I have a very special and painful case I need help with, I have tried several different veterinarians with no diagnosis or prognosis so far. It may be a long shot, but I was hoping you could help me shine a light on this.

In April I found an extremely skinny stray cat and took him in. I first thought he was malnourished from lack of food for being in the streets, but 4 months in his case keeps unfolding.

He is likely older than 15 years old, but he’s a happy cat with a lot of energy and mobility. He weighs 3kg but he’s a big cat, you can feel every single bone in his spine, although you can’t see them that easily because he has long hair. He’s completely affectionate, loves to be pet, and asks very politely for attention and food all the time.

All we know about his past is he is neutered, he had some teeth surgically removed and he tested negative for FIV and FeLV.

He had a huge appetite when I first took him in, he would eat 100g of food in one meal and ask for more right after. He would sometimes ‘cough’, it sounded like he was choking on some kind of fluid, it doesn’t happen in sequences, but it happens almost every day until today.

He always drank LOTS of water and produced a lot of urine as well. His feces at the beginning were really solid with some mucus.

After a month, he continued to eat plenty and hadn’t gained any weight, that’s when he started to throw up. It started happening a few days a week, usually after spending several hours without eating he would throw up a clear frothy fluid with no content, and then it progressed to twice every day regardless of when he had eaten.

We suspected it could be diabetes or hyperthyroidism, but the labwork didn’t confirm either, it showed regular kidney function with small liver function alterations.

We then introduced prednisolone (2,5mg/day) and changed his diet from a mix of natural home-cooked protein, hypercaloric wet food, protein supplements, and dry food to exclusively Royal Canin Hypoallergenic while waiting for Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Hydrolyzed Protein to arrive in Brazil, keeping Omega 3 (fish oil) 500mg/a day in his diet.

Vomits went away for a while. He kept drinking lots of water and peeing a lot, but his feces got softer (not liquid).

He had periods where he lost his appetite, which we treated with mirtazapine, he reacted after 6 days.

We performed an ultrasound and discovered that basically all his internal organs were compromised. He has severe alterations everywhere. Still, the best specialists I could find couldn’t tell me what was causing it and offer a course of treatment that didn’t involve opening him up to collect tissues for a biopsy.

I personally think it is absurd that a doctor could look at this frail elderly cat who obviously can’t resist anesthesia without serious risks and say that surgery is the only way to go, all to find out for sure if we’re dealing with a lymphoma or an infection. I’m looking for someone to advise me on the most effective course of action. Of course, I aim to reverse his condition, but I understand that given his age and how advanced it is, it might not be an option.

He is currently at 3kg, eating exclusively Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Hydrolyzed Protein with fish oil, and taking prednisolone every day for a month now. His appetite is healthy, he still drinks a lot, pees a lot, and poops regularly but softer. He eats an average of 5 small meals.
Vomits are back down to a few times a week, usually early in the morning before his first meal, and always a clear liquid. He goes and eats right after throwing up so I get the impression he is not nauseous.
He doesn’t seem to be in pain overall.
He’s not gaining any weight regardless of all my efforts.

That is why I’m giving this a shot and trying to get your attention. I hope you have more resources and knowledge that could help me figure out appropriate next steps to give this little guy the best fighting chances I can.

On this link you’ll find a translation of his bloodwork and ultrasound. I had chat GPT translate it for me so forgive me if there are errors.
Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yqcen-TYzyvfBYU-J4t1tCHola1E2otDGDa1H7V032Y

I appreciate any support you can lend me, his name is Valentim which means brave and strong, and I want him to win this fight.

Hi Dr. Magnifico,

Our adopted cat (former stray cat, now 100% indoor) has always shown all of the signs of a nasopharyngeal polyp (about 4 years now). I didn’t know what it was until I saw videos of cats with similar breathing noises and eventually saw your YouTube polypectomy videos.

Three short videos of his breathing sounds (turn up your volume) follow:

Called our vet for a surgeon referral, but they’ll only refer for a CT scan ($2000) before they’ll refer to a surgeon. Surgeon’s websites all indicate that they will only accept appointments by referral from a general Vet, so I can’t just make an appointment for examination by a surgeon (which I’m happy to pay for).

Bottom line, looking for a second-opinion / consult (happy to pay!) on whether it’s really necessary to do a $2000 CT scan *before* being referred to a surgeon for (a probably $2000) surgery. I’d rather just have a surgeon put the cat under anesthesia, go in, look for the polyp, and remove it if they see one. Happy to pay $2000 for just that surgery, even if it turns out there’s no polyp.

Thank you in advance for any response.

My initial question : https://www.pawbly.com/question/hello-i-live-in-san-jose-california-and-need-urgent-help-with-my-male-7yr-old

Update: My cat went through a cystotomy on Friday, the surgery went well and he was sent home the same day. Unfortunately he was still blocked as the surgeon did not remove the stones in his urethra (He did not take any xrays after the surgery and also discharged my cat without making him pee on his own). I rushed him to the ER as he was very restless and trying to pee, the ER doctor immediately unblocked him with a catheter and while doing so, she was able to push the stones back into the bladder. Xrays (attached) were taken which shows three stones in the bladder. As the cost of ER was adding up and the surgeon who did his surgery was not available over the weekend, I decided to shift him with the catheter on to the hospital where his surgery was done. I would like to add that in the initial surgery, the surgeon successfully removed all the stones in his bladder but the stones in the urethra were left behind even though he said he flushed them. The ER doctor is very certain that she pushed those stones back into the bladder while unblocking him the second time when he landed in the ER post the surgery.

My cat is currently doing well, he is on Ivy and has a catheter on. He is on CD food since two days. The urine color has improved from bloody to fairly clear. Urinalysis results showed struvite (Ammonium Mg Phosphate) crystals . I will be meeting the surgeon tomorrow and need your advice on what should be the next steps for my cat. Which of the following would you advise?

1. Re surgery to remove the remaining three stones from the bladder. After the initial surgery, the surgeon had mentioned that my cats heart is weak and hence he had to adjust the anesthesia to a lower level (1 instead of the usual 2), though the ER doctor does not see why would that be the case as there is no murmur seen in his reports and he has taken the sedation well while he was unblocked twice in the ER.

2. CD food therapy: Urinalysis results showed struvite (Ammonium Mg Phosphate) crystals. Should we remove the catheter, make him pee on his own at the hospital and then get him home. Watch closely for re blockage while continuing his CD diet. What are the chances of his re blockage? Will the bladder have greater chances of rupture if he gets re blocked since he just had surgery?

Please advise.

@KristaMagnifico

My cat developed a hematoma so we took her to the vet and they charged us $400 to drain it without anesthesia. After about 2 weeks it filled back up again so we took her to a different vet and they want us to spend $1,000 to have it surgically drained but with no guarantee that it won’t come back. Will it heal on its own or is it worth it to spend the $1,000 with the chance that it might come back?

Rottweiler, female, 11 years old.

Vertically split nail; under vet care but I think we need to get more decisive.

The vet trimmed the nail half way with local (dog has bad reaction to sedation protocol, narcotics, etc). Still hurt and vet said it would cause undue pain. However, the nail continues on splitting.

How common of a procedure is cutting the nail off all the way to nail bed? How does that improve outcome? How much faster is the recovery?

By what percentage is anesthesia risk lower with such a short procedure? (Has to be anesthesia as explained above). Last time, after anesthetic procedure, she had heart rhythm problems and other problems; became critical and almost died. But was also full of drugs and had pancreatitis as complication of splenectomy. I’d assume the shorter the time under, the lower risk of complications?

I’m concerned about putting her under but I’m also concerned about dragging this out for weeks, taking valuable time from her, and having to do it that way anyway eventually.

I really don’t know what is the best thing to do for her. Hubby leaning toward waiting if it heals but I’m not seeing it healing any time soon if at all. (Photo of the present state of the nail attached.

I’m sad, depressed, concerned, and don’t know what I should decide for her.

PYOMETRA SURGERY QUESTION: I have a question for Dr. Krista. Below is background information and I will include cost info for anyone that might be searching for cost information in the future and stumbles across this website. (also uploading a picture of doggie with stitches to gallery)

My 7.5 year old Shepherd/Husky mix just had surgery for pyometra. It was approximately $2000 at a pet hospital in Tennessee for the surgery. (actual surgery was a little under $900 and then additional things such as anesthesia, overnight boarding charge, IV, antibiotics, e-collar, medication, etc ended up racking up the charges to almost $2000.) Her symptoms that caused me to go to the vet were not eating, depressed, excessive drinking, constant licking her private areas, and I did notice she was drooling a lot as well. Her not eating was the main thing that had me worried as this dog will eat anything and gobble her food up in seconds and then lick the bowl clean searching for any missing bits under normal circumstances, yet she even turned her nose up at her favorite foods. I had initially been worried about blockage since she had eaten some table scrap bones a few days prior (which I now know not to do for future reference), but after googling , I came to the conclusion pyometra was more likely. She had just finished her heat cycle a few weeks prior, so everything lined up on her symptoms matching pyometra. The vet did an x-ray and blood work and it did end up being Pyometra. I had never heard of this before and really wish I had as this was an expensive lesson for us to learn and painful for our poor doggie. If we had spaded her when she was younger, it would have been $250 at the exact same place I just paid $2000 to for pretty much the exact same surgery. (though now much riskier and doggie sick) The vet did the surgery the morning following her initial examination. (the initial exam was $425 for exam, x-ray and blood work and was not included in the cost of surgery. I received a 25% discount off of this price for being a new customer) She had the surgery at 10 AM and stayed the night to get extra fluids and antibiotics as she had a pretty bad infection and keep and eye on her. I picked her up at 2 PM the day after her surgery. My doggie was happy to see me when I picked her up and seemed to be feeling much better. She wagged her tag and happily jumped in the car and was excited about going in our house. Once in the house, she visibly drooped, though. I thought that was probably normal after having surgery and she slept a lot. She ate that night and I gave her the medicine in her food. This morning, however, she once again refuses to eat- even her favorite foods. She drinks normally, but doesn’t eat anything, so I also cannot give her the medication, which consisted of an antibiotic and pain pill. I tried forcing a piece of bread in her mouth with the pill inside it but she just spit it out. My question for Dr. Krista or anyone who has had experience with pyometra…. is this normal for a dog not to want to eat a couple of days after surgery? It has now been almost exactly 48 hours since her surgery. She went to the bathroom a little bit ago and both urinated and had a wet bowel movement. I have tried offering all different kinds of foods and she shows no interest. She is just laying around. She is still drooling more than normal, but seems in better shape than when I initially took her to vet… but worried about her lack of appetite. How I can give her the medication if she will not eat. Any recommendations?

Recommended by Jarrettsville Veterinarian for Krista Magnifico to request a consult with Dr Author for my 3 yr old intact Female English Bulldog. She is in need of a vulvaplasty due to consistent wetness and bacteria in her urine. Ultrasound is negative for any abnormalities but does confirm large vulva in which urine is pooling. I want to get her spayed while she is under anesthesia since she is a bulldog – looking for someone in the Bel Air, MD area in expertise in this surgery and I hear Dr Author is the best! 410-459-6296 to reach me – Tina

Hello all!

My 7-month-old English labrador got spayed yesterday. She went into surgery at 7 am and we picked her up at 3 p.m. Of course, she was not herself due to the anesthesia. Once we got home, we fed her some lunch and then later some dinner, she was very hungry. Now, the following day, we have noticed she has yet to poop. She has peed minimally but has not pooped once. Is this normal for female dogs after undergoing surgery?

My 11 year old indoor cat has started a snoring sound when breathing over the past year. A local vet said it was not in her lungs and that he saw something while looking in her nose. She is eating and drinking fine with no other problems. Steroids and antibiotics helped pretty well, but the symptoms returned afterward. We think it could be a nasopharyngeal polyp (all of the symptoms are there[the sneezing fits, the head shaking, the constant swallowing like she has something in her throat) but we just got quoted 5 grand for a CT and surgery at the specialist. No other local vet will do an exam under anesthesia to look. Someone please help. We feel like our days are numbered for our sweet Sadie girl. ????

hello! My cat has been going to the vet constantly, for coughing, gaging, gulping, and loud breathing? noises. The vet examined him under anesthesia and said his throat was just red and irritated and sent him home with some antibiotics and prednisolone. He took it for a while but there were no changes. He mostly does the whole coughing gaging thing when he is exited. His vet can’t seem to figure out what is wrong with him, so i’ve been researching different sicknesses and seeing which ones matched his symptoms. I came across collapsed trachea. This is the only one i’ve seen that matched his symptoms and says it gets worse with excitement. What can be done to diagnose him with a collapsed trachea? I’ve seen that a fluoroscopy would be a good option but the animal hospitals around me don’t have the machinery to do that. There is a high tech specialist vet office about 2 hours from me, but it’s by referral only. Would i still be able to get a proper and correct diagnosis by getting a normal x-ray? is there any other options that could tell he has a collapsed trachea? he’s had chest x-rays before and nothing seemed abnormal, so that rules out some other sicknesses.