Cat has trouble breathing

To preemptively ward off any flaming, I've already taken her to the vet
this morning. I'm just waiting on the test results and going crazy.
Last night I noticed she was breathing heavily, like her lungs were
trying to pop out of her. She was wheezing a bit too. I took her to the
vet first thing this morning and she had a fever of 104. The vet was
unsure what was wrong and is waiting on the test results. She suggested
either heart disease, a lung infection, or asthma. After looking at the
X-rays, she was inclined to rule out heart disease. As for asthma, she
never coughs, although she is a loud breather. So the vet thinks this
isn't necessarily asthma. Which leaves a lung infection. Only there
weren't any fluids in her lungs.
Can anyone share a similar experience and what the diagnosis was? I'm
freaking out and will continue to freak out until the vet calls.
Thanks.

wrote in message
oups.com...
To preemptively ward off any flaming, I've already taken her to the vet
this morning. I'm just waiting on the test results and going crazy.
Last night I noticed she was breathing heavily, like her lungs were
trying to pop out of her. She was wheezing a bit too. I took her to the
vet first thing this morning and she had a fever of 104. The vet was
unsure what was wrong and is waiting on the test results. She suggested
either heart disease, a lung infection, or asthma. After looking at the
X-rays, she was inclined to rule out heart disease. As for asthma, she
never coughs, although she is a loud breather. So the vet thinks this
isn't necessarily asthma. Which leaves a lung infection. Only there
weren't any fluids in her lungs.
Can anyone share a similar experience and what the diagnosis was? I'm
freaking out and will continue to freak out until the vet calls.
Thanks.


My Worf had something similar a while back (no fever though). He was
diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy which did not show up on x-rays but did on an
ECG. He also had fluid around his lungs which was causing the wheezing. The
fluid was drained and he is not on Hypercard tablets 3 times a day to
control the cardiomyopathy & he's more or less back to normal now, just a
bit slower but then he is nearly 15 years old.

I would suggest going back to the vet and get an ECG plus ask her to check
for fluid in the chest cavity which is pressing against the lungs making her
breathing difficult. I am surprised your vet didn't check both of these
anyway. My vet took Worf in for x-ray and said he would do an ECG regardless
as in his words "cats specialise in cardiomyopathy".
--

Niel H

On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 21:16:48 +0100, Niel Humphreys wrote:

wrote in message
oups.com...
To preemptively ward off any flaming, I've already taken her to the vet
this morning. I'm just waiting on the test results and going crazy.
Last night I noticed she was breathing heavily, like her lungs were
trying to pop out of her. She was wheezing a bit too. I took her to the
vet first thing this morning and she had a fever of 104. The vet was
unsure what was wrong and is waiting on the test results. She suggested
either heart disease, a lung infection, or asthma. After looking at the
X-rays, she was inclined to rule out heart disease. As for asthma, she
never coughs, although she is a loud breather. So the vet thinks this
isn't necessarily asthma. Which leaves a lung infection. Only there
weren't any fluids in her lungs.
Can anyone share a similar experience and what the diagnosis was? I'm
freaking out and will continue to freak out until the vet calls.
Thanks.


My Worf had something similar a while back (no fever though). He was
diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy which did not show up on x-rays but did on an
ECG. He also had fluid around his lungs which was causing the wheezing. The
fluid was drained and he is not on Hypercard tablets 3 times a day to
control the cardiomyopathy & he's more or less back to normal now, just a
bit slower but then he is nearly 15 years old.

I would suggest going back to the vet and get an ECG plus ask her to check
for fluid in the chest cavity which is pressing against the lungs making her
breathing difficult. I am surprised your vet didn't check both of these
anyway. My vet took Worf in for x-ray and said he would do an ECG regardless
as in his words "cats specialise in cardiomyopathy".


Sending heartfelt purrs that you are able to fix the problem. MLB

writes:
[...] The vet was unsure what was wrong and is waiting on the test results.
------------
I can appreciate why you're freaking; the vet didn't give her anything
to help her breathe better? Is there a 24 hour animal hospital you can
get her over to, so maybe they'll do something to help you both get
some sleep tonight?

Our cat had a terrible tooth infection that caused lots of respiratory
problems. It took us awhile to pin down the problem.

One thing I did for him was keep him in a steamy bathroom for awhile to
help loosen it up. When he was really bad, I boiled a pan of water and
held him and put a blanket over both of us -- sort of leaning near the
boiling water. Being in the steam too helped me regulate if it was
getting too hot.

Good luck with your girl,

Rhonda

wrote:

To preemptively ward off any flaming, I've already taken her to the vet
this morning. I'm just waiting on the test results and going crazy.
Last night I noticed she was breathing heavily, like her lungs were
trying to pop out of her. She was wheezing a bit too. I took her to the
vet first thing this morning and she had a fever of 104. The vet was
unsure what was wrong and is waiting on the test results. She suggested
either heart disease, a lung infection, or asthma. After looking at the
X-rays, she was inclined to rule out heart disease. As for asthma, she
never coughs, although she is a loud breather. So the vet thinks this
isn't necessarily asthma. Which leaves a lung infection. Only there
weren't any fluids in her lungs.
Can anyone share a similar experience and what the diagnosis was? I'm
freaking out and will continue to freak out until the vet calls.
Thanks.

Update:
She was euthanized last night. The vet I went to did nothing to help
her and by the evening she had gotten much worse. I ended up taking her
to the emergency vet and having her put down after her x-rays revealed
serious cardio myopathy. How the vet I went to in the morning didn't
see it is beyond my comprehension.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Update:
She was euthanized last night. The vet I went to did nothing to help
her and by the evening she had gotten much worse. I ended up taking her
to the emergency vet and having her put down after her x-rays revealed
serious cardio myopathy. How the vet I went to in the morning didn't
see it is beyond my comprehension.


I am so sorry for your loss, and that the first vet did nothing to ease her
distress. I hope you let him/her know about it.



Inviato da X-Privat.Org - Registrazione gratuita http://www.x-privat.org/join.php

On 19 Apr 2006 14:24:08 -0700, wrote:

Update:
She was euthanized last night. The vet I went to did nothing to help
her and by the evening she had gotten much worse. I ended up taking her
to the emergency vet and having her put down after her x-rays revealed
serious cardio myopathy. How the vet I went to in the morning didn't
see it is beyond my comprehension.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

writes:
She was euthanized last night. [...]
-----------
Awww, my heart goes out to you. I'm sure you gave her a very good home,
and because of you one less cat lived a homeless life.
In sympathy,
L

wrote:
Update:
She was euthanized last night. The vet I went to did nothing to help
her and by the evening she had gotten much worse. I ended up taking her
to the emergency vet and having her put down after her x-rays revealed
serious cardio myopathy. How the vet I went to in the morning didn't
see it is beyond my comprehension.

I'm very sorry about your cat. You did all you could and I'm sure she
had a wonderful, albeit too short, life with you.

Unfortunately, vets are very fallible, I've recently learned, too.
When you feel up to it, I would definitely confront the first vet on it
and let him/her know their error.

My condolences.

Candace