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#1
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Need advice Roxy
First, I want to say that I am not looking for advice in place of
taking Roxy to the vet. I'm looking for advice about *whether* I should take her back ASAP. It's been two days, and her eye doesn't look any better. Last night, it even seemed a bit more swollen, but otherwise the same. The important signs of bad health, such as bad appetite, listlessness, not using the litterbox, bad temper, etc, don't seem to be in evidence - she definitely wants food, I see her drinking water, I see her use the litterbox (and I'm keeping her separate from the other cats, with her own litterbox, so I know everything in there is from her). And although she's subdued, I wouldn't call her listless. She doesn't pay excessive attention to her eye - I don't see her rubbing it constantly or trying to scratch it (she's done it a little bit, but not often). She's been doing her usual routine at night of sleeping on top of me, kneading me in the middle of the night and purring, etc. But I'm feeling impatient - it seems like after 2 days, I should see *some* improvement! So I called the vet, hoping I could bring her by this morning before going to work but they had no openings until this evening. I took the appointment for tonight, but now I'm wondering if I've allowed enough time to see if the medicine is working. The receptionist at the vet's office offered me a Saturday morning appointment, but that seemed so far away - I was afraid that by Saturday, Roxy would be dangerously ill. The receptionist didn't seem alarmed, and didn't think an eye infection warranted this much concern. But she's not medically trained, either. I think I will call again and ask to speak to the vet (I'll probably get a tech, which is fine), to see if she thinks it's necessary for me to bring Roxy back today. But I also wanted to hear from you folks, just for additional input. To take her tonight, I'll have to leave work more than an hour early (which isn't looked upon that well here), battle rush-hour traffic, and cancel plans I had made for this evening. In case that sounds shallow and selfish, let me say that if I was sure it was necessary to bring her back tonight, I wouldn't even be asking this. But I'm not sure whether my concern is legitimate, or I'm just being neurotic and overly anxious about this. I generally err on the side of caution, but I don't want to bring her in and have the vet say, "Well, you really need to give her a few more days before we can tell if the treatment is working..." I've never seen an eye infection like this. You can't see her eye at all, and I'm sure that, right now, she is totally blind in that eye. Both the iris and pupil are obscured by whitish stuff. There's also a bit of reddishness around the edges of her eye, and it appears swollen in the area around her eye. Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days? Thanks... Joyce |
#3
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Need advice Roxy
Well, I would think you would see some improvement. I'd sure try to get them
to see you tomorrow at the very latest. I would press to talk to the vet as a receptionist doesn't know beans. It's possible it just isn't the right ointment. Eye stuff can be very specific. I hope that maybe you can call them back and talk to the vet at least.*Usually* if we are that concerned, it means we are right. My vet always says, 'you are with her all the time, you know her best'. Vets while good or bad can only be as good as the info they have and you can be sure the receptionist doesn't report every call. You need to speak with the vet. I sure hope she gets to doing better soon. wrote in message ... First, I want to say that I am not looking for advice in place of taking Roxy to the vet. I'm looking for advice about *whether* I should take her back ASAP. It's been two days, and her eye doesn't look any better. Last night, it even seemed a bit more swollen, but otherwise the same. The important signs of bad health, such as bad appetite, listlessness, not using the litterbox, bad temper, etc, don't seem to be in evidence - she definitely wants food, I see her drinking water, I see her use the litterbox (and I'm keeping her separate from the other cats, with her own litterbox, so I know everything in there is from her). And although she's subdued, I wouldn't call her listless. She doesn't pay excessive attention to her eye - I don't see her rubbing it constantly or trying to scratch it (she's done it a little bit, but not often). She's been doing her usual routine at night of sleeping on top of me, kneading me in the middle of the night and purring, etc. But I'm feeling impatient - it seems like after 2 days, I should see *some* improvement! So I called the vet, hoping I could bring her by this morning before going to work but they had no openings until this evening. I took the appointment for tonight, but now I'm wondering if I've allowed enough time to see if the medicine is working. The receptionist at the vet's office offered me a Saturday morning appointment, but that seemed so far away - I was afraid that by Saturday, Roxy would be dangerously ill. The receptionist didn't seem alarmed, and didn't think an eye infection warranted this much concern. But she's not medically trained, either. I think I will call again and ask to speak to the vet (I'll probably get a tech, which is fine), to see if she thinks it's necessary for me to bring Roxy back today. But I also wanted to hear from you folks, just for additional input. To take her tonight, I'll have to leave work more than an hour early (which isn't looked upon that well here), battle rush-hour traffic, and cancel plans I had made for this evening. In case that sounds shallow and selfish, let me say that if I was sure it was necessary to bring her back tonight, I wouldn't even be asking this. But I'm not sure whether my concern is legitimate, or I'm just being neurotic and overly anxious about this. I generally err on the side of caution, but I don't want to bring her in and have the vet say, "Well, you really need to give her a few more days before we can tell if the treatment is working..." I've never seen an eye infection like this. You can't see her eye at all, and I'm sure that, right now, she is totally blind in that eye. Both the iris and pupil are obscured by whitish stuff. There's also a bit of reddishness around the edges of her eye, and it appears swollen in the area around her eye. Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days? Thanks... Joyce |
#4
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Need advice Roxy
wrote:
Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days? Such a difficult situation, I understand exactly how you feel. Being the worry-wart I am, I would take her in as soon as possible, or at least insist on speaking to the vet and ask about how soon I could expect to see a difference in the eye. It sounds terrible when you describe it, but if she doesn't seem bothered maybe it really isn't as bad as it looks. OK, this post didn't help at all. I'd better just send more purrs. -- Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/ Pics at http://s120.photobucket.com/albums/o185/frankiennikki/ http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki |
#5
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Need advice Roxy
wrote in message ... First, I want to say that I am not looking for advice in place of taking Roxy to the vet. I'm looking for advice about *whether* I should take her back ASAP. It's been two days, and her eye doesn't look any better. Last night, it even seemed a bit more swollen, but otherwise the same. The important signs of bad health, such as bad appetite, listlessness, not using the litterbox, bad temper, etc, don't seem to be in evidence - she definitely wants food, I see her drinking water, I see her use the litterbox (and I'm keeping her separate from the other cats, with her own litterbox, so I know everything in there is from her). And although she's subdued, I wouldn't call her listless. She doesn't pay excessive attention to her eye - I don't see her rubbing it constantly or trying to scratch it (she's done it a little bit, but not often). She's been doing her usual routine at night of sleeping on top of me, kneading me in the middle of the night and purring, etc. But I'm feeling impatient - it seems like after 2 days, I should see *some* improvement! So I called the vet, hoping I could bring her by this morning before going to work but they had no openings until this evening. I took the appointment for tonight, but now I'm wondering if I've allowed enough time to see if the medicine is working. The receptionist at the vet's office offered me a Saturday morning appointment, but that seemed so far away - I was afraid that by Saturday, Roxy would be dangerously ill. The receptionist didn't seem alarmed, and didn't think an eye infection warranted this much concern. But she's not medically trained, either. I think I will call again and ask to speak to the vet (I'll probably get a tech, which is fine), to see if she thinks it's necessary for me to bring Roxy back today. But I also wanted to hear from you folks, just for additional input. To take her tonight, I'll have to leave work more than an hour early (which isn't looked upon that well here), battle rush-hour traffic, and cancel plans I had made for this evening. In case that sounds shallow and selfish, let me say that if I was sure it was necessary to bring her back tonight, I wouldn't even be asking this. But I'm not sure whether my concern is legitimate, or I'm just being neurotic and overly anxious about this. I generally err on the side of caution, but I don't want to bring her in and have the vet say, "Well, you really need to give her a few more days before we can tell if the treatment is working..." I've never seen an eye infection like this. You can't see her eye at all, and I'm sure that, right now, she is totally blind in that eye. Both the iris and pupil are obscured by whitish stuff. There's also a bit of reddishness around the edges of her eye, and it appears swollen in the area around her eye. Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days? Thanks... Joyce I am a worry wart, so I might be tempted to take her back also.. I thought that I was the only one with a kitty with a goopy eye, we are battling the same thing..... the eye specialist basically dumped us tho, we had one pcr test done , and it was negative for herpes, but it takes several before they definitely say yes or no.... Koko did test highly positive for bartonella.... a compounding pharmacy mixed up zithromycin for her , and that did the trick a few times.... Koko is strange tho, when her eye is goopy, she eats MORE, she just loves her crunchie food, (nutro lamb and rice for kitties ) but she will still eat the wet food also. She is a nibbler,and if there are no crunchies in her bowl, she will nibble body parts.. legs, ankles, butts when we are on the potty...lol. http://www.richandlaurie.com/gallery...lbum=33&page=1 That is a link to our website, you can see pictures of how her eye looked at its worst... lately she is goopy again, but not swollen . They did have us wet a paper towel and wipe her eye with plain water, 3-4 times a day, separate paper towels for each eye, and also the nose , to keep it clearer for breathing. And she took an oral antibiotic ,along with drops for the eyes. They eye drops need to be ONLY antibiotics, some of them have a steroid component, and thats not good for our goopy eye kitties. What about a mild pain med for kitty, even if you give it just once a day, at least there will be some time that the 'edge' will be taken off the eye bothering her... We were never able to keep our cats apart.... we wouldnt have doors left on the house. Kady never got sick.. They arent a 'lovey' pair of kitties, but they do occasionally lay together and grooom each other. Seems like when Koko is sick, Kady will hang around and just check on her. Good luck with her, hope she turns around quickly.... I rarely post, but am always reading |
#6
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Need advice Roxy
laurie wrote:
http://www.richandlaurie.com/gallery...lbum=33&page=1 That is a link to our website, you can see pictures of how her eye looked at its worst... lately she is goopy again, but not swollen . Thanks for the comparison shots. Roxy's eye looks *much* worse than the most goopy-eyed picture of Koko in the series. At least you can see that Koko *has* an eye - you can see the iris and pupil in all of the shots, even when her eye is squinty and runny. Roxy's eye doesn't look like an eye - all you can see is white, sort of a pinkish-white, where the eye should be. Wish I had a camera so you could see what I mean. Actually, Roxy's *other* eye often looks like Koko's eye - the other eye has more trouble from the herpes. I don't worry too much about that - I just keep treating her with Lysine, and if she gets worse (starts coming down with more sniffles and sneezes than usual), then I give her interferon for 2 weeks. Otherwise, the herpes hasn't been much of a problem for her. I don't know if her current ailment is related to the herpes or not. Joyce |
#7
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Need advice Roxy
wrote in message ... laurie wrote: http://www.richandlaurie.com/gallery...lbum=33&page=1 That is a link to our website, you can see pictures of how her eye looked at its worst... lately she is goopy again, but not swollen . Thanks for the comparison shots. Roxy's eye looks *much* worse than the most goopy-eyed picture of Koko in the series. At least you can see that Koko *has* an eye - you can see the iris and pupil in all of the shots, even when her eye is squinty and runny. Roxy's eye doesn't look like an eye - all you can see is white, sort of a pinkish-white, where the eye should be. Wish I had a camera so you could see what I mean. Actually, Roxy's *other* eye often looks like Koko's eye - the other eye has more trouble from the herpes. I don't worry too much about that - I just keep treating her with Lysine, and if she gets worse (starts coming down with more sniffles and sneezes than usual), then I give her interferon for 2 weeks. Otherwise, the herpes hasn't been much of a problem for her. I don't know if her current ailment is related to the herpes or not. Joyce Is she on oral antibiotics at all ? It seems as though the flare up is an infection, not so much the herpes. sorry i spelled the med wrong, its Azithromycin or Zithromax. It made a HUGE difference when Koko was sick. If Roxy's herpes eye is not a problem now, I would probably stop the interferon until after the other eye is cleared up. The interferon and lysine did not seem to make any improvements with Koko at all, so maybe it isnt herpes for her after all. Round and round we go, we did so many tests. We are just letting things rest for now, and see how she does with no intervention.. The next testing route requires anesthesia, and, like you, I am afraid about doing that. The antibiotics seem to clear her eyes and nose up the most. Perhaps she just needs a double or triple course of antibiotics, for her eyes and also orally, to get at the root of whats causing the problem. laurie Laurie |
#8
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Need advice Roxy
In my limited experience, antibiotics (internal ones) work quickly on cats.
I'd expect improvement in 24 hours. It really sounds like it is connected to her teeth. Eyes, teeth, sinuses really connect in a cat. Our Rosie's blocked tear duct was diagnosed by putting coloring in her eye and seeing if it dripped out her nose. So I'm sure an infected tooth could infect an eye. I would be going back today. In large part because I'd worry that she was in pain. Cats often don't show it. I'd also be worrying about permanent damage to the eye my now. Then again I'm good at over reacting. So I'm going to wish Roxy all of the best and let my two know that it would be nice of them to purr for her while they sleep away our rainy afternoon. Jo wrote in message ... First, I want to say that I am not looking for advice in place of taking Roxy to the vet. I'm looking for advice about *whether* I should take her back ASAP. It's been two days, and her eye doesn't look any better. Last night, it even seemed a bit more swollen, but otherwise the same. The important signs of bad health, such as bad appetite, listlessness, not using the litterbox, bad temper, etc, don't seem to be in evidence - she definitely wants food, I see her drinking water, I see her use the litterbox (and I'm keeping her separate from the other cats, with her own litterbox, so I know everything in there is from her). And although she's subdued, I wouldn't call her listless. She doesn't pay excessive attention to her eye - I don't see her rubbing it constantly or trying to scratch it (she's done it a little bit, but not often). She's been doing her usual routine at night of sleeping on top of me, kneading me in the middle of the night and purring, etc. But I'm feeling impatient - it seems like after 2 days, I should see *some* improvement! So I called the vet, hoping I could bring her by this morning before going to work but they had no openings until this evening. I took the appointment for tonight, but now I'm wondering if I've allowed enough time to see if the medicine is working. The receptionist at the vet's office offered me a Saturday morning appointment, but that seemed so far away - I was afraid that by Saturday, Roxy would be dangerously ill. The receptionist didn't seem alarmed, and didn't think an eye infection warranted this much concern. But she's not medically trained, either. I think I will call again and ask to speak to the vet (I'll probably get a tech, which is fine), to see if she thinks it's necessary for me to bring Roxy back today. But I also wanted to hear from you folks, just for additional input. To take her tonight, I'll have to leave work more than an hour early (which isn't looked upon that well here), battle rush-hour traffic, and cancel plans I had made for this evening. In case that sounds shallow and selfish, let me say that if I was sure it was necessary to bring her back tonight, I wouldn't even be asking this. But I'm not sure whether my concern is legitimate, or I'm just being neurotic and overly anxious about this. I generally err on the side of caution, but I don't want to bring her in and have the vet say, "Well, you really need to give her a few more days before we can tell if the treatment is working..." I've never seen an eye infection like this. You can't see her eye at all, and I'm sure that, right now, she is totally blind in that eye. Both the iris and pupil are obscured by whitish stuff. There's also a bit of reddishness around the edges of her eye, and it appears swollen in the area around her eye. Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days? Thanks... Joyce |
#9
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Need advice Roxy
laurie wrote:
Is she on oral antibiotics at all ? No, just a topical. sorry i spelled the med wrong, its Azithromycin or Zithromax. I can't remember which one Roxy is on - it's at home. It made a HUGE difference when Koko was sick. If Roxy's herpes eye is not a problem now, I would probably stop the interferon until after the other eye is cleared up. I called my vet back and she referred me to a veterinary opthamologist. I have made an appointment there for tomorrow morning. So hopefully they will have more to say on all this! Thanks for the advice and feedback everyone! Joyce |
#10
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Need advice Roxy
On 08 Feb 2007 18:58:15 GMT, wrote:
First, I want to say that I am not looking for advice in place of taking Roxy to the vet. I'm looking for advice about *whether* I should take her back ASAP. It's been two days, and her eye doesn't look any better. Last night, it even seemed a bit more swollen, but otherwise the same. The important signs of bad health, such as bad appetite, listlessness, not using the litterbox, bad temper, etc, don't seem to be in evidence - she definitely wants food, I see her drinking water, I see her use the litterbox (and I'm keeping her separate from the other cats, with her own litterbox, so I know everything in there is from her). And although she's subdued, I wouldn't call her listless. She doesn't pay excessive attention to her eye - I don't see her rubbing it constantly or trying to scratch it (she's done it a little bit, but not often). She's been doing her usual routine at night of sleeping on top of me, kneading me in the middle of the night and purring, etc. But I'm feeling impatient - it seems like after 2 days, I should see *some* improvement! So I called the vet, hoping I could bring her by this morning before going to work but they had no openings until this evening. I took the appointment for tonight, but now I'm wondering if I've allowed enough time to see if the medicine is working. The receptionist at the vet's office offered me a Saturday morning appointment, but that seemed so far away - I was afraid that by Saturday, Roxy would be dangerously ill. The receptionist didn't seem alarmed, and didn't think an eye infection warranted this much concern. But she's not medically trained, either. I think I will call again and ask to speak to the vet (I'll probably get a tech, which is fine), to see if she thinks it's necessary for me to bring Roxy back today. But I also wanted to hear from you folks, just for additional input. To take her tonight, I'll have to leave work more than an hour early (which isn't looked upon that well here), battle rush-hour traffic, and cancel plans I had made for this evening. In case that sounds shallow and selfish, let me say that if I was sure it was necessary to bring her back tonight, I wouldn't even be asking this. But I'm not sure whether my concern is legitimate, or I'm just being neurotic and overly anxious about this. I generally err on the side of caution, but I don't want to bring her in and have the vet say, "Well, you really need to give her a few more days before we can tell if the treatment is working..." I've never seen an eye infection like this. You can't see her eye at all, and I'm sure that, right now, she is totally blind in that eye. Both the iris and pupil are obscured by whitish stuff. There's also a bit of reddishness around the edges of her eye, and it appears swollen in the area around her eye. Anyway, I'd just like opinions. Should she go back to the vet tonight? Or should I keep giving her the medicine, keeping her separate from the other cats, and wait a couple more days? Thanks... Joyce Hi Joyce, How is Roxy doing tonight? Were you able to get her seen by a vet? I hope she is doing better! I did a bit of searching for possible suggestions as to what she has going on, and I found a site w/a photo of conjunctivitis: http://tinyurl.com/2u4ubr I have seen this in kits before - it is not a fun thing to treat! Good luck with her! Patti |
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