Sick Ocicat Kitten...Pneumonia & URI

I am looking for any breeders out there or cat owner experts who may have some knowledge or advice on what I am dealing with. I will try and simplify what has been going on for over 2 months now. I am desperate to help this poor guy just dont know what to do next.

History: we purchased a 13 wk kitten on 12/1/10 (Lenny), two weeks later 12/16/10 we brought home his littermate brother (Squiggy). He was the left over of the group, all others found homes. He was very small, but appeared healthy otherwise.
12/22...first check up, good, but we reported to vet he had a strange cough...nothing I ever experienced before. we were going to keep an eye on it since it was something to not ignore. No other signs of illness.
January he starts slowing down, sleeping alot, and cough is more prominent and productive.
1st round of Clavamox: w/in 48 hrs, cough is gone but double ear infection, runny nose and eyes all green. Figured the "illness" was coming out and by Day 4 all have cleared. End of the week he is coughing again, nose starts running while still on meds.
We get to 9th day and move him to ezythromyacin (sp) for 5 days.
No improvement, slowly declining.
Vet runs xrays, cbc, 2nd stool sample and decides its bronchial pneumonia, possible lungworm and secondary infection. He is treated for lungworm, and back on clavamox for 15 days. within 2 days he is perfect. By the 7 day mark, its coming back still on meds.
Probably at the 10th day, we suspended all tx and scheduled a trans-tracheal wash but had to wait 10 days for the meds to get out of his system.
Wash showed no specific strains of bacteria, fungal or parasite but positive for a deep lung infection of unkn origin.
3/1/11: Placed on Baytril for 10 days to wipe out whatever we are dealing with and then planned to follow up with a course of anti-viral meds.
He was great from 3/2 until 3/5 and the cough is back and he is back to not moving.

Squiggy spent 2 wks with a younger litter before he came home. Two other kittens in that litter have developed similar symptoms and pneumonia. Both litters have the same father and they are 2 wks apart (not that it matters, but I dont know what is useful info anymore). We have another senior female in the house, a dog and Lenny who have not been affected by this illness. Squiggy continues to eat and has all along, no tummy issues, no eye issues outside of the first time on Clavamox, and no fever except maybe one day on the Ezythromyacin (103 deg). He is considerably smaller than his brother, but who wouldnt be considering all he has had to deal with!

Here is a link to video I took of him within the last 24 hours. I figure if you hear the noises he makes maybe it will make more sense. And, I have been doing this for my vet so she sees what is going on at home vs. being stressed in her exam room.

My video Link:
This was recorded at 3 am, there are three others too from yesterday and last night...

I am not looking for free vet care, I am just so worried that if we cant fix this soon, he isnt going to make it. Are we missing some link or breed health issue or something? This is just unbelieveable that he gets well fast and really sick while still on these meds. Thanks for reading my post and I am welcome to any suggestions you may have that I can bring up at the vet tomorrow morning.

I have Ocicats. Sounds to me like fluid in the lungs. Has the vet checked for any kind of heart problems? Have you contacted the breeder on what is going on and see what he/she has to say.

What did your breeder contract say regarding health. If other kittens in this litter are having the same problems, it sounds like something genetic going on. I don't know what else to suggest and hopefully they will get better soon, but be prepared for the worse.

Send me a private email on the cattery you got your kittens from. There are not a lot of Ocicat breeders and only a handful I would even recommend buying from. I'm aware of the good vs bad breeders!

Just a follow up. He was in the vet monday morning, yes-fluid filled lungs, this time worse than the last...while on baytril no less. But, bronchial inflammation was down. Weight up to 6.2 lbs. and still no fever. We ran a bunch of more tests. No bordatella, no FIP, no FIV, no FeLV, cbc looks good, electrolytes good too. Lasix inject was given, but he reacted to it with terrible diarrhea and really didnt get a good response. Tomorrow he sees a specialist and I believe will have an echo and ultrasound. Hoping for some answers and a treatment plan that can help him! Thanks to those who sent me messages. Will post further diagnosis and outcome in hopes to help any other who is fighting this issue.

Prayers going up for your little guy. It's so difficult to not know. Knowing can be hard, but wondering what is going on is debilitating.

I listened to your video and that does sound serious. It sounds like you are doing everything you possibly can for your boy. I am sorry he is so sick and my prayers go out for you and Lenny. Please keep us posted. Good luck tomorrow at the specialist.

Good luck to you and Lenny tomorrow.

Basically, I'm told he is in very good health. Echo was normal, lungs are normal...not deformed. all other organs look great, throat examined...good. reviewing all the prior work up, they now think he was hit with a virus at a young age and his immune system has just not been able to work it out. Dr feels the chronic inflammation in bronchial lobes without healing are causing the fluids to back up. We are going to treat the inflammation with steroids w/baytril to keep infection down and follow up tuesday for a recheck and start an anti viral on him.

Praying this one works!
Im exhausted...and broke.

So I posted a couple pm's....since then, I received f/u call from my vet this morning. She basically said, steroid did its job but will not take care of the real issue here. I brought up the vaccine issue....three kittens received vaccines (RCP) and all three are suffering from this issue I have posted about. This is new info last week. Ten kitties from two litters and 3 are ill. Squiggy was the last remaining boy from my litter and was "placed" with the younger guys after I took my tabby boy. Other two remain with the breeder.

She requested we do not watch and wait...but start anti-virals with double antibiotics (both upper and lower RI) to ward off all issues and hopefully shut down what is going on with him.

I'm nervous but my prior "conservative" approach hasn't worked well for us.

Any thoughts?

I had something like that happen with one of my pet rats... She had pneumonia and would improve for a while and then she would get worse again, while still on the meds. We kept trying different antibiotics, and eventually my vet recommended getting a nebulizer and we used that to deliver meds directly to the lungs. I have two sick cats now with some type of respiratory infection and they are getting nebulizer treatments too (my vet suggested it since I already have a nebulizer from the rat), so that may be something to look into.

Sorry to hear this. Sometimes those infections are tough to kick. Be sure to ask for a probiotic since you're going to be doubling up on the antibiotics. Keep us posted, too!

I am so upset and confused. I just dont know what to do anymore. We are on day three of the anti-viral with Doxycycline. He is still coughing, sneezing and making those horrible throaty noises. I do believe the lungs sound good, compared to before steriods, but this just is not right. I haven't a clue what to do anymore. He is on L-lysnine 250 mg a day. Nothing else right now. Should I consider asking to go back to the Prednisolone? Also, I am noticing his coat is getting greasy, but he and his brother are grooming him. I tried to upload a photo, not sure its going to attach. Anybody know what to do next?
Attachment 15311

Poor kitty! It's so sad you are going through this. I know you said you think your vet is good, but at this point, maybe you want to consider a second opinion? When my vet can't solve a problem with my cats, he sends me to a specialist. But I know that is not possible everywhere.

I really hope you get some answers soon, and some results.

Lots of to you and for your adorable little cat.


Robin

Unfortunately, we have seen a specialist. This is the course they are recommending. My vet has been so diligent, compassionate and assertive to his care. We speak twice a week, and he is seen every week for follow ups. All conventional medicine is not resolving this problem. Maybe I need to seek out a holistic vet for another opinion. We have been chronically ill for almost 4 months.

You should consider taking this to a veterinary school. Cornell and Tufts are excellent. Guessing and checking with different medications for a cure is not going to be effective until you know what is causing the problem. Diagnostics are the key.

Thank you and you are right. Since Tufts is closer, I am going to reach out to them this morning. Cornell is about 5 hours from me, but maybe they would offer a records review if Tufts doesn't work out. I also contacted Dr. Marcie Fallek, who is based out of NYC but treats in CT also and she advised she could speak with me over the phone on Thursday. Has anyone used her services before?

Has there been any type of culture and sensitivity tests done on any drainage and/or mucous discharge? If not, I'd request that pronto. The culture will tell your vet what type of infection you're dealing with and the sensitivity test will tell which antibiotic will most effectively treat it.

We went through an almost year long battle with an URI with Hannah several years ago. Come to find out she had a secondary psuedomonas infection that wasn't responding to the meds. She'd get better, then 2 weeks later, she was sick again. (This was almost a year after we'd gotten her and she had a severe URI and pneumonia that took us almost 6 weeks to get rid of.) Finally a cat vet recommended the culture and sensitivity test. We did 2 rounds of antibiotics, testing after each round, and finally got the numbers in the normal range. She's been healthy ever since.

A year? Oh my! I do not know what a sensitivity test is, but know he has received a throat culture and trans-tracheal wash (lung culture), both came up negative for pathogens.

I contacted Tufts, but have not received a return call today.

I spoke with my vet today and she feels he should be responding at this point. We are going to give it a couple more days to see if there is a change. She would love to have a teaching hospital get involved, but unfortunately reports that for most instances, they will not take her work up info, but require I pay to have everything repeated with their facility for a work up. But, we are going to try and see if one will allow a review. I cannot afford to repeat all of this work blindly without something to go on.

Finally, she advised we can look into another feline specialty vet who may go over the work up and coordinate further care for him. She is more than open to the idea and will share his entire file and diagnostics. She is sending a fax to the breeder vet today to see if they have any opinion too. Only diagnostic left for him is an endoscopy.

Not so good news I guess.

Sending prayers for your precious cat. I do hope you can find something that works.

. I brought up the vaccine issue....three kittens received vaccines (RCP) and all three are suffering from this issue I have posted about. This is new info last week.









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ok, no news from Tufts, they are out. Spoke with Cornell yesterday and they offer a records review and phone consult. Also mentioned area doc affiliated with their health center. So I have decided to set up an appt with the feline specialist affiliated with Cornell Feline Health Center, She is about a 45 min drive and is willing to utilize all the diagnostics done to date. Also...I discontinued the Doxycycline last night based on his behavior and he is alert and up again. Plus, he had horrible loose stools all afternoon yesterday. Today, although ill with URI issues (nose and throat congestion), he is acting happy and playful and alert, unlike the last three days. I am going to continue the anti-viral and L-lysine until his appt and we decided to return to clavamox should secondary issues start up in the meantime. Appt, Monday the 4th. And...Lenny is scheduled to get fixed. Home care, lots of steam, love and hope for no declines or new issues in the next week pending his appt.