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I have a senior cat who goes into labored open mouth breathing when he is in a hard purr and also has wheezing and snoring but otherwise acts normal – eats, drinks, and is active for his age. The snoring is even when he’s not in a deep slumber and it can be an airy rattle if that makes sense and he has a little squeak when he swallows. I saw your video on the cat with a polyp and thought maybe this could be what he has except that he’s almost 17 so the vet suggested it probably isn’t since that’s more of a young cat thing but did suggest a scope and CT which will cost me 2500-3500 and he will have to be put under. In reading about breathing, heart disease can also cause breathing problems and since he has heart disease I would hate to spend all the money and put him through that to be told the scope didn’t show anything. I’ve also been reading about asthma, but my regular vet nor the specialist even mentioned that it could be that and from what I’ve read, it’s hard to diagnose. He’s a flame point Siamese and he has early ckd and some heart disease (stage 3/4 systolic murmur and hypertension), so I’m nervous about putting him under. Aside from these “old man” things, the specialist and my regular vet say his labs are spectacular. The specialist said when she is presented with a cat that has these conditions, they bloodwork and labs never look this good. So I certainly don’t want to put him down if he looks good but I also feel like he can’t be comfortable with these breathing episodes. One thing to note, when they did bloodwork a couple of weeks ago, his eosinophils were elevated which I have read can be linked to upper respiratory and asthma. Im putting the link to videos of the wheezing and purring to see if you’ve ever seen such a thing in a cat. I sure wish I had you closer by. Thank you so much!
Jill
Wheezing https://youtu.be/gaf7WCRzu80
Purr/breathing https://youtu.be/kqnd4YORenY
My friend took her kitten to the vet this morning to get spayed. When she went back to pick her up the vet told her the cat vomited 10 minutes after surgery & the vomit went into her lungs… Is this
a common thing that happens ?
Hello,
No in my experience this is not common. I don’t allow my clients to feed their pets for 6-12 hours before surgery. And I try to avoid using an anesthetic that can cause vomiting. I would ask your vet for more details and info and what follow up measures or precautions you should take.
Hi Dr. Magnifico. I realized the geriatric diet is chicken based, which gives Dottie hives. Would the liver diet work with some kind of supplement we could add to it? Maybe some pumpkin or something? I have been trying to find low protein, fish based geriatric foods for dogs with liver and kidney problems. Thank you!
Hello,
I can call the nutritionist and ask. But I won’t be able to do it until Monday. Can you call me on Monday and remind me to talk to Sami about it. Anytime between 9-4. Hugs to you all.
Got it!!!
For more information on this subject please see these credible resource pages;
ACVS Nasopharyngeal Polyps; https://www.acvs.org/small-animal/nasopharyngeal-polyps
Hope she’s doing better now!
I have 3 cats and have some litter box issues. I used to have the covered boxes, but noticed that one of the cats was peeing outside the box. So I removed all of the lids. The problem seemed to stop, but then started again on occasion. I bought larger boxes, (I have three of them) and the issue still occurs. I finally discovered it was my cat with colitis. She does pee in the box, but gets so close to the edge or stands instead of squats that it goes outside the box. Is she doing this because of the colitis or a behavior issue? perhaps higher sided boxes would help? I keep the areas lined with pee pads, but they are no match for cat urine. Suggestions?
Hi pawbly friends….
One of our GSD, Butch, is in his twilight years, approaching 14. It has been very eventful here with the addition of two new GSD rescues since July, and there have been some scuffles, but everyone is managing great now. All the “teething troubles” seem to have been worked out. When we lost Butch’s best bud, he stopped eating and lost about half of his body weight. The rescues kind of helped put some pep back in his step and he is doing great. He’s still underweight, but not like before. My question is, I’m worried about preventatives. With so much of him gone, I’m afraid to give him his dose of parastar, but I also fear Lyme disease, especially given his age. Being that it isn’t winter, I hate to admit, I haven’t been giving him his dose. Now that spring is around the corner, I am more concerned about ticks because of the warmer weather. Thoughts on preventatives? Should I give a lower dose? Regular dose? Every other month? I’m just worried because he is compromised enough and underweight, but Lyme is also very serious and would be awful for him as well. Any advice is very appreciated. Thanks!
Hello,
Preventatives are always tailored to the patient, their environment and risk of exposure. They are also dosed based on ideal body weight or current body weight in cases of current physical body status. In some cases I also use a drug that I am more comfortable with or have used for a longer time and have more experience with. I also always recommend that clients keep notes on when they were given and note any adverse reactions and then further tailor from there. I understand your concerns. For the last year of my pup Jekyll’s life I was very sparing on these. I only used them sporadically. But I did check a lot of fecal samples. I hope this helps. Xox to you all.
In tears over a feral cat that I recently trapped for tnrv; At the vet, a rectal/anal prolapse was repaired. After release , I noticed it has the prolapse is back. He appears gaunt and dying; Hes untrappable at this point because he’s afraid of the trap. Will he slowly die in front of me day by day? Is he sufferring? in pain? Or will he die rapidly from this condition? Without a dart gun, hes untrappable. I thought the vet would have euthanized him to stop his suffering, but I’m at a loss at what I can do. The vet said to bring him in as soon as possible; but he’s Feral for God’s sake! You don’t get a second chance to trap a feral cat. Once bitten twice shy. Help! any ideas? Kristen Magnifico directed me here. Shes so compassionate. Thank u all!!!
Hi –
I’m so sorry you have to watch this going on. Is there any way you think you could get a larger trap and sort of attempt to camoflauge it? My thinking is, if the trap is bigger, there is more room and the cat may not expect the same thing. And I wouldn’t skip on the bait fir sure… ham, tuna…something super smelly and tasty so that the cat can’t resist. I hope this helps.
Sarah, ty for the quick response. That’s a great idea; Im trying to track down a “drop trap” but theres very few in this area. Our local organization only has two and you literally have to monitor them 24/7 to catch the specific animal. Your idea is a good one. TY!
Hello. I’m sorry about your kitty. I hope you can figure out some way to get him back to the vet. These cases are so frustrating. And often heart breaking. But I applaud you and your vet for trying. They all deserve a chance and a compassionate friend to look after them. Best of luck
You’re so right! They have so few voices out there, especially feral animals. Reducing the massive increase in population through tnr is helpful but when they r ill, it’s doubly challenging. Thanks for giving us hope out here and Please know you are making a difference. I so very much appreciate your unfiltered rants re: your frustration at times with affordability. I think the law in this country stating that People cannot be turned away in emergency rooms in this nation when presented with an illness, regardless of ability to pay, should extend to our furry friends. You’re doing heroic work.
You’re so welcome!! Stand strong and know that you are doing amazing really important work. And that you aren’t alone.
hello,
i reviewed your videos, i think that it is appears as if the wheezing is in the oropharynx area. It also appears to be primarily it the inspiratory phase of the purring/breathing.
There are internal medicine specialists who focus on this kind of clinical sign. I am not sure if there are any in your area though? I think the best place to start is at a feline specialists office. They tend to be more affordable and accessible. See if they can help start to rule out things before you jump into a scope.
In my practice for cases like these a typical work up looks like this;
1. exam,,, use your brain,, its your best diagnostic tool.
2. radigraphs,, to look at the lungs.. lots of older cats have chronic lower resp disease,,, and unfortunately, we are also looking for signs of cancer.
3. blood work,, a full cbc, chem, urine and t4.
4. oral exam under anesthesia,, i look at the whole oral cavity, remove a polyp if i find one, flush the nares if the patient has had chronic nasal discharge, and then I also take skull rads, esp of the nose/nasal passages.
if all of this fails to produce any helpful info endoscopy is the next step.. or CT, but endoscopy allows helpful info and you can do something (biopsy, etc) if you find something.
I hope this helps..
PS i agree about your theory and feelings about the corp practices..
good luck,
please keep me posted,, i would love to hear about how things turn out.
PSS i do think that your kitty is a little old for a polyp.