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My cat became extremely sick almost overnight. It started with him coughing and the next day he wouldn't eat or drink water and was drooling profusely and eventually got very dehydrated. His throat and nose swelled causing him to have trouble breathing so he keeps his mouth open 24 hours to breathe. I took him to the vet and they guessed it was poisoning but he is indoor only and has no access to any toxins such as house hold cleaning supplies. Later the vet thinks it could be a spider bite or upper respiratory. He put my cat on IV and did blood work and x-rays, it all came back fine. My cat has been sick for five days now and still won't eat and there is no improvement with the meds that were given (antibiotics and hydrocodone) Im sick of the guessing and want to know whats wrong with my kitty. I am worried to wake up one day to find that he did not make it over night. Can you PLEASE tell me whats wrong with him and how i can treat him.

Submitted: 167 days and 22 hours ago.
Category: Cat Veterinary
Value: $9
Status: AWAITING CUSTOMER ACTION
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Posted by DrLucy 167 days and 5 hours ago.

Info Request

Is your vet currently at the vet hospital, or is he home now?

167 days and 4 hours ago.

Reply

He is home now because they could not keep him over the holiday weekend. This morning he is even worse, his face is swelling now and he has mucous coming out of his nose

Posted by DrLucy 167 days and 3 hours ago.

Answer

A spider bite or severe allergic reaction seems the most likely. What medication is he on?

167 days and 3 hours ago.

Reply

He is on clavamox and hydrocodone syrup i can't get much in him. If you think looking over his blood work might help i can fax you a copy. Im really worried and scared that he is not even a little better, the vet bills are going up and he is only getting worse

Posted by DrLucy 167 days and 3 hours ago.

Answer

I am wondering if it wouldn't help to treat him for a severe allergic reaction. Could you possibly take a close-up picture or two of his face and post them? I would be happy to look at the blood work, too. Right now, I need to take my dog for a walk. I will be back shortly to see what you have posted.

167 days and 2 hours ago.

Reply

Ill send you a picture of him when he looks his worse, i clean his face every hour. Do you have a fax or e-mail i can send everything to?

Posted by DrLucy 167 days and 2 hours ago.

Answer

No--Part of JustAnswer rules is not having private contact. You can either upload it as a jpeg (or possibly a pdf file), by clicking the little tree icon, or you can send it through JustAnswer's e-mail, which is info@justanswer.com. Make sure you copy the URL link to this question, so they know where to post it.

 

If by chance he does have a severe upper respiratory infection, then taking him into a steamy bathroom might help him, by moistening and warming his airways. Check the tip of his tongue--It it looks red around the edges, he might have tongue ulcers from a respiratory virus called Calicivirus. This would make it hurt to lap something with his tongue, but he might not object to small pieces of food placed on the back of his tongue. If he is not actively coughing, you might not need to give him the hydrocodone syrup, because that is just a cough suppressant and could also make him drowsy. The less you have to put into his mouth, the better, and it is important for him to get water, calories, and his antibiotics.

 

I hope you can post a picture.

167 days and 1 hours ago.

Reply

i sent two e-mails to the JustAnswer e-mail. One is just his picture and the other has his blood work and the invoice from his visit so that you can see what they did to treat him while he was at the vet

Posted by DrLucy 167 days and 1 hours ago.

Answer

OK. I'll keep checking. It might take a little time for them to send it to me.

167 days and 1 hours ago.

Reply

i know we haven't figured out whats wrong yet but i still want to thank you for your help. i really appreciate it

Posted by DrLucy 167 days and 1 hours ago.

Answer

You are welcome. I haven't seen anything from JustAnswer yet, but did you try the steamy bathroom suggestion, yet? Also, were you able to check his tongue?

167 days ago.

Reply

i haven't tried the steam yet and his tongue looks fine

Posted by DrLucy 166 days and 23 hours ago.

Answer

I have not seen the picture yet, but I saw the other informations. The lab tests were pretty normal. The slight elevation in kidney values were probably due to his being suddenly sick and a bit dehydrated. I see from the invoice that they treated him for a potential allergic reaction, so he probably does not need additional treatment for that. I expect that most of what is needed now is nursing care. He needs liquids and calories. You might try some strained baby meat, like Gerber chicken. That would provide some of both. Do you have a syringe, plastic eye dropper, or something similar? Even a turkey baster would do, but it's awkward, because of its size.

166 days and 8 hours ago.

Reply

i do have a syringe. Do you need me to send the picture again?

Posted by DrLucy 166 days and 7 hours ago.

Answer

Yes. Please send the picture again. The only thing they sent was the blood work and invoice. You could also try uploading it directly from your computer, using the little tree icon in the tool bar. How is he feeling today?

166 days and 6 hours ago.

Reply

I tried uploading it and it says the image is too large. Ill try the e-mail again. Sadly he is still the same. Can upper respiratory really get that severe or do you think its more then that? and what do you think his chances are of being ok again

166 days and 6 hours ago.

Reply

i just sent the picture

Posted by DrLucy 166 days and 6 hours ago.

Answer

If you still have trouble, and your image is in jpeg form, go into your picture editing program, chose "image size" from the tool bar, and make it into something no more than 2" X 2". If that doesn't work, change the resolution to 100 pixels/inch or 72 pixels/inch.

Posted by DrLucy 166 days and 5 hours ago.

Answer

I haven't gotten the picture yet, so I hesitate to answer whether everything will be OK eventually. Sometimes upper respiratory infections can get quite severe. The real issue is whether there is something going on in his nasal passages that is not visible. If JustAnswer doesn't post the picture soon, you should send them an e-mail to ask what happened. Is his face still puffy?--or does it sound like just nasal congestion?

166 days and 3 hours ago.

Reply

his face is still a little swollen and he does have nasal congestion and the mucous or puss that was coming out of his nose is coming out of his mouth too

166 days and 3 hours ago.

Reply

Another thing i didn't mention is that i have other cats that are starting to sneeze and one cat's eyes look infected. I do believe that my other cats just have upper respiratory because they have not gotten extremely sick over night like my other cat. They are not breathing through their mouths or swelling or drooling and they do still eat and drink water, they just sneeze all the time exept for the one whose eyes look sick too. I just wanted to mention it cuz i dont know if they all have the same thing and the one cat just got it very severe or its two different illnesses.

 

The very sick one is seperated from the others.

Posted by DrLucy 166 days and 3 hours ago.

Answer

Still no picture. I am thinking that the best thing to do is to have your vet reexamine him. There are probably a number of things that are not very expensive, that could be done. For example, even though it might require sedation, a scope (of the kind that is used to see down the ear canal) could be used to look up each nostril. Your vet can examine the roof of the mouth and the back of the throat to see if there are any lesions that would suggest a change of treatment. One thing I am thinking is that a short course of prednisone might take the inflammation down, but it is important to make sure that he does not have a respiratory virus, because they can get worse with steroids. There is also the possibility that he has a fungal infection in his nasal or sinus cavity--There is one called Cryptococcus that has a propensity for that region and could conceivably cause signs that came on suddenly. Anyway, I think that a recheck is your best approach, now, although I would still be happy to answer any questions you have.

Posted by DrLucy 166 days and 3 hours ago.

Answer

I was posting mine while you were posting yours. Here are some comments on your last post. Most respiratory infections don't cause swelling of the face. That's the biggest unknown. Without that, I would assume that all the cats have a respiratory virus. On the other hand, if there is a virus going around your group, your vets will probably be cautious with how much prednisone they use.

166 days and 2 hours ago.

Reply

i did take him back today and the vet gave him a few injections..Baytril, Vitamin B complex and vitamin B-12. He still said he couldn't diagnose him. I have another appointment with a different vets office tomorrow that i feel more comfortable with, they had taken in a treated some of the hurricane katrina dogs so i thought i should take him there for a second opinion. I know the vet i had taken him to is good but it just worries me that he has seen my cat three times and keeps giving meds and theres no diagnosis or improvement

Accepted Answer

Sounds like a wise idea. I would be interested to hear how the second opion goes.

Picture
Expert: DrLucy
Pos. Feedback: 100.0 %
Accepts: 18
Answered: 5/26/2009

Cat Veterinarian

28years+ as a practicing small animal vet.; experience in gen.medicine, surgery, emerg/crit.care

164 days and 23 hours ago.

Reply

sorry to get back to you so late. I just got back from the vet. He wants to keep my cat for three or four nights, he belives its a very severe upper respiratory infection. He also gave me meds for my kitties at home clavamox, Enisyl, Chlorpro, and Terramycin. Im having an extremely hard time getting chlorpro in them, they spit it out, bite, scratch, and drool with it. Im trying to get it in liquid form or something similar to it in liquid form. The clavamox he gave me is also in pill form but they took it with no problem, maybe its just the taste. I feel real good about this vet, my cat was even purring and walking around in the exam room so maybe he feels more comfortable there too. I told him your suggestions and thoughts and he said your very knowledgeable and good at what you do especially because you couldn't physically exam him yourself. I really appreciate your help Dr. Lucy. I dont know what i would have done if i couldn't talk to someone about his illness your the one who encouraged me to get a second opinion. I cant thank you enough. Thank you so very much. Ill keep you updated on his condition too.

159 days and 1 hours ago.

Reply

Hi Dr Lucy, i just wanted to give you an update on my cat. He is still at the vet, yesterday was the first day he looked better, the mucous and drool has slowed down and his eyes have gotten better, his nose is still a little swollen. He still has a long way to go but im just happy he is finally improving. The vet did say it is one of the worse upper respiratory infections he has seen in his 28 years of veterinary. As far as my other cats that started getting sick they all got better with the meds except for two. Those two were almost as bad as the one taken to the vet. They also got very dehydrated but the vet taught me how to give fluids so im doing that once a day for ten days and they are finally drinking water on their own. So im glad to say that everything is working out and thank you very much again. i will still write you and let you know when my cat is 100% better and back home.

Posted by DrLucy 159 days and 1 hours ago.

Answer

That's great. Thanks for letting me know.

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