HELP! Chewing and breathing problems

Our 18 year old cat has been having some problems on and off for years
now and they suddenly have gotten worse. The first problem is that she
has a hard time chewing her food. We feed her canned food which she
usually gobbles up quickly, but recently she does this weird thing
where her chewing motion becomes very exaggerated and sloppy. Much of
the food just falls out of her mouth and she turns her head from side
to side like she's having a lot of trouble keeping it in her mouth and
getting it down. Instead of eating all the food in the bowl which
she'd usually do (she loves food), she just gives up after a few bites
and walks away in frustration. After she's done eating, she'll
continue to do the same exaggerated chewing motion and repeatedly
stick her tongue out while turning her head from side to side even
though she's not eating anymore. It looks like maybe she's getting
food stuck in the back of her mouth or her teeth or throat or
something and is trying to swallow it or dislodge it with this chewing
motion. It's similar to what you see a dog do when you give him peanut
butter and it gets stuck on the roof of his mouth or what an animal
would do if they ate a bite of a food and then suddenly realized they
didn't like it. I hope you can picture what I'm talking about. It
sounds similar to what was described in a previous message on this
board entitled "Cat making a Chewing Like Movement all the time."
Every now and then, she'll do this phantom chewing thing even when she
hasn't eaten for a while. When she does it I think I might even hear a
faint grinding sound like her jaw joint or something? Or maybe it's
the rough part of her tongue scraping, I don't know. This problem has
occured a few times over the past few years, but recently it started
happening on a daily basis. It's very hard to describe to the vet and
we can never get her to demonstrate it to them because she gets scared
there and won't eat.

The other problem is with loud, congested breathing. For years now,
she's snored all the time while sleeping. But even when she's awake,
she has a sort of congested snoring-like breathing sound when she's
laying in certain positions. I'm sure this isn't normal, but the vet
didn't seem to think anything of it, maybe because we couldn't get her
to breathe that way at the vet. She seems to breathe like this a lot
if not most of the time now. It's not necessarily labored breathing,
just congested, like a gentle snore. And no, it's not purring. But
sometimes she does start purring along with the loud breathing and it
makes a very odd sound, almost like a pigeon cooing or something.
What's going on with our cat?!

in article , pompless at
wrote on 6/21/04 1:56AM:

Our 18 year old cat has been having some problems on and off for years
now and they suddenly have gotten worse. The first problem is that she
has a hard time chewing her food. We feed her canned food which she
usually gobbles up quickly, but recently she does this weird thing
where her chewing motion becomes very exaggerated and sloppy. Much of
the food just falls out of her mouth and she turns her head from side
to side like she's having a lot of trouble keeping it in her mouth and
getting it down. Instead of eating all the food in the bowl which
she'd usually do (she loves food), she just gives up after a few bites
and walks away in frustration. After she's done eating, she'll
continue to do the same exaggerated chewing motion and repeatedly
stick her tongue out while turning her head from side to side even
though she's not eating anymore. It looks like maybe she's getting
food stuck in the back of her mouth or her teeth or throat or
something and is trying to swallow it or dislodge it with this chewing
motion. It's similar to what you see a dog do when you give him peanut
butter and it gets stuck on the roof of his mouth or what an animal
would do if they ate a bite of a food and then suddenly realized they
didn't like it. I hope you can picture what I'm talking about. It
sounds similar to what was described in a previous message on this
board entitled "Cat making a Chewing Like Movement all the time."
Every now and then, she'll do this phantom chewing thing even when she
hasn't eaten for a while. When she does it I think I might even hear a
faint grinding sound like her jaw joint or something? Or maybe it's
the rough part of her tongue scraping, I don't know. This problem has
occured a few times over the past few years, but recently it started
happening on a daily basis. It's very hard to describe to the vet and
we can never get her to demonstrate it to them because she gets scared
there and won't eat.

The other problem is with loud, congested breathing. For years now,
she's snored all the time while sleeping. But even when she's awake,
she has a sort of congested snoring-like breathing sound when she's
laying in certain positions. I'm sure this isn't normal, but the vet
didn't seem to think anything of it, maybe because we couldn't get her
to breathe that way at the vet. She seems to breathe like this a lot
if not most of the time now. It's not necessarily labored breathing,
just congested, like a gentle snore. And no, it's not purring. But
sometimes she does start purring along with the loud breathing and it
makes a very odd sound, almost like a pigeon cooing or something.
What's going on with our cat?!


I would get a second opinion ASAP.

Karen

We feed her canned food which she
usually gobbles up quickly, but recently
she does this weird thing where her
chewing motion becomes very exaggerated
and sloppy. Much of the food just falls
out of her mouth and she turns her head
from side to side like she's having a
lot of trouble keeping it in her mouth
and getting it down. Instead of eating
all the food in the bowl which she'd
usually do (she loves food), she just
gives up after a few bites and walks
away in frustration.

You need to get this cat to a different vet that is determined to find
the cause of your cats problem, and do so today if t all possible. It
sounds like she has some issues with her teeth, and often the only way
to see what's going on is with dental xrays. Make sure the vet also
looks down her throat to check for any growths or irritation.

The fact that she is eating very little makes this especially urgent
because she could develop liver problems fairly quickly if this is not
addressed. The gums have a very large blood supply, and there is also a
risk of infection traveling from the gums to other organs and wreaking
havoc.

It's also possible that teeth issues could be related to the breathing.
My cat Simon just had a dental and they had to take both front canines
as, although they looked fine on visual examination, there was actual
deterioration at the root far up under the gumline where it was
impossible to see. That's very close to the sinus cavity and when the
teeth were removed he was very snuffly/snorty for several days.

Don't worry too much about putting your cat under anesthesia becaue of
her age. They have very safe gas anesthesia available and if you discuss
this ahead of time with your vet you can develop a safe protocol. The
risk of harm to your cat from putting her under for a dental is far less
than to allow things to remain as is.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

From: (pompless)

I'm sure this isn't normal, but the vet
didn't seem to think anything of it, maybe because we couldn't get her
to breathe that way at the vet. She seems to breathe like this a lot
if not most of the time now. It's not necessarily labored breathing,
just congested, like a gentle snore. And no, it's not purring. But
sometimes she does start purring along with the loud breathing and it
makes a very odd sound, almost like a pigeon cooing or something.
What's going on with our cat?!

I highly recommend you take your cat to a good vet who would do a chest xray
and full blood panel, and also check your kitties teeth. Best wishes for your
kitty.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

(pompless)

Our 18 year old cat has been having some problems on and off for years
now and they suddenly have gotten worse.....she turns her head from side
to side like she's having a lot of trouble keeping it in her mouth and
getting it down.

I presume that you realize, at age 18, your cat needs more medical scrunity
that ever before. That's old age for cats. If you see your cat have trouble
eating, it's likely it's because your cat has trouble eating. Did you call
your vet? If not..it's time to call so your vet can do a dental exam on your
cat.

Thanks for all your replies. Yes, we're taking her to the vet
tomorrow. The eating problem has only gotten really bad over the past
couple of days. We fed her some baby food today (is that ok
temporarily? i know other people who've done it before) and she seems
to have a better time with that, although she's still exhibiting some
of the same problems. The last time we took her to the vet for this,
they suggested teeth cleaning for which she'd have to be put under
anesthesia. But then her eating problem suddenly got better and she
was back to normal, so we didn't wanna put an 18-year-old kitty
through a traumatic procedure like that unless it was absolutely
necessary. But now the problem has come back again and worse, so now
I'm wondering if there might be some hidden tooth problems going on
(the vet said after a visual inspection that they were dirty, but not
that bad). We'll see what they have to say this time. I'm wondering
now though if it might be her throat since even baby food is giving
her trouble. I'll let you all know what happens.

I'm wondering
now though if it might be her throat since even baby food is giving
her trouble. I'll let you all know what happens.

I hope the best for your kitty but, sadly, my 2 older cats (now both RB) ate
like that in their last days/weeks. One had lymphoma and the lymph nodes in
her throat were swollen and cutting off her throat/airway. She also snored and
made other noises while awake or asleep. My other kitty was also very ill when
he began to eat like that although we never had a definitive diagnosis on him.
He ate sloppily and noisily and dropped a lot out of his mouth and also
exaggeratedly moved his head from side to side. He then quit eating, became
lethargic, lost interest in life, and seemed uncomfortable (as well as other
issues) so we had him euthanized. It was very sad. I hope it is just your
kitty's teeth bothering her.

Baby food is fine temporarily as long as it doesn't have onions in it.

Let us know how her vet visit goes.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

I'm wondering
now though if it might be her throat since even baby food is giving
her trouble. I'll let you all know what happens.

I hope the best for your kitty but, sadly, my 2 older cats (now both RB) ate
like that in their last days/weeks. One had lymphoma and the lymph nodes in
her throat were swollen and cutting off her throat/airway. She also snored and
made other noises while awake or asleep. My other kitty was also very ill when
he began to eat like that although we never had a definitive diagnosis on him.
He ate sloppily and noisily and dropped a lot out of his mouth and also
exaggeratedly moved his head from side to side. He then quit eating, became
lethargic, lost interest in life, and seemed uncomfortable (as well as other
issues) so we had him euthanized. It was very sad. I hope it is just your
kitty's teeth bothering her.

Baby food is fine temporarily as long as it doesn't have onions in it.

Let us know how her vet visit goes.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

I'm wondering
now though if it might be her throat since even baby food is giving
her trouble. I'll let you all know what happens.

I hope the best for your kitty but, sadly, my 2 older cats (now both RB) ate
like that in their last days/weeks. One had lymphoma and the lymph nodes in
her throat were swollen and cutting off her throat/airway. She also snored and
made other noises while awake or asleep. My other kitty was also very ill when
he began to eat like that although we never had a definitive diagnosis on him.
He ate sloppily and noisily and dropped a lot out of his mouth and also
exaggeratedly moved his head from side to side. He then quit eating, became
lethargic, lost interest in life, and seemed uncomfortable (as well as other
issues) so we had him euthanized. It was very sad. I hope it is just your
kitty's teeth bothering her.

Baby food is fine temporarily as long as it doesn't have onions in it.

Let us know how her vet visit goes.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

Thanks for all your replies. Yes, we're taking her to the vet
tomorrow. The eating problem has only gotten really bad over the past
couple of days. We fed her some baby food today (is that ok
temporarily? i know other people who've done it before) and she seems
to have a better time with that, although she's still exhibiting some
of the same problems. The last time we took her to the vet for this,
they suggested teeth cleaning for which she'd have to be put under
anesthesia. But then her eating problem suddenly got better and she
was back to normal, so we didn't wanna put an 18-year-old kitty
through a traumatic procedure like that unless it was absolutely
necessary. But now the problem has come back again and worse, so now
I'm wondering if there might be some hidden tooth problems going on
(the vet said after a visual inspection that they were dirty, but not
that bad). We'll see what they have to say this time. I'm wondering
now though if it might be her throat since even baby food is giving
her trouble. I'll let you all know what happens.