I have two cats – Vinny born 2/2020 and adopted 4/2020. In 3/2021, we adopted our second cat, Duke, who was born 9/2020

Vinny has been very healthy until recently. Not long after adopting Duke, Vinny lost his voice, started coughing, deep breathing – we took him to the vet and they treated him for a URI.

He’s been off the antibiotics for about a week and his voice started becoming hoarse on 4/8, which slight coughing starting 4/9.

Duke has apparently always had a thing with sneezing. Usually 1-2 times daily, very random times. The foster care chalked it up to stress. His FELV came back negative when they tested him.

Both cats are set up with vet appointments – Vinny as a sick visit and Duke to get a general check up (new vet for us due to a recent move) and to address the sneezing concern. Both cats are completely up to date on all vaccinations and both neutered. 100% indoor cats.

I’m considering asking the vet to test them both for Feline Herpes Virus and do a retest for FELV.

Anything else that it could be?

Hi, I adopted a Snowshoe/Siamese cat from a shelter about 6 weeks ago. They estimate he is about 3 years old but his history is unknown. He had an upper respiratory infection when I adopted him and was on antibiotics. He was very sneezy but that cleared up with the antibiotics the shelter gave me. I then took him to the vet for a wellness check the day after I adopted him and they found a yeast infection in one of his ears. We treated that and it’s been fine. He was also given Bravecto Plus topical just in case and is an indoor only cat.

About a week later he developed a skin issue, he’s been itching and ripping hair out in massive clumps and had some scabs. He was given two steroid injections over the course of a month. Also an antibiotic injection. I also changed his diet to rule out food allergen but after more than a week of diarrhea from the Hills z/d diet we switched to a sensitive skin Blue Buffalo instead which he is tolerating much better.

The skin issue has been getting better so I’m not concerned about that but just want to preface his history with me. Now onto the current issue. I noticed he snores and has trouble breathing when he is sleeping. I chalked this up to the URI but it has not gone away with the URI. His whole body basically flexes as he inhales. It’s only while he is asleep but does not matter what position he lies in. After spending over $1,000 and going to two different vet offices in the last 6 weeks, I would like to reach out to see if anyone has answers about this. We got back from the vet today with his second steroid injection and the itching has reduced significantly after this one (last one didn’t do much) and we are sending in blood work. The vet suggested next we do a full body x-ray which I’m not opposed to but I’m a graduate student and I’ve already spent over $1,000 on him and I have only had him for 6 weeks! I am going to get the x-rays for peace of mind but tonight I was checking his nose while he slept and found this. I’m assuming it’s a polyp? But I’m not a vet and won’t pretend to be one. If it is a polyp, where can I get this taken care of for a reasonable price? I really don’t want to dip into my emergency fund but I’ve already spent so much on him for vet bills, let alone changing food, litter, etc. To rule out allergens. I’ll include a picture of what I presume to be a polyp.

I appreciate anyone willing to help! I live in the New Orleans area so if you have recommendations for clinics, that would be great too! I am also willing to travel a longer distance for less pricey care. He does well in the car.

He is the one thing that’s really keeping me going right now so I really want to help him.

My 8 year old cat has had a snorting nose for over half his life. Vets constantly prescribing him antibiotics. They want to check for polyp and every one in my area quotes me at 3-4 k just for the rhinoscopy. I’d hate to have to put him out twice when they do find a polyp. I have been suspecting it for years but nobody wanted to take me seriously. Instead they keep giving him antibiotics and the antibiotics do not help. I have videos of the noises he makes and I have found Dr Magnificos you tube videos a few years back. I am willing to travel for what you do for nasal polyps! I can’t afford 3-4K just for diagnostic and then another few thousand for removal. If you have a recommendation for me, or if you can see my cat I would be so incredibly grateful!! I just want him to be able to breathe better.

Hi, I have a 6 year old 17 lb Ragdoll cat that has a problem with his anal glands. Yes, he can stand to lose a little weight. I adopted him when he was 5 years old, and he’s over 6 now. When I first got him, his anal gland ruptured within a couple months. The previous owner admitted he had that happen a few months earlier. I’ve had cats since I was a year old, and I’ve never had a cat with this problem. I don’t trust the vet where I’ve been going to be looking for what’s going on or to help me resolve his issues. Do you know of any good vets in the Los Angeles area (particularly the west side near Santa Monica)? A veterinarian who cares more about the cats than making money? I’m fearful that there is more to this issue or how to treat it rather than just expressing his glands every couple of months.

So my cat has a urinary blockage, and we took him in to get the crystals removed from his bladder but it keeps getting hard and he can’t go pee. Every morning for the last three days we have had to take him in to get his bladder drained and it is costing a lot. They have given us some relaxing medicine to help him, but soon we will have to put him down if it doesn’t work. I wanted to ask for any at-home tips to help his bladder empty easier in the litter box, like what kind of food should we feed him and should we give him water to help? Please respond it is urgent and he may have to be put down tomorrow.

Our three year old spayed kitty Serafina (longhair buff and white tabby, 11.5lbs, utd on all shots) expelled her first hairball a couple days ago, and it was huge. Then she hacked up a couple smaller ones. The problem is she’s still throwing up. It’s only once or twice a day, never much in it, usually mucus or foam, sometimes a little digested food. Other than that her behavior is normal, her appetite was normal but has waned a bit, her drinking seems normal, but because we have multiple cats I don’t know if her bathroom habits have changed. There’s nothing alarming in the litter box though.
I’ve already sent an email to All Paws (it’s the only one we can afford with all the animals we care for) to make an appointment for her, but they’re not open on weekends and the auto-reply email said they have to go through a lot of emails on mondays so it may take up to 48 hours to even respond to my appointment request. I was sure to include all the details of her ailment in my email to them.
My question to you is this: In your professional opinion, is it okay to wait for their response, or should I seek an immediate appointment elsewhere? If so, I’d prefer it to be with your office. Other than the throwing up, she seems okay. She’s a low energy cat to begin with, so if she was lethargic it’d be hard to tell, but she seems normal to me. What should I look out for?
I’m just worried, I tend to panic over the smallest things. Thank you for reading all this.

I got my cat Leila in December and since she has had runny eyes and lots of sneezing. I took her to a vet and we did a course of clavamox which helped while she was on it. A few days after she finished it she was back to sneezing and having runny eyes. Then we tried azithromycin and famciclovir which did nothing and she began to sound super congested. Then we tried a longer course of the clavamox which worked well while she was on it. A week or so after she finished it she was back at it. She is now sneezing up a lot of snot. Other than those symptoms she eats well and plays like a healthy kitty. We took her to another vet who suggested it may be a polyp. I was looking for quotes for a rhinoscopy and possible surgical removal. I got a quote from a vet for $2000-3000 for the CT, sedation, and rhinoscopy but no quote if they need to do surgery. And a lot of other places refused to give me one unless I pay $150-180 for a consultation first. Any advice on where I should look for reasonable prices would be great! We are in Michigan but are willing to travel out. Thank you!

We just began an adoption trial with an adorable 4 month old kitten named Georgia. She’s very playful and happy but we instantly realized a few things seemed off with her health.

She’s got a watery eye, sneezes occasionally, scratches a lot, shakes her head occasionally, has a lot of gas, has diarrhea on and off, and is dealing with some mild bowel incontinence. But, most concerningly, seems to be dealing with a recurring anal or rectal prolapse.

We’ve taken her to two vets where she’s been given full examinations and deemed healthy. She has had two fecal tests, which return good results – no parasites are seen. She has prescription eye drops, a prescription antibiotic, prescription canned food, and a probiotic that we’ve just started. But no one seems to be as concerned about this rectal issue as we are.

Throughout the day, we notice a tiny bit of pink tissue poking out of her rectum. It’s very small and comes and goes. She also passes gas when this happens. And sometimes poop leaks out. She licks her butt a lot too.

Sometimes a cylindrical round bit of red tissue protrudes much further and what looks like a piece of poop can be seen poking out too. This tends to happen most often when she wakes up from a nap. It seems that her muscles relax and her bowel starts to come out. It will be out for seconds to a few minutes after she gets up and is moving around and then it pushes itself back in. It’s very disturbing to see!

We already have one special needs cat and, while we absolutely love this kitten and want to keep her, I’m afraid that this is going to be a recurring issue that will become very stressful. The vets we’ve seen are trying to treat the underlying cause, which they assume is diarrhea. But I’ve read that some parasites don’t show up on fecal exams or under microscopes – is this true? I’ve also read that stitches and surgery can help if this doesn’t improve on its own but that, with some cats, this is just a recurring problem throughout their lives.

Help! 🙂

Hello! I will try to keep this as short as possible but is hard because so much has happened.

I have 3 cats. My male cat is the one I am worried about the most right now. About a month ago all 3 got URIs and went to the vet. They were treated with antibiotics however they weren’t helping much so I had to bring them back a few times! Due to financial issues I ended up bringing them to our local shelter/humane society where they have a free clinic right now due to Covid. Biggest mistake EVER! They were so mean to my cat and overly rough with him completely stressing him out. I wasn’t allowed to go in the room with him however was able to watch some of what was going on through a window. This stressed my cat out so much that a week later he got a urinary blockage (2 weeks ago now)… I have never had issues prior with the other vet. He is 8 yr old. Anyways the vet cathed him and sent him home since it was the weekend and they are closed… where he ended up going to the ER the next day because he was crying all night…. They took the cath out… gave him pain meds and fluids… and kept him for 5 hours… He came home that night and has been on pain meds as needed and prazosin 2x a day. He is also on Hills C/D wet (with minimal dry of the c/d) He has been seen 2x since at the vet and Monday they did a urine sample/culture…. They said he has white blood cells so was put on antibiotics…but once the culture came back it showed everything to be normal…so was taken off of them…. Prior to all of this he was free fed however I have been switching all my cats to meal times 2-3 times a day… and will continue with that because of weight issues . He has been peeing, however, sometimes when I am peeing he will come pee in his litter box at the same time… He shakes his back end and puts it up in the air kind of and the pee shoots or sprays out …. this isn’t every time he pees but it has happened 3 times that I have seen. His pee clumps aren’t as big as they were prior to all this and now vary in size… sometimes a golf ball size give or take a little bit bigger/or smaller. I also will see his back end/tail twitching randomly in the day. The vet said this happening more than likely was due to stress. I have been making sure to keep the stress level low at home, use feliway (idk if it helps) and new toys/cat nip.

My questions are…

1. When switching to a wet food diet…. Will cats pee more than usual? They were on a 90% dry diet before. Sometimes I add a little water to it as I don’t see him drink a lot.

2. He only has a few days left of the prazosin… Should he been weened or go off cold turkey?

3. Is the shaking and spraying like pee normal? He does so in the litter box however because of his angle sometimes it gets on the wall.

I am new to this… and have talked to/seen several vets however they all say different things so I am confused… I just want to know if this is normal….. I think he is probably irritated from being cathed and such… due to licking his private sometimes and whining (both aren’t as bad as they were before however still happen)

Thank You for taking the time to read this.

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. ????