Phil P. wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
A few months ago, I took in 50 cats from a hoarder. Most have been
placed, but among others I have one kitten left who came down with what
seemed to be a mild URI in mid January. He was put on Clavamox (10
days), which did not help. At this point, we decided to sedate and
check for polyps, none were found. We then started him on Clindamycin
(5 days). Still no improvement, so the vet switched him to Baytril (15
days) and I started nebulizing him twice a day with Baytril liquid (10
days). He is not getting better and is starting to show symptoms of
fatigue when running and playing due to his trouble breathing.
Yesterday he was x-rayed and confirmed with interstitial pneumonia. The
x-rays also show heart abnormalities. While I cannot afford to take him
to a specialist for an echocardiogram at this point, I would be willing
to see how things go if we could only get a handle on the pneumonia,
but am wondering whether the two things are actually related. Any
thoughts or advice appreciated!

Has anyone mentioned a transtracheal wash and culture to try to identify the
pathogen? It sounds like an antibiotic-resistant strain of pseudomonas.
Have you tried azithromycin (Zithromax)?

Thanks Phil - I talked to my vet yesterday after I had read some older
recommendations for azithromycin, and picked up a prescription last
night. It certainly won't hurt to try it, though he is still guarded
with a prognosis as he thinks that the size of his heart may be
causing/aggravating the pneumonia, as it seems to be compressing his
lungs.