and they are friends.. but there has always been a bit of rivalry going on as well... Anyway I will update shortly. P.S I haven't tried pumpkin yet, but the lactulose seems to be working.. however it is dehydrating so i have only been giving it once a day instead of two.. I think I will try the pumpkin....See MoreMy cat has stopped eating after surgery for crystals
Comments (10)Alexis, it can be so frustrating when a vet can't diagnose a problem. Did he run any bloodwork or do abdominal xrays? Did he at least administer fluids (assuming your boy is dehydrated from not drinking or eating much for the last few days)? Food and water are the most important things for your boy right now, and A/D gruel or baby food are a good way to provide both. Just make sure the baby food doesn't contain any onion or garlic. Check the labels and make sure they contain ONLY meat and nothing else. Syringe feeding can be made somewhat easier by warming a bath towel in the dryer, then wrapping your cat snugly in it to prevent him from clawing you, and placing him between your legs as you kneel on the floor. You can even use large diaper pins to pin the towel together so that he can't squirm out of it. That'll free up both of your hands to do the syringe feeding. NEVER EVER shoot anything down a cat's throat. The only safe way to syringe food is to place the tip of the syringe in the side of the mouth at the corner of the lips and slowly drizzle food onto the tongue, NEVER straight back toward his throat. This is necessary to give him time to swallow properly so that he doesn't aspirate the food into his lungs. There are tips and tricks at the link I am providing below for convincing an inappetant cat to eat. That link also provides links to the assist feeding website and assist feeding mailing list, both of which can be extremely helpful to you. Always give your cat the option of eating on his own before you syringe feed. The goal is to get him eating on his own again as quickly as possible. If you have to continue to syringe feed for a while and you want to give him more food variety, you can get most canned cats foods smooth enough to go through a syringe by running them through your kitchen blender at high speed with a little hot water added. Since hydration is critical for an ailing cat, put more water bowls around your house and keep them very fresh. If your cat likes to drink out of a dripping faucet or likes to lick water from around the bathtub drain, make those water sources available to him, too. If your vet suspects an infection, then antibiotics are advisable, but they may cause additional problems with your cat's appetite. Unfortunately, some antibiotics can make some cats nauseous. If your boy starts vomiting or develops diarrhea, ask your vet for a different antibiotic. I hope your cat's appetite improves quickly. Please keep us updated on his progress. Laurie Here is a link that might be useful: Persuading a cat to eat...See MoreMy cat Max needs your help.....
Comments (17)The same thing happened with our cat, now almost 13 years old. After blood tests and x-rays, the vet found no cause for his being ill. They pumped him up with a steroid injection and fluid injections on 2 different visits (you could feel a slight hump in his back, kind of like a camel). He wouldn't eat so I tempted him with his favorite thing in the whole world - and yes, I got the vet's OK - he loves Sam's Club 90% lean ground chuck, uncooked (raw). Yes, you read that right, it must be from Sam's Club because he can tell the difference. That was 6 weeks ago and now he is right as rain. I hope your Max will recover too, keep the faith. Susan...See MoreMy cat has an unknown illness! Help!!!!
Comments (9)How's your kitty doing? I just saw this post and it reminded me of my cat Emmett a little. He's 14 1/2, big cat like Sylvester, very lanky, not overweight. In 2010 he started to have issues with throwing up -projectile- and his back legs going a little limp, pooping issues, he's always had pooping issues! After many, many vet visits involving multiple tests, scans, sonograms, xrays, they decided to scope him. I see you said you can't put Sylvester under, have they tried a sonogram? Hopefully you can find a clinic close by. I never realize how much I take for granted having state-of-the-art veterinary facilities just down the street. Anyway, Emett had a mass of hardened mystery goop stuck in his lower esophagus. They saw fur, partially digested food, god knows what. He eats fuzzies and used to eat the plastic off of our clothes hamper until we got rid of it. He's really weird. This didn't explain his back legs though. He's polydactyl with 7 claws on each front and 6 one each back paw so we thought maybe he's just getting old and starting to walk funny, arthritic perhaps. So after the mass was knocked out of place by the scope, he started a round of steroids, medicine to help him poop, medicine to help him eat, the whole deal. He did really well and for years we experienced no big issues, just general check-ups, nothing special. About a year ago he started showing symptoms like he did last time. Our doctor thinks is it's IBD which makes so much sense. He does have some serious gut issues so we started feeding our cats only non-GMO, grain-free, organic, made in the US food which has helped insanely. (should have been doing that since day one) They also get pro-biotics daily with exception to Emmett. I find that giving him some makes him vomit after eating every time. But all in all, after switching his diet, giving him a boost of vitamins sometimes we give him some CannaPet - it has CBD oil in it and really helps when he's starting to flare again, he's been doing really well with us treating his medical problems as an autoimmune disease. His back paws still flare out, especially his left one, but he doesn't seem to be experiencing any more weakness. When he had the blockage and when he flares, his back legs go almost limp. But this could be a spasm or pinched nerve, he's only lost minimal bone density from all of this. I hope everything works out for you and Sylvester. I hate seeing furry little critters sick. Maybe sharing what Emmett deals with will help in some way, maybe not. But either way, we'll be thinking about you guys and hoping Sylvester gets better....See Moreannzgw
16 years agofriedajune
16 years agoElly_NJ
16 years agofriedajune
16 years agocynthbrn
7 years agoSusanne Tapley
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agosocks
6 years agoKatherine Schick
4 years ago
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