Multiple Issues

brandy-neka

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Okay I have a sbt Savannah kitty that was born on March 11th, 2011. I got her from her breeder on August 30th, 2011. She's female. She's been Spayed. Her name is Neka.

Things to keep in mind before reading this:
A) I have taken her to the vet multiple times (like 4 times), plus the emergency vet once (maybe too over protective there...).
B) She's still eating.
C) She's still drinking.
D) She's still using the litter box.
E) She's still playing and active.
F) From what her vet's say she has healthy breathing sounds... healthy lungs and heart from what they can hear.
G) She still purrs and seems content and happy. (I do know that purring can be for pleasure and pain though...)


Okay when I got Neka, I live in South Dakota and her breeder was in Oklahoma so she needed a plane ride to get here... I think that's possibly where she could have picked this up.

I do know she's gotten all the shots she's supposed to get including that Rhino one.

- Since I've had her she's been sneezing frequently and had eye discharge. Usually clear but sometimes green and sometimes brown. For this the vet ended up putting her on Viralys which is for the feline herpes virus... doesn't seem to be helping entirely but she does sneeze less at times I suppose. Thankfully from looking it up Viralys doesn't seem to have any known side effects so at least giving it to her even if it's not needed won't hurt her either.


- Second symptom is she's doing this thing sometimes where she looks like she's coughing or trying to cough up a hair ball but a hair ball never appears. From looking it up both with the internet and youtube I have come to four conclusions of what it could be. Coughing, Feline Asthma, a reverse sneeze, or trying to cough up a hair ball. With the coughing theory she never actually makes a coughing noise, it's more like a huffing sound. With the feline asthma which she has the symptoms for (elongating her neck and puffing up her belly) her vet tells me that's likely not it because she would do it for long than she does (she doesn't do it for very long at all) and she would likely have other breathing issues. The reverse sneeze is plausible. The hair ball is unlikely both because she has very short hair and because if it was a hair ball it has been over a month since she started doing it and no hair ball has ever been produced. Whatever it is I want a name for it and I want it to stop.


-The third one is just within the last week or so and I'm not sure if it's an issue or not. At times it's like she's bloated, I looked it up and it's very bad for cats, dogs, and birds. Her tummy is hard at times and like I said she just looks bloated. But she's not off her food and still using the litter box. Then the next day she's fine again and it's like back and forth at times. It was with one of those times that I took her to the emergency vet because she was bloated looking and right when I got home from work she was doing her huffing/coughing thing (the issue above this one) and I was like what in the world now! Pretty much she was fine and I spent $85 dollars on being talked to. I at least know it's not fluid in the abdomen but why now is she going back and forth between being bloated looking and being normal looking? I'm so confused.


-Fourth one which so far seems to be a non-issue is at times she looks like she hiccups. Like a raise in her chest area but it only happens once or twice and then doesn't happen again. I don't know if that's an issue or not.



Essentially I am just an over protective cat mom. I want to figure out what these issues are for my pet. I have taken her to her normal vet multiple times on top of that emergency vet call that essentially told me nothing.

On the plus side I do know that I should only take her in now if she's - not eating/drinking, not using the litter box, is lethargic, if her gums are pale or her lips are blue, if she has a lot of green discharge, vomiting, diarrhea, or seems like she has a bladder infection. That type of stuff. Anyway I am thinking good and hopefully someone here can tell me what's going on with my kitty? I'll
you if you can give me some good suggestions.

Btw, yes I do know she could have had this at the breeders and they just didn't tell me, but I don't think so... She came to me very loving and seemed very well cared for so hopefully she just got this stuff on the plane...

Oh and extra information in case it helps. She does sometimes have a thing with chewing on carpet. The carpet is not the long strands, more of the little tiny ones that come apart alone. Usually she spits it out after she chews on it but who knows if she swallowed a few. I have informed her vet of this... as long as it wasn't the long strands he didn't seem overly concerned...
 

rewboss

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If the bloated belly appears just after she's eaten, that's likely just because she's eaten a lot. She's still very young and still growing (I'm surprised she's already been spayed, actually), and I'm guessing she's wolfing her food down until she can eat no more. Ours used to look like footballs with legs after a good meal, when they would stagger off to bed and sleep it off.

I'm not sure this is the healthiest way for a cat to feed, although it didn't seem to give ours any problem. With kittens, the usual advice is "as much as they want, when they want it", but perhaps smaller meals more often won't hurt.

Incidentally, you can usually tell if a cat is purring in pain or pleasure. A cat in pain will typically be withdrawn and/or aggressive; a cat doing lots of cute kitty things while purring is probably not in pain.
 
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brandy-neka

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Originally Posted by rewboss

If the bloated belly appears just after she's eaten, that's likely just because she's eaten a lot. She's still very young and still growing (I'm surprised she's already been spayed, actually), and I'm guessing she's wolfing her food down until she can eat no more. Ours used to look like footballs with legs after a good meal, when they would stagger off to bed and sleep it off.

I'm not sure this is the healthiest way for a cat to feed, although it didn't seem to give ours any problem. With kittens, the usual advice is "as much as they want, when they want it", but perhaps smaller meals more often won't hurt.

Incidentally, you can usually tell if a cat is purring in pain or pleasure. A cat in pain will typically be withdrawn and/or aggressive; a cat doing lots of cute kitty things while purring is probably not in pain.
I would except that theory except for one thing. My cat does do that, eat about all of her food at once and very fast. Only thing is I feed her twice a day, two fairly large meals. Once at 2:30pm and once at about 2am. I work nights (I work four days a week, and so I'm home completely 3 days). She eats almost all of her food right when it's put in her bowl around 2:30 to 4:00 pm and then i get home at about 1:30am and she still looks bloated then... So... she would have pooped between those times and I know from checking her litter box that she had. Also when I feed her at about 2am she eats and poops a little then as well. So...


Also yes, I know that when she purrs she is usually happy, it's usually when I'm playing with her or petting her. Or when she's kneading the blanket and about to go to sleep.
 

stacias

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There are a few things going on. If the belly didn't stay swollen or destended that sympton I would not fret to much over. I understand the oveer protectiveness. I have been there and my husband is still in that state. I would get that cough checked out though. That is a little concerning.
 

cat person

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Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

Okay I have a sbt Savannah kitty that was born on March 11th, 2011. I got her from her breeder on August 30th, 2011. She's female. She's been Spayed. Her name is Neka.

Things to keep in mind before reading this:
A) I have taken her to the vet multiple times (like 4 times), plus the emergency vet once (maybe too over protective there...).
B) She's still eating.
C) She's still drinking.
D) She's still using the litter box.
E) She's still playing and active.
F) From what her vet's say she has healthy breathing sounds... healthy lungs and heart from what they can hear.
G) She still purrs and seems content and happy. (I do know that purring can be for pleasure and pain though...)


Okay when I got Neka, I live in South Dakota and her breeder was in Oklahoma so she needed a plane ride to get here... I think that's possibly where she could have picked this up.
You are having the same issue with your Savannah as I did with mine. As a veterinarian technician, cat owner, working in shelters, and so on, I figured my Savannah would be fine. Boy was that a mistake.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

I do know she's gotten all the shots she's supposed to get including that Rhino one.
Make sure she gets that one please.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

- Since I've had her she's been sneezing frequently and had eye discharge. Usually clear but sometimes green and sometimes brown. For this the vet ended up putting her on Viralys which is for the feline herpes virus... doesn't seem to be helping entirely but she does sneeze less at times I suppose. Thankfully from looking it up Viralys doesn't seem to have any known side effects so at least giving it to her even if it's not needed won't hurt her either.
That is from a secondary infection forming from the Feline Calicivirus/"feline cold". Please take her to the veterinarian ASAP before it gets worse. I learned this the hard way.

It took three different antibiotics to get my Savannahs infection under control. The veterinarian tried Clavamox twice a day for a week, it helped but not a lot. Then we tried Baytril, that seemed to work until the medicine stoped. Then I was back to square one. Even after using it twice a day for two weeks. Then we tried Doxycycline, I call that the "wonder drug"
. After giving it twice a day for two weeks it got rid of the infection. This was almost a year ago and he is still fine.


Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

- Second symptom is she's doing this thing sometimes where she looks like she's coughing or trying to cough up a hair ball but a hair ball never appears. From looking it up both with the internet and youtube I have come to four conclusions of what it could be. Coughing, Feline Asthma, a reverse sneeze, or trying to cough up a hair ball. With the coughing theory she never actually makes a coughing noise, it's more like a huffing sound. With the feline asthma which she has the symptoms for (elongating her neck and puffing up her belly) her vet tells me that's likely not it because she would do it for long than she does (she doesn't do it for very long at all) and she would likely have other breathing issues. The reverse sneeze is plausible. The hair ball is unlikely both because she has very short hair and because if it was a hair ball it has been over a month since she started doing it and no hair ball has ever been produced. Whatever it is I want a name for it and I want it to stop.
I found that to be the most perplexing symptom of all. I am sure this has to do with the virus and the secondary infection. Since once the infection was cleared and L-Lysine was given that symptom stopped.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

-The third one is just within the last week or so and I'm not sure if it's an issue or not. At times it's like she's bloated, I looked it up and it's very bad for cats, dogs, and birds. Her tummy is hard at times and like I said she just looks bloated. But she's not off her food and still using the litter box. Then the next day she's fine again and it's like back and forth at times. It was with one of those times that I took her to the emergency vet because she was bloated looking and right when I got home from work she was doing her huffing/coughing thing (the issue above this one) and I was like what in the world now! Pretty much she was fine and I spent $85 dollars on being talked to. I at least know it's not fluid in the abdomen but why now is she going back and forth between being bloated looking and being normal looking? I'm so confused.
I can say when my Savannah was younger he got bloated after eating. That was because he ate so fast and so often. He outgrew that at around six months old.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

-Fourth one which so far seems to be a non-issue is at times she looks like she hiccups. Like a raise in her chest area but it only happens once or twice and then doesn't happen again. I don't know if that's an issue or not.
If your cat is like mine that is from eating too fast. My cat still does this at about a year and three months old. I am just used to him doing it now
. But at first I found it to be a very strange issue.


Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

Essentially I am just an over protective cat mom. I want to figure out what these issues are for my pet. I have taken her to her normal vet multiple times on top of that emergency vet call that essentially told me nothing.
That is because in my experience I find veterinarians treat them as normal domestics. I do not find that to be the case. When they get sick they seem to crash and very quickly.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

On the plus side I do know that I should only take her in now if she's - not eating/drinking, not using the litter box, is lethargic, if her gums are pale or her lips are blue, if she has a lot of green discharge, vomiting, diarrhea, or seems like she has a bladder infection. That type of stuff. Anyway I am thinking good and hopefully someone here can tell me what's going on with my kitty? I'll
you if you can give me some good suggestions.
I hope my information helps you. Please bring her to a veterinarian you trust as soon as possible. Once you get her started on an antibiotic, give her L-Lysine twice a day for about a month. That should really help. I credit that and Doxycycline with saving my cats life.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

Btw, yes I do know she could have had this at the breeders and they just didn't tell me, but I don't think so... She came to me very loving and seemed very well cared for so hopefully she just got this stuff on the plane...
It could have come from the breeder or the plane. You will never know.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

Oh and extra information in case it helps. She does sometimes have a thing with chewing on carpet. The carpet is not the long strands, more of the little tiny ones that come apart alone. Usually she spits it out after she chews on it but who knows if she swallowed a few. I have informed her vet of this... as long as it wasn't the long strands he didn't seem overly concerned...
That is a Pica issue. Which means this breed/type of cat is prone to eating nonfood items. So you need to be very aware of what is in your cats environment and that they can and will eat anything. This gets better with age but never goes away.

Sorry for the book, hope it helps.
 

rewboss

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Originally Posted by Cat Person

If your cat is like mine that is from eating too fast. My cat still does this at about a year and three months old. I am just used to him doing it now
.
Yep. You haven't lived until you've seen and heard a cat hiccupping and belching as he rises, swaying, from his food dish and tries to look dignified.
 
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brandy-neka

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So Update:

Took Neka to vet today.

She checked out fine, although she has a small abrasion by her ear that I got some ointment for. Apparently she got stuck somewhere it looks like... Probably from sticking her head behind the fridge (don't ask long story).

Anyway other than that I'm now to get a stool sample for them from her to make sure that there are no worms.

If she comes back with worms we obviously treat those... if she comes back without worms we go to the Doxycycline - both from Cat Persons suggestion and from what my vet thinks.

So fingers crossed something works
 

cat person

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Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

So Update:

Took Neka to vet today.

She checked out fine, although she has a small abrasion by her ear that I got some ointment for. Apparently she got stuck somewhere it looks like... Probably from sticking her head behind the fridge (don't ask long story)
.

Come on, I love hearing those long stories
. Just as a side note, you learn how to cope with those "long stories". They never really go away.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

Anyway other than that I'm now to get a stool sample for them from her to make sure that there are no worms.

If she comes back with worms we obviously treat those... if she comes back without worms we go to the Doxycycline - both from Cat Persons suggestion and from what my vet thinks.

So fingers crossed something works
Please make sure once you have the Savannah on Doxycycline you start using the L-Lysine with it. I am also unclear as to why the veterinarian would not give you a wormer and Doxycycline
. Could you please explain the logic?

Hope your baby feels better soon. Remember the Savannah breed is not as "hardy" as pure domestic cats.
 

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One thing not mentioned - plain old allergies. I am not terribly far from you by western Canadian and States standards. With all the extra water this spring, and the late non-summer and still standing water, allergen counts are through the roof. Even now, there are plants blooming that should have been done a month ago, so bear this in mind next vet visit. I have sneezing cats too, sporadic, but cats that hever sneeze/
 
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