Vibes for Helen, please!!

brookesphynx

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My little girl Helen almost died yesterday!

Just as I was getting ready to leave the house, I heard the sound of a cat throwing up. I went to see what was happening, and found Helen, collapsed on the floor with a pool of vomit in front of her and a puddle of urine behind her. She was completely blue, ice cold, couldn't stand up, totally limp and panting. Just moments earlier she had been walking around normally. I threw a blanket around her and drove 100 miles an hour to the ER.

They put her in the oxygen cage immediately and took her temp (96 degrees). First order of business was to get her stabilized before they could even try to figure out what caused this. She was still completely blue half an hour later when I left her. But I saw her making biscuits in the oxygen cage, so I wasn't giving up on her.

Well, my little trooper pulled through!! When I picked her up this morning she was oh so happy to see me. I got some serious kisses and lovin'. (I was even happier to see her, though!!) The ER vet admitted to me this morning that she didn't think she was going to make it through the night.

The problem...we have no idea what caused her collapse. No clue. She had a clear echocardiogram 6 months ago. She had a full senior blood panel last month that was perfect. The only thing out of ordinary with her is that she's had a chronic cough that's been unresponsive to antibiotics. Her heart still looks great on her radiographs, but her lungs look "blotchy", my vet says it doesn't look like asthma, but it looks like bronchitis...? And it doesn't explain the collapse.

Now I'm thinking this may be heartworms. Before I rescued her last year, she was in a cage outside. In Florida. Lots of mosquitos here... and though we still don't see a lot of cases of heartworms in cats, she would be a strong candidate for it. I'm waiting for the results of her HW test now. Heartworms might explain the collapse, if an adult HW died, it could cause an embolism and cause her to collapse (often this causes sudden death!) but the strange thing is that Helen recovered so quickly from it, and they don't usually recover the way she did. The whole thing is so confusing, and without answers, I'm absolutely terrified that she's going to collapse again.

The ER vet also mentioned doing a tracheal wash to check for lungworms and doing a C & S, but I am far too fearful right now of anesthetizing a cat that just turned blue for reasons unknown!!

Please pray for a negative HW test. As you may know, heartworm infections in cats are not safely treatable. I'm prepared for just about anything else.

Helen needs all of your magical TCS vibes and prayers please!!!
 

the_food_lady

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I will keep your dear kitty Helen in my prayers.

As I read through your post, I was thinking heartworm as well.

When will you get the HW test result back? Years ago I had my kitty Tigger tested for HW because she had some breathing issues and I'd previously lived in an area of the country where there were a lot of mosquitoes and we were close to the water. They were able to do some kind of quick in-house test, think they called it a snap test? Took about 20 minutes to get the result. She was negative.

Keep us posted. Was heartwarming to read how happy she was to see you, awww, so sweet.
 

mews2much

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Prayers for Helen.
I hope she will be ok.
I hope it is not heart worms.
My Coco got sick like that once and it was asthma with bronchitis.
She was 9 then and I was told she would not live.
She is now 18.
I hope Helen will be ok.
I know how much you love her.

 
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brookesphynx

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Thank you for the prayers, food_lady! I opted to have her blood sent out because the in-house snap test only looks for heartworm antigens, and the lab will look for antigens and antibodies, so it might be more accurate. In Helen's case - since we have basically no answers - I went for the most accurate test.

I should have an answer tomorrow. I'm glad to hear your test was negative in a high risk area...that gives me hope!!

Helen is doing well tonight, staying warm and pink. She's been sleeping a lot and I keep waking her up and checking her gums to make sure she isn't blue again. No doubt she's getting sick of me by now!
 
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brookesphynx

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Originally Posted by mews2much

Prayers for Helen.
I hope she will be ok.
I hope it is not heart worms.
My Coco got sick like that once and it was asthma with bronchitis.
She was 9 then and I was told she would not live.
She is now 18.
I hope Helen will be ok.
I know how much you love her.

Thanks, Jacky. Is Coco the kitty you use the inhaler with? The ER vet mentioned asthma (though my regular vet didn't think it was asthma) and said I may consider an inhaler if her HW test is negative. I hope I do as well with my cats as you've done with yours!!
 

mews2much

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Brooke,
Coco is the cat that has the inhaler.
She also has a heart murmur now.
The vet did mention a med but said she does not need it yet.
I know you do all you can for your cats.
When Coco first had asthma years ago they said it was bronchitis.
It was asthma all along.
Her asthma is acting up now because the pollen is so bad.
I hope Helen has something that can be treated.
We also have a ton of mosquitoes now.
You do not deserve all this bad luck with your cats.

 

carolina

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Oh my God Brooke you are going through so much already
... I will be praying for both of you please please be of little one
 

bunnelina

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My vet was able to test for lungworms with a stool sample. (My 9-month-old male has a very occasional, but scary, cough, so I will be talking with my vet about testing him for heartworms today. He was born feral last summer and lived outdoors for just the first 9 weeks his of life...)

Sending many vibes for Helen and you! What a terrifying situation, and I'm so glad she made it! Fingers crossed it's not heartworms.
 

farleyv

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How scarey for you and Helen!

I hope never comes back. I can understand how paranoid you must be. I will say prayers for you and Helen, sweet girl.
 
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brookesphynx

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Helen's heartworm test was negative!!


I still have no answers as to why she collapsed, and am terrified that it will happen again...but I am SO relieved the HW test was negative.


The next step is 3 weeks of strong antibiotics to see if it helps her cough...she was already on antibiotics that didn't stop the coughing, but she was more active and playful during the antibiotics (Baytril), so my vet is hopeful they were starting to work and she just needs a longer course of them...??? Does this sound right?

I'm going to go ahead and have her dewormed for potential lungworms, too.

Thanks for the vibes, everyone!!
 
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brookesphynx

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Originally Posted by Bunnelina

My vet was able to test for lungworms with a stool sample. (My 9-month-old male has a very occasional, but scary, cough, so I will be talking with my vet about testing him for heartworms today. He was born feral last summer and lived outdoors for just the first 9 weeks his of life...)

Sending many vibes for Helen and you! What a terrifying situation, and I'm so glad she made it! Fingers crossed it's not heartworms.
Bunnelina, best of luck to you and your boy today. A cough is always a scary thing. Vibes right back at you!
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Thank goodness she pulled through! But how horrible not to know what it is. When I saw your post, I thought, "oh no, not that cute little dancing Helen from the April photo contest". What a darling picture!

Anyway, here are some vibes that it never happens again, whatever it is!!
 

ruthyb

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Oh my, how awful, I am so glad the test came back negative and that Helen makes a full recovery and it maybe just a one off.xx
 

bellaandme

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Prayers going out to you and sweet Helen. I know you are terrified. I hope any further testing comes back negative AND I hope they figure out what caused it.
 

darkmavis

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I just read through this thread now, and wow, scary!! Good thing she collapsed while you were still at home so you could get her to the vet!

Glad to hear she's negative for HW, and I hope these antibiotics work!!
 
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