Help? Pax is breathing funny....

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Sending that this is a simple URI. I had a kitten land in ICU for a week from a serious URI one time. The vet took one look at him, knew he was in danger and put him in an oxygen tent on IV's for that week. If your vet didn't see it as an emergency, my bet is that he's not as bad as you fear.

Poor little Pax!

And

to you!!

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Thanks You are right.... he didn't see it as an emergency, and he did also say it's not a lost cause

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Karo syrup????? What is that.

Of course he has food and water available.... the vet was not concerned about me getting him to eat tonight so I am not pushing it. .

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It's just a sugar based syrup. If he doesn't want to eat, he's not going to. I imagine if he's going to eat anything, it would be the food he knows and is used to. Like you said, the vet has given him fluids, and it's not a BIG deal if he doesn't eat tonight.

Give him a cuddle for me!

When Spooky had Hepatic Lipidosis, I 'finger fed' her, by putting a tiny dollop of wet food on my finger, opening her mouth, and scraping the food off my finger with the back of her tiny front teeth (onto the roof of her mouth.) She learned to swallow the food that way. We eventually progressed to syringe feeding. Ask your vet tomorrow about Hills a/d, which is a high calorie, very palatable wet food for convalescing pets. It is liquid enough to syringe very easily. I'm adding my prayers for sweet little Pax.

Originally Posted by sarahp

It's just a sugar based syrup. If he doesn't want to eat, he's not going to. I imagine if he's going to eat anything, it would be the food he knows and is used to. Like you said, the vet has given him fluids, and it's not a BIG deal if he doesn't eat tonight.

Give him a cuddle for me!

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ah, ok. Can't say I've ever seen it around here... I have corn syrup and maple syrup, but never seen karo.

Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

When Spooky had Hepatic Lipidosis, I 'finger fed' her, by putting a tiny dollop of wet food on my finger, opening her mouth, and scraping the food off my finger with the back of her tiny front teeth (onto the roof of her mouth.) She learned to swallow the food that way. We eventually progressed to syringe feeding. Ask your vet tomorrow about Hills a/d, which is a high calorie, very palatable wet food for convalescing pets. It is liquid enough to syringe very easily. I'm adding my prayers for sweet little Pax.

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Yes, that is similiar to what my vet was saying about using the back of a spoon. I didn't realise he meant roof of the mouth, untill you said something.

I have a list of questions/info I'm bringing with me tomorrow, I will add that food onto the list. Thanks for the suggestion.

*****Thinking of you both all day*****

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Oh gosh Chris I just saw your update....I was thinking about you and Pax throughout my day and hoping it all goes well. I'm sorry the news aren't exactly excellent. More vibes coming your way

Oh, no, I'm so sorry. Sending lots of that it's nothing worse and that the little sweetheart can fight this.
Thinking of you and Pax.

Becareful with Karo syrup....it is corn syrup, a sweetner used in baked goods. BUT Karo has been used for years by Mothers of babies who need to go poop. It is used to help constapation in small kids and infants. The corn syrup causes fluid to fill in the intestine and help pass stool. That how my daughters doctor explained it to me. So I would not give anyone who was not taking in a good amount of fluids Karo.

Well that's good he got fluids today; I hope hope HOPE he will be on the upswing back to good health....I know he is very sick right now, but hopefully the antibiotic will do its job and the fluids will have rejuvenated his body a little bit and if he gets some rest now....well, just sending good vibes for Pax............

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

At this point, he is thinking viral as opposed to bacterial. No pnemonia.

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I wonder why then he got antibiotics? Antibiotics do not treat viruses...It sounds to me like your vet is not very clear on what exactly is wrong. I am glad you will take him in again tomorrow, and if I were you I'd ask some more questions and demand more answers.

Originally Posted by ut0pia

I wonder why then he got antibiotics? Antibiotics do not treat viruses...It sounds to me like your vet is not very clear on what exactly is wrong. I am glad you will take him in again tomorrow, and if I were you I'd ask some more questions and demand more answers.

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Antibiotics for a viral infection could be to knock out any secondary infections. For example, I had a bad cold in grad school (student teaching--kids are germ factories), which is a virus, but because it clogged and irritated my sinuses all the way out to my ears, I also developed a bacterial ear infection that needed antibiotics. The vet could be thinking that any more problems are the last thing that the kitten needs right now...or it could be as simple as trying the antibiotics to see if it works, if he's not sure it's a virus.

Originally Posted by ut0pia

I wonder why then he got antibiotics? Antibiotics do not treat viruses...It sounds to me like your vet is not very clear on what exactly is wrong. I am glad you will take him in again tomorrow, and if I were you I'd ask some more questions and demand more answers.

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Originally Posted by ebrillblaiddes

Antibiotics for a viral infection could be to knock out any secondary infections. For example, I had a bad cold in grad school (student teaching--kids are germ factories), which is a virus, but because it clogged and irritated my sinuses all the way out to my ears, I also developed a bacterial ear infection that needed antibiotics. The vet could be thinking that any more problems are the last thing that the kitten needs right now...or it could be as simple as trying the antibiotics to see if it works, if he's not sure it's a virus.

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as I said in the initial update, we aren't sure exactly what we're dealing with. My vet's philosphy is to support, then test. At this point we don't know. All we know is he is dehydrated, has a URI of some sort, loss of weight, fever, appetite and noisy breathing.... his lungs however are clear, but from what little I do know, it could easily change into bacterial or viral pnemonia... He could have FelV, FIP, a bunch of different "could have's".

Originally Posted by ut0pia

I wonder why then he got antibiotics? Antibiotics do not treat viruses...It sounds to me like your vet is not very clear on what exactly is wrong. I am glad you will take him in again tomorrow, and if I were you I'd ask some more questions and demand more answers.

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As was said, if you don't know what's wrong with a kitty, then an antibiotic injection shouldn't do any harm. I had a feral kitty with a temperature and lethargy. They couldn't figure out what was wrong, so just gave a long lasting antibiotic injection, fluids and we sent her on her way. It's the best "in the meantime" treatment you can do

Hmm I just still have regrets about when a vet did the same thing, said she will give a shot of antibiotics and the antibiotic didn't do anything. I was blaming myself for not demanding an answer at the time but I guess it must be what most vets do.

Originally Posted by ut0pia

Hmm I just still have regrets about when a vet did the same thing, said she will give a shot of antibiotics and the antibiotic didn't do anything. I was blaming myself for not demanding an answer at the time but I guess it must be what most vets do.

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Giving an antibiotic and having it to nothing is better than doing nothing when an antibiotic may help Of course if the vet does nothing else, and it doesn't work, and the vet STILL does nothing else, THEN you worry!

Vibes for you, Pax and your gang

hello,

i once heard that cats won't eat what they can't smell.
when OG was ill with a URI the only thing that got him to eat was a little bit of tuna juice into some watery soft food and he would lick it off a spoon. he would only eat a few licks but it was better than none.

to you and Pax

Still sending lots of .

Quick update, with some questions.

Update; he is the same as yesterday. Slightly more attentive, no interest in food or water.

Questions:

I'm trying to come up with a list of questions to ask my vet.

So far I have:

- ask about Hills a/d food
- ask about force feeding, how much, what to do about water
- ask to test for FelV, FIP ( his first vaccine was a 3 in 1 for Panleukopenia, rhino, calicivirus....hmmm. Why is that? Kizzy's first was a 5 in 1...maybe age/weight? Kizzy was 6mos for first shot) so we should have no false positives if I understand correctly (from the current posts on the in office testing...I assume we have the same tests here in Canada).

Can you guys think of anything else I should be asking?????

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Can you guys think of anything else I should be asking?????

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No, but I really hope Pax is okay.