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Help with sick kitty



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 22nd 03, 06:35 PM
Karen Chuplis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with sick kitty

I sure would ask for a thyroid screen.

Karen

"Byron" wrote in message
om...
I have a cat that has been diagnosed by a vet with asthma. I
questioned the diagnosis initially and we got a second opinion. Both
vets feel that the cat suffers from asthma and I now treat it with
terbutilan, albuterol, flovent, and prednisone. Despite this, the
kitty still has regular coughing fits which require treatment with an
inhaler- usually in the early morning or night.

This cat also always eats like its starving- we have 5 cats and this
one goes from bowl to bowl eating the others' food. We've had to
limit the amount of food we give them at one sitting because he will
eat all remaining food and then throw it back up...sometimes all of it
completely undigested. We feed them prescription diet and only give
them food at 'meals' (versus leaving a full bowl of food all the
time). They receive dry and wet cat food. Dry in the morning and
lunch, and wet in the evening.

The problem is that this cat continues to be sick in other ways as
well. Twice we had to rush him to the vet hospital due to vomitting.
Once they said it was a bladder infection and that it was very serious
and it was good that we brought him when we did because he probably
would not have made it through the night. Since then we've taken the
vomiting very seriously. The next time we took him they found nothing
wrong and he recovered.

Now, once again, he is vomiting everywhere. He vomits on a regular
basis about 1-2 times a week and has done that since he started with
the asthma problems. Right now he has vomited all over the house on a
relatively empty stomach. He threw up his meal last night and has
been throwing up since then.

I'm not sure what to do with this guy. I'm taking him to the vet
today because of the vomiting, but its so difficult to tell when the
vomitting is serious or regular. Yes- all vomitting is serious, but
once you've had the cat at the vet as many times as we have and its
not helped you have to start making the call on when its an emergency
and when its not. I simply couldn't afford to take him every time he
threw up- like I said, that would be 2 visits a week minimum.

What I'm wondering is whether he might be misdiagnosed? Of the 5 cats
we have, this one is the only one that is always sick. The others
have had their problems- but this guy is always sick from something.
I don't know if its the meds that make him sick or his long fur or
what.

We give him a hairball treatment- which is a paste that is supposed to
make it easier for him to pass hairballs. We've noticed that it tends
to give him diarhea as well.

Another "symptom"- he'll deficate on the floor in the bathroom about 3
times a week when the litter pan is there in the same room and clean.
His stool is usually solid, but recently its been a little runny which
we attributed to the hairball treatment. Also, his long fur easily
sheds when you apply a small amount of force such as running your hand
through it. I don't know if its the meds causing this or not. We try
to brush him regularly, but don't do it enough (obviously if I can run
my hand in his fur and it falls out I'm not brushing enough). I'm
afraid this shedding may be the root of a lot of problems- but rarely
does his vomit contain fur.

Does any of this stuff sound familiar to anyone? I'd just like for
the little guy to be well. I hate that we have to give him so many
meds to treat the asthma. We've been trying to gradualy reduce his
dosage of the prednisone, but whenever we do he starts having coughing
episodes in the night.

Any ideas on what we should do? Does it sound like we are doing the
right treatment now? He'll be going to the vet today simply because
he vomitted everywhere overnight and appears sick...so it may be an
obstruction or urinary infection.

Byron



  #2  
Old August 22nd 03, 06:35 PM
Karen Chuplis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I sure would ask for a thyroid screen.

Karen

"Byron" wrote in message
om...
I have a cat that has been diagnosed by a vet with asthma. I
questioned the diagnosis initially and we got a second opinion. Both
vets feel that the cat suffers from asthma and I now treat it with
terbutilan, albuterol, flovent, and prednisone. Despite this, the
kitty still has regular coughing fits which require treatment with an
inhaler- usually in the early morning or night.

This cat also always eats like its starving- we have 5 cats and this
one goes from bowl to bowl eating the others' food. We've had to
limit the amount of food we give them at one sitting because he will
eat all remaining food and then throw it back up...sometimes all of it
completely undigested. We feed them prescription diet and only give
them food at 'meals' (versus leaving a full bowl of food all the
time). They receive dry and wet cat food. Dry in the morning and
lunch, and wet in the evening.

The problem is that this cat continues to be sick in other ways as
well. Twice we had to rush him to the vet hospital due to vomitting.
Once they said it was a bladder infection and that it was very serious
and it was good that we brought him when we did because he probably
would not have made it through the night. Since then we've taken the
vomiting very seriously. The next time we took him they found nothing
wrong and he recovered.

Now, once again, he is vomiting everywhere. He vomits on a regular
basis about 1-2 times a week and has done that since he started with
the asthma problems. Right now he has vomited all over the house on a
relatively empty stomach. He threw up his meal last night and has
been throwing up since then.

I'm not sure what to do with this guy. I'm taking him to the vet
today because of the vomiting, but its so difficult to tell when the
vomitting is serious or regular. Yes- all vomitting is serious, but
once you've had the cat at the vet as many times as we have and its
not helped you have to start making the call on when its an emergency
and when its not. I simply couldn't afford to take him every time he
threw up- like I said, that would be 2 visits a week minimum.

What I'm wondering is whether he might be misdiagnosed? Of the 5 cats
we have, this one is the only one that is always sick. The others
have had their problems- but this guy is always sick from something.
I don't know if its the meds that make him sick or his long fur or
what.

We give him a hairball treatment- which is a paste that is supposed to
make it easier for him to pass hairballs. We've noticed that it tends
to give him diarhea as well.

Another "symptom"- he'll deficate on the floor in the bathroom about 3
times a week when the litter pan is there in the same room and clean.
His stool is usually solid, but recently its been a little runny which
we attributed to the hairball treatment. Also, his long fur easily
sheds when you apply a small amount of force such as running your hand
through it. I don't know if its the meds causing this or not. We try
to brush him regularly, but don't do it enough (obviously if I can run
my hand in his fur and it falls out I'm not brushing enough). I'm
afraid this shedding may be the root of a lot of problems- but rarely
does his vomit contain fur.

Does any of this stuff sound familiar to anyone? I'd just like for
the little guy to be well. I hate that we have to give him so many
meds to treat the asthma. We've been trying to gradualy reduce his
dosage of the prednisone, but whenever we do he starts having coughing
episodes in the night.

Any ideas on what we should do? Does it sound like we are doing the
right treatment now? He'll be going to the vet today simply because
he vomitted everywhere overnight and appears sick...so it may be an
obstruction or urinary infection.

Byron



  #3  
Old August 22nd 03, 08:41 PM
Barb 1
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

You really do have your hands full. Has your vet done a blood test?
Usually they can tell a lot with that. A urine test, too.

--
Barb
I can only please one person a day.
Today is not your day.
Tomorrow doesn't look good either.


  #4  
Old August 22nd 03, 08:41 PM
Barb 1
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

You really do have your hands full. Has your vet done a blood test?
Usually they can tell a lot with that. A urine test, too.

--
Barb
I can only please one person a day.
Today is not your day.
Tomorrow doesn't look good either.


  #5  
Old August 22nd 03, 10:57 PM
Phil P.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Byron" wrote in message
om...
I have a cat that has been diagnosed by a vet with asthma. I
questioned the diagnosis initially and we got a second opinion. Both
vets feel that the cat suffers from asthma and I now treat it with
terbutilan, albuterol, flovent, and prednisone. Despite this, the
kitty still has regular coughing fits which require treatment with an
inhaler- usually in the early morning or night.

This cat also always eats like its starving- we have 5 cats and this
one goes from bowl to bowl eating the others' food. We've had to
limit the amount of food we give them at one sitting because he will
eat all remaining food and then throw it back up...sometimes all of it
completely undigested. We feed them prescription diet and only give
them food at 'meals' (versus leaving a full bowl of food all the
time). They receive dry and wet cat food. Dry in the morning and
lunch, and wet in the evening.

The problem is that this cat continues to be sick in other ways as
well. Twice we had to rush him to the vet hospital due to vomitting.
Once they said it was a bladder infection and that it was very serious
and it was good that we brought him when we did because he probably
would not have made it through the night. Since then we've taken the
vomiting very seriously. The next time we took him they found nothing
wrong and he recovered.

Now, once again, he is vomiting everywhere. He vomits on a regular
basis about 1-2 times a week and has done that since he started with
the asthma problems. Right now he has vomited all over the house on a
relatively empty stomach. He threw up his meal last night and has
been throwing up since then.

I'm not sure what to do with this guy. I'm taking him to the vet
today because of the vomiting, but its so difficult to tell when the
vomitting is serious or regular. Yes- all vomitting is serious, but
once you've had the cat at the vet as many times as we have and its
not helped you have to start making the call on when its an emergency
and when its not. I simply couldn't afford to take him every time he
threw up- like I said, that would be 2 visits a week minimum.

What I'm wondering is whether he might be misdiagnosed? Of the 5 cats
we have, this one is the only one that is always sick. The others
have had their problems- but this guy is always sick from something.
I don't know if its the meds that make him sick or his long fur or
what.

We give him a hairball treatment- which is a paste that is supposed to
make it easier for him to pass hairballs. We've noticed that it tends
to give him diarhea as well.

Another "symptom"- he'll deficate on the floor in the bathroom about 3
times a week when the litter pan is there in the same room and clean.
His stool is usually solid, but recently its been a little runny which
we attributed to the hairball treatment. Also, his long fur easily
sheds when you apply a small amount of force such as running your hand
through it. I don't know if its the meds causing this or not. We try
to brush him regularly, but don't do it enough (obviously if I can run
my hand in his fur and it falls out I'm not brushing enough). I'm
afraid this shedding may be the root of a lot of problems- but rarely
does his vomit contain fur.

Does any of this stuff sound familiar to anyone? I'd just like for
the little guy to be well. I hate that we have to give him so many
meds to treat the asthma. We've been trying to gradualy reduce his
dosage of the prednisone, but whenever we do he starts having coughing
episodes in the night.

Any ideas on what we should do? Does it sound like we are doing the
right treatment now? He'll be going to the vet today simply because
he vomitted everywhere overnight and appears sick...so it may be an
obstruction or urinary infection.


I think you should have your cat x-rayed -- or ideally, ultrasounds because
some materials may not show up on x-rays. Obstructions of the stomach and
upper part of the intestines could cause repeated vomiting soon after
eating. An obstruction farther down the intestine might not cause any
vomiting but might lead to diarrhea. A linear GI foreign body such as a
string or thread tends to pleat up a large portion of intestine and can also
cut through the intestine wall leading to the very serious condition of
peritonitis.

If GI obstruction is ruled out (hopefully) by x-ray/ultrasound, you should
consider an aversion or allergy to a food protein or ingredient. You may
want to try feeding him a food with a single, novel protein (Hill's
Prescription d/d). Certain diseases such as pancreatitis, inflammatory
bowel disease (IBD), and chronic gastritis will also cause repeated
vomiting.

To get to the bottom of this, your cat obviously needs a complete diagnostic
workup including complete blood count, serum chemistry, urinalysis and fecal
analysis. A gastric biopsy (easily performed with an endoscope) might
reveal some kind of inflammatory process or an abnormal thickening of the
stomach lining or possibly an ulcerative disease, or a thinning of the
stomach lining, or maybe even evidence of an allergic-type reaction.

This may seem like a lot but I'm sure it will be less expensive, and much
easier and less stressful for your cat, in the long run, than repeated trips
to the vet and individual speculative tests and the "try this, try that" and
"wait and see what happens".

Good luck.

Phil



  #6  
Old August 22nd 03, 10:57 PM
Phil P.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Byron" wrote in message
om...
I have a cat that has been diagnosed by a vet with asthma. I
questioned the diagnosis initially and we got a second opinion. Both
vets feel that the cat suffers from asthma and I now treat it with
terbutilan, albuterol, flovent, and prednisone. Despite this, the
kitty still has regular coughing fits which require treatment with an
inhaler- usually in the early morning or night.

This cat also always eats like its starving- we have 5 cats and this
one goes from bowl to bowl eating the others' food. We've had to
limit the amount of food we give them at one sitting because he will
eat all remaining food and then throw it back up...sometimes all of it
completely undigested. We feed them prescription diet and only give
them food at 'meals' (versus leaving a full bowl of food all the
time). They receive dry and wet cat food. Dry in the morning and
lunch, and wet in the evening.

The problem is that this cat continues to be sick in other ways as
well. Twice we had to rush him to the vet hospital due to vomitting.
Once they said it was a bladder infection and that it was very serious
and it was good that we brought him when we did because he probably
would not have made it through the night. Since then we've taken the
vomiting very seriously. The next time we took him they found nothing
wrong and he recovered.

Now, once again, he is vomiting everywhere. He vomits on a regular
basis about 1-2 times a week and has done that since he started with
the asthma problems. Right now he has vomited all over the house on a
relatively empty stomach. He threw up his meal last night and has
been throwing up since then.

I'm not sure what to do with this guy. I'm taking him to the vet
today because of the vomiting, but its so difficult to tell when the
vomitting is serious or regular. Yes- all vomitting is serious, but
once you've had the cat at the vet as many times as we have and its
not helped you have to start making the call on when its an emergency
and when its not. I simply couldn't afford to take him every time he
threw up- like I said, that would be 2 visits a week minimum.

What I'm wondering is whether he might be misdiagnosed? Of the 5 cats
we have, this one is the only one that is always sick. The others
have had their problems- but this guy is always sick from something.
I don't know if its the meds that make him sick or his long fur or
what.

We give him a hairball treatment- which is a paste that is supposed to
make it easier for him to pass hairballs. We've noticed that it tends
to give him diarhea as well.

Another "symptom"- he'll deficate on the floor in the bathroom about 3
times a week when the litter pan is there in the same room and clean.
His stool is usually solid, but recently its been a little runny which
we attributed to the hairball treatment. Also, his long fur easily
sheds when you apply a small amount of force such as running your hand
through it. I don't know if its the meds causing this or not. We try
to brush him regularly, but don't do it enough (obviously if I can run
my hand in his fur and it falls out I'm not brushing enough). I'm
afraid this shedding may be the root of a lot of problems- but rarely
does his vomit contain fur.

Does any of this stuff sound familiar to anyone? I'd just like for
the little guy to be well. I hate that we have to give him so many
meds to treat the asthma. We've been trying to gradualy reduce his
dosage of the prednisone, but whenever we do he starts having coughing
episodes in the night.

Any ideas on what we should do? Does it sound like we are doing the
right treatment now? He'll be going to the vet today simply because
he vomitted everywhere overnight and appears sick...so it may be an
obstruction or urinary infection.


I think you should have your cat x-rayed -- or ideally, ultrasounds because
some materials may not show up on x-rays. Obstructions of the stomach and
upper part of the intestines could cause repeated vomiting soon after
eating. An obstruction farther down the intestine might not cause any
vomiting but might lead to diarrhea. A linear GI foreign body such as a
string or thread tends to pleat up a large portion of intestine and can also
cut through the intestine wall leading to the very serious condition of
peritonitis.

If GI obstruction is ruled out (hopefully) by x-ray/ultrasound, you should
consider an aversion or allergy to a food protein or ingredient. You may
want to try feeding him a food with a single, novel protein (Hill's
Prescription d/d). Certain diseases such as pancreatitis, inflammatory
bowel disease (IBD), and chronic gastritis will also cause repeated
vomiting.

To get to the bottom of this, your cat obviously needs a complete diagnostic
workup including complete blood count, serum chemistry, urinalysis and fecal
analysis. A gastric biopsy (easily performed with an endoscope) might
reveal some kind of inflammatory process or an abnormal thickening of the
stomach lining or possibly an ulcerative disease, or a thinning of the
stomach lining, or maybe even evidence of an allergic-type reaction.

This may seem like a lot but I'm sure it will be less expensive, and much
easier and less stressful for your cat, in the long run, than repeated trips
to the vet and individual speculative tests and the "try this, try that" and
"wait and see what happens".

Good luck.

Phil



 




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