Sick cats...VET not helping...need advice!

Hello everyone,

I will try to make this short but I need to know if anyone else has had this happen that can give some advise that we can tell our vet, since he really is not helping.

Last week one of our cats started hacking, dry nothing coming up. Just thought he had a hairball, which is uncommon for him so was going to go pick up some hairball remedy but the next day he started constantly hacking, non stop all night.

The next day we were busy but steamed him in the bathroom and it seemed to help some and had to leave for the day.

That night we came home and he was very lethargic and not eating or drinking. So we rushed him to the ER vet, who did not think it was much and also at this time one of his sibling started to show the same signs so we were given antibiotics for both of them. They also have him some IV fluids.

While at the vet, as soon as he got out of the house, he was not having issues breathing as much as in the home. Nor did he hack once.

While at home he started to act back up, worse. He would try cough/throwing up and right before it would come up he would scream/meow in pain.

So Saturday morning took him to our vet. They did and X-Ray and he is congested and the veins around his lungs are enlarged. So they gave him a steroid shot and then oral steroids to come home with.

Since he has been able to sleep, but still not really eating or drinking and laying around and still coughing/vomitting up. His sister is also sick with the same. We have antibiotics for her. But she is pretty much doing the same thing. Now the past two days their Mom has started to do it and just started coughing stuff up. One of the other siblings appears to be hacking a little too. It is hard to tell when it appears like a hairball.

We called our vet again, but just keep saying to use the antibiotics. But they just don't seem to be working, told them that they are not eating or drinking but they don't seem worried about that.

I gave the cats wet food today and they ate some of that...they one the most sick did nibble some on a few pieces of dry food.

I just don't know what to do and our vet does not seem to be interested in helping and I am clueless as to what might be going on with them.

It very much appears to be something viral that they got here in our house. That caused their lungs to inflame or something? But we have not used anything different or anything like that. We have been moving stuff around as we are getting ready to move, so there is a little more dust flying around but I don't think that would cause all this.

I am worried as we have 8 cats and we can not afford to for all of them to get sick with this and what it might be.

The only other thing I can think of recently is my husband did some wash and may have used a little more bleach that usual. But our utility room is closed off so I don't know if that would do all of it.

Please any thoughts/ideas/suggestions would be very helpful to talk to our Vet about of what it possibly might be.

Thank you for all your help in advance!

How long has it been since they have eaten? I would hope if it has been any length of time the vet showed you how to force feed.

Also, what you described when they went to the vet happens to my cats all the time. I believe they call it white coat syndrome ( you know they see the vets white coat & feel better).

I have found that different vets react differntly to cats being sick. Some will send them home for home care, others may hospitalize over night for IV antibiotics. If you are really worried, there is nothing wrong with going for a second opinon.

Hi there... I am so sorry you are going through this...
I would go for a second opinion... Make sure to mention the Bleach fumes - yes, IMO that could be it.
Also, in the mean time, make sure they eat, no matter what, even if it means you force feed them - you do not want them to stop eating on the top of it, as their liver can fail, and then you can have a huge problem in addition to what you already have... Just keep them eating... Also, you said a steaming bathroom helped... Do you have a humidifier? If not, get one, or a steamer for them, and put them in a room with it. That should help soothing their lungs.

Good luck...

I would find a feline specialist pronto. you can google your hometown then feline specialist and see what comes up. Best of luck you need knowledge on your side, and vets bless them, when they run a small animal clinic they tend to not listen to owners of cats when they really should.

Hello and welcome to TCS!

I'm wondering if you've stirred something up with your moving preparations. Some black mold...something bad like that, that would affect their breathing. Have any humans in the house experienced any symptoms? Of course kitties lungs are so much tinier, can't handle as much as we can, and being close to the ground...

Have you pulled up any rugs? I think I'd be crawling along the ground looking for mold and paint chips (lead poisoning which they can get both from ingesting, or inhaling)

I recommend some blood work on the kitty who was first ill.

Originally Posted by otto

Hello and welcome to TCS!

I'm wondering if you've stirred something up with your moving preparations. Some black mold...something bad like that, that would affect their breathing. Have any humans in the house experienced any symptoms? Of course kitties lungs are so much tinier, can't handle as much as we can, and being close to the ground...

Have you pulled up any rugs? I think I'd be crawling along the ground looking for mold and paint chips (lead poisoning which they can get both from ingesting, or inhaling)

I recommend some blood work on the kitty who was first ill.

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I totally agree with the concern about possible mold exposure in the home. It seems very significant to me, the fact that the cough/breathing issues improve when the cats aren't in the home. That, to me, would point directly to them reacting to some kind of exposure in your home.

Is your house old? Any leaky pipes? Any previous flooding in your home? If so, for their sake and yours, I think it would be critical to look in the phonebook and find someone in your area who experienced in assessing for mold. Some are extremely toxic.

Have their been any changes in your home?

Stripping or staining hardwood floors? Any possible exposure to solvents or chemicals (inhaled)?

Do you have a wood burning fireplace that you've been using; if so, maybe the damper wasn't open (or enough) and there was some smoke back up into your home and this damaged their lungs? (though this is doubtful if their conditions seem to improve when you're out of the home).

Any new air fresheners you're using? Those plug-in types? (if so, get rid of them).

Switched to a new type of cat litter?

Did you recently get new carpet? (new carpet has a lot of chemicals in them, I thought I read something once about "off gases" from new carpets).

I agree that some bloodwork on the first ill kitty would be a good idea.

It's unfortunate that your Vet is being so passive about this. And if it is viral, antibiotics aren't going to do much (they only work for bacterial infections).

Is it possible to at least contain them all in one particular room and then really air out your home real well?

Any humans in your home with a cough that won't go away, feeling more tired than usual, a "COLD" that seems to be taking forever to resolve? (these can be symptoms of mold)

Here's a suggestion.

Try contacting the Cornell University Vet Department Feline Consultation Service. I highly recommend it !! It costs $55 for a call, and either your vet or YOU YOURSELF can call them. You will end up speaking with an actual Vet Specialist. This page gives the details along with their hours. I've used them once before, years ago, when I had a kitty with a very rare adrenal gland condition and they were lifesavers because my Vet knew nothing about this condition and I was left to try and figure it out on my own. They really took the time on the phone with me. I was SO impressed.

Try to write out a history of everything, including a timeline (which cat symptoms started in, age of cat, if these cats are siblings, date you first went to the Vet, what Vet prescribed, date xrays done, etc, prior to your call...........so that you can more accurately explain the course of events with your cats.

Of course they can't treat your cat(s) but they CAN make recommendations that you can then relay to your Vet.

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/camuti.htm

Great advice about Cornell. I have the great fortune to live two hours from Cornell and have had more than a few occasions when I have had to bring a cat there, to their Companion Animal Hospital. Wonderful wonderful place.

Did they do a feline heartworm test? That would be one thing I would consider. Exposure to feline bordetella? Coughing in cats is actually pretty rare. When a cat comes into the clinic coughing, the first course of action for us is to do a feline heartworm test (Which may be negative even if they have heartworms, due to the fact that it takes 3 female worms for the test to detect the heartworm, and kitties usually only have 1-2 worms). If it's negative, the doctor usually orders radiographs to check the size of the heart to rule out heart disease.

I love the suggestion to call Cornel University! Maybe they can give you some insight.

Hope all goes well!

Okie

Thank you everyone

Here is a little more info and I will most likely call the Vet tomorrow and the Cornell is not open for calls again till Wednesday...so if the Vet is no help again tomorrow I will call them on Wednesday.

We have 8 cats...5 of them are Mom and her kids...so far the only ones showing symptoms are them.

It started with Mickey, last week. He was coughing/hacking like he had a hairball. By Thursday night he was doing it all day. Friday went to the vet. On Friday his sister Minnie started the coughing/hacking like a hairball. When we took Mickey we told the ER Vet this so got antibiotics for the both of them.

Saturday went to our vet who only did an x-ray. Which came back with his lungs congested and the veins/arteries around them enlarged. He told us about the possibility that they could he could have heartworms and from the test could not rule it out but was leading more to it being asthma. I brought video of what Mickey was doing in home since he did not do it in the ER Vet office that he might not do it in our Vet office.

On Sunday Mom of the two started doing the coughing/hacking and today started throwing up the white foam like the other two.

Called our vet about this to say it has to be something else as it is spreading...what are the chances of 3 of them starting up with asthma all at the same time or the possibility of heartworms showing in all 3 of them at the same time.

Now tonight Bashful, another sibling is doing just the dry coughing/hacking thing like the other 3 did to start with so I am sure by tomorrow she will be throwing up too.

Now the last sibling we have left has not shown any signs yet. And of our other 3 cats they are showing no signs of this either. One of our 8 cats is a kitten about 8 months old. And I would think he would show this really fast too.

I just am so clueless as what this could be.

We have not changed anything really that I can think of. Yes I have been packing stuff...but been doing that for several weeks now...it is just crazy that it is starting to happen right before I leave to head out of state here on Wednesday that all this is happening now.

The only other thing that has changed...and I don't know how this would have anything to do with it really is we adopted out one of their siblings the other day...could this really have anything to do with it?

I just feel so helpless for these poor cats and going crazy with vets and the fees. I am an animal lover and rescued Mom when she was pregnant right before she gave birth. We never planed on keeping this many cats and with us moving we have started working on adopting them out...could they be sensing all this and have made themselves sick too with picking up on the vibes from the house?

My husband is in kidney failure and so we are on limited funds already...have spent a lot of our moving money on taking Mickey to the vet and just are going crazy to not wanting to take him back because we feel we are getting no where with not having answers on what is going on for them to keep trying stuff on him.

None of our dogs are sick either. My husband and I other than health issues are not sick with any colds either. The weather in florida has been crazy going from heat to air back to heat, but that has never bothered them before.

The only thing I can recall is my husband doing whites a week ago with bleach, which is what we have always done, but I think he used a little more than he normal does and was wondering if this caused it.

We have been selling stuff that I don't know if they may have picked something up when we moved stuff around that they inhaled too.

Again thank you for all the help and suggestions but I think Mickey and Minnie will have to go to the Vet tomorrow AM for IV fluids and food as I still can't get them to eat much or drink. I was not shown how to force feed them but will have them tomorrow for sure and then my husband will have to do that when I leave.

Please keep them in your prayers and thoughts.

Thank you again

I'm sorry everything is piling up at once. I recommend you ask for some blood work while at the vet. And/or go to a different vet. Please let us know how things go.

I am wondering if it is Calici virus... I say this b/c a friend of mine who has MULTIPLE cats nearly lost a brother and sister to SOMETHING that ended up attacking the liver. They went into liver failure. The vet thinks it was a virus... her outside colony also got sick. I am not sure that she keeps up with the vaxes with the number of cats she has.

If they are not eating this is VERY serious as it can seriously impact the liver. I just don't understand some vets laid back attitude about cats.

I know what you're going through. I have also had sick cats and vets that don't seem to take it seriously when you know that it is serious. If I were you I would see a second vet for a second opinion asap. If possible a cat specialist is your best bet. It seems to me that "regular" vets are good at dealing with the things they see a lot of but when it comes to something out of the ordinary they don't know what to do so they guess, prescribe some antibiotics and hope for the best.
I have learned from experience that the best thing to do when an animal is sick is to get an accurate diagnosis right away. Unless you know exactly what it is you can't treat it correctly. Guessing and trying this med and that med is just a waste of time and money and can even cost the life of an animal.
I would isist on doing complete bloodwork (a CBC and a chem I believe is what they call it). That should give them some idea of what is going on. I would do the tests on the first cat that got sick.

In the meantime I would isolate the sick cats in one room away from the others in case it's a virus that spreads. I would also get some Nutrical and give them the full dose of that each day if they are not eating like they should. Force them to drink some by squirting water in their mouths with a syringe. There are supplements you can buy that contain electrolytes and other things that will help them get extra energy while sick. Check this site www.revivalanimal.com for supplements for cats.
Sub-q fluids is also very important if they are not drinking. If they are hadly drinking at all I would make sure they get sub-q fluids every day. If you want to you can ask your vet how to do it and to give you the things you need for it so you can do it yourself at home. It's not that hard.
It's important to remember that the effects of not eating and drinking can be fatal so this is very, very important.

If money is an issue you may want to look into care credit to pay for the vet bills. Some vets will work out a payment plan with you too.

If there is no cat specialist in your area I'd start calling around to different vets, explain the situation and see what they say and then you can determine which one you want to go to after that. A second opinion and a diagnosis is what you need.

I hope your kitties will be well soon.

Thank you everyone for all your well wishes.

The one thing that baffles me with all this is none of them have been running a fever.

On a positive note the two sickest have been nibbling on food and drinking water. I picked up some dietary supplement and vitamin and mineral supplements ointments to give them to help as well.

Some of the other things I can think of that may have affected them is I just got a swifter wet jet a few weeks ago and wonder if that might have something to do with it.

Also we have the glade air fresheners the ones that go off every set minutes in our bedroom and living room. We realized the other day that they have not been going off...wondering if that has anything to do with it.

So today we have been running the fan in our house to help clear it out since our weather has been crazy that the air/heat has not been on much.

Thank you again everyone for all your help. Any think of any ideas of what else it might be please let me know.

Thank you!!!

It very well could be the Swiffer thing and/or the air fresheners. At least you're working at figuring it out and being proactive.

Glad they're feeling some better!

Definitely get rid of the glade things. All those air freshener things are just terrible for you and for your cats. Just terrible.

think about it. Whatever chemicals those things are putting out, you are breathing in. And your cats tiny lungs are breathing in. I hate them all.

The old story that swiffer wet jet is poison to cats has been proven to be false, but it is something new, so yes I would stop using that too.

I still think you might be dealing with mold or lead poisoning that got stirred up when you started moving things around. Have you ever done a radon test in your home? How old is your house?

Glad they seem to be doing better. please keep us posted.

Feline Bordetella?

Originally Posted by Okie89

Feline Bordetella?

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Good thinking. Hopefully the vet will test for that, too. I am very surprised blood work wasn't done on the first kitty after she failed to respond to treatment.

Originally Posted by otto

Good thinking. Hopefully the vet will test for that, too. I am very surprised blood work wasn't done on the first kitty after she failed to respond to treatment.

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I'm surprised bloodwork wasn't done to begin with... coughing in kitties is not usual and can be a bad sign... (not meaning to worry the original poster, hence it CAN be a bad sign, but not always )