Please Help Me

Originally Posted by OwnerOperator

I'm going to call around to different vets today.

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Keep us updated!

Originally Posted by Rosiemac

Keep us updated!

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Right now she is making a humming noise when she exhales - and she keeps licking her lips. I'm beginning to see a bit of panic in her eyes, which is really worrying me. The fir under her cheeks and below her neck looks greasy. And she has a dried drip under her left eye. I'm mentioning whatever I can in hopes somebody will recognize a pattern.

Licking their lips is when their either going to be sick or ready to hack a furball up?.

Does she get many furballs?. It sounds like it could be a URI as well?.

Can you ring your vet with an update to see what they say?

The more l think about it Jack made a humming noise as well

I don't know if finances are a big concern here. . .but if not, try to find a fully-equipped animal hospital that can admit her for in-patient treatment. They can give her IV or sub-q fliuds, tube feed her, and put her in an oxygen tent if she has trouble breathing. This is better than anything you can do at home. It seems that vets rarely mention this option--I don't know why--but it is available. If you can't afford this or don't want to admit her, be pushy with the vet as to what you can do to help her. Make it clear that you're not just going to sit around twiddling your thumbs--you want to help!

Did the vet give her any antibiotics? Usually the first things vets do for a cat with unknown illness is an antibiotic shot and a steriod shot. Together, those drugs can really perk up a cat, and most of the common illnesses are taken care of.

I hope she feels better soon!

Originally Posted by Willowy

I don't know if finances are a big concern here. . .but if not, try to find a fully-equipped animal hospital that can admit her for in-patient treatment. They can give her IV or sub-q fliuds, tube feed her, and put her in an oxygen tent if she has trouble breathing. This is better than anything you can do at home. It seems that vets rarely mention this option--I don't know why--but it is available. If you can't afford this or don't want to admit her, be pushy with the vet as to what you can do to help her. Make it clear that you're not just going to sit around twiddling your thumbs--you want to help!

Did the vet give her any antibiotics? Usually the first things vets do for a cat with unknown illness is an antibiotic shot and a steriod shot. Together, those drugs can really perk up a cat, and most of the common illnesses are taken care of.

I hope she feels better soon!

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It really sounds as if she's having some type of respiratory stress. This could be an infection (upper respiratory infection) OR heart problems.

Either way, she needs hydration and proper nourishment, and given you describe panic in her eyes and the humming while breathing, an oxygen tent may be in order.

Personally, if you have a yellow pages (does anyone anymore?) I'd look for the best equipped hospital you can get to. It doesn't mean they have more competent doctors, but it does mean they have more diagnostic tools at their disposal.

Vibes for you and your baby!

I would definitely take this kitty for a second opinion today. If there are any cat specialists in the area try that. They are usually a bit more expensive but it's worth it. If there are no cat specialists try checking Yelp or other sites for user reviews to find a good vet.
In my opinion your vet should have done more testing off the bat. This cat should have a full blood work up - a CBC and a chemistry panel, aka a "chem". Was a urine test or fecal test done? Has she gotten any sub-q or IV fluids? If not I would get that and ask the vet to send you home with a bag of lactated ringers solution and the other required things so that you can give fluids at home. You can't get enough fluids in her by squirting it in her mouth with a syringe. Dehydration and lack of nutrition is adding to her weakness.

The main thing that has to be done though is to get a diagnosis and for that more tests have to be done. Like someone mentioned, taking her to a fully equipped animal hospital is a good idea. I would do this today.

You and your baby girl are in my thoughts. Hugs

Just checking in to see what's happening. Hope Sonya is doing better, maybe in the kitty hospital by now and that's why no postings?

I've jumped in my phone to check as well. I hope she's ok

Hi everyone,

I just got back from the vet with Sonya. She has a temperature and she has a mystery virus. I'm guessing that the virus wasn't far enough along to cause a temperature during the first vet visit.

The x-ray showed everything clear; no obstruction and no cancer. They want me to feed her by syringe 5 times a day and give her Clavamox every 12 hours. The Clavamox won't fight the virus, but it will fight a bacterial infection just in case she has one. Her immune system will be able to fight the virus easier if it doesn't have to deal with a bacterial infection too. They gave her an appetite pill and they also gave her a water bubble under her skin with an I.V. to help get her hydrated again.

She's resting right now, but pretty soon I'm going to give her some more food by syringe. I'm supposed to give her a 5.5 ounce can of Hills A/D each day. I don't know how I'm going to get a whole can in her each day, but I'm going to try my best. The vet technician showed me how to wrap Sonya up in a towel like a burrito. She made it look easy, but I'm going to need lots of practice.

You people have helped given me the courage to pull myself together and get Sonya back to the vet. The appreciation I feel is beyond words.

Glad to hear the vet helped out. I hope she recovers quickly.

As for feeding an entire can per day--if you do it 5 times a day, that's only about an ounce each time. 30ccs is an ounce. . .not too hard! Did they give you a larger feeding syringe? That makes it a lot easier.

Be sure to keep tempting her to eat on her own. Find all kinds of tasty things. . .chicken baby food, smelly flavors of Fancy Feast, maybe a bit of canned salmon, etc. It seems like cats get themselves in a rut of not eating and it's hard to start them up again.

I'm so glad you know what you're facing now!

A few tips on syringe feeding. It sounded like you were trying to draw the a/d into the syringe. Don't bother. Load it with a spoon from the top. It takes a little work, but once you've got the hang of it, it's a snap.

It sounds like your vet gave you 10ml syringes? You'd need to use three for each feeding. MUCH easier to load them all before starting!!! The syringes the vet gives you are a little difficult to work with - they usually don't have much of a "tip" to get into kitty's mouth. It's probably not worth ordering these for now, as she'll probably be eating on her own by the time they arrive. That said, they're great to have handy in case you ever need them again in the future. They're called Four Paws Easy Feeder. Just snip the ends off, and they are FAR superior to what the vet gives - easier to use, and MUCH easier to clean. (They're also 15ml syringes, so you could use just two at each feeding - or reduce the number of feedings, and feed her 3 syringes at each meal).

Our kitty takes to being syringe fed really well when he needs it, and we're very lucky that way. But most cats don't - and having a cat bag on hand makes it much simpler than trying to wrap the cat - which is a real art! So I don't know if this is something you want on hand, but just in case, it's called the Klaw Kontrol bag.

Carolina has a video on syringe feeding. She uses a product called the Cat Bag for her kitty, but recommends the Klaw Kontrol bag for most people (she's also the one that recommended the Four Paws Easy Feeder for syringing - and she was right. ).

When I syringe feed, I squirt about 1ml at a time into his cheek, between his teeth and his cheek. If you just squirt it on the tongue, they can toss it out pretty easily, even involuntarily LOL.

Of course... with an appetite pill, she may be willing to eat on her own. Try putting some of the a/d in a bowl for her, and touching a bit of food to her mouth. That may be all it takes. You can also heat it up a little in the microwave to increase the smell of it. You can also consider sprinkling some tuna juice on it. Or purchasing Fortiflora (I know, another trip back to the vet, if they carry it). It's a probiotic - and not a very good one - but it has a smell about it that most cats go crazy for. The only issue with the probiotic is that, like with people, you shouldn't feed the probiotic within a few hours either side of giving the antibiotic.

Thinking of you and your baby girl!

Oh - I'll go find Carolina's video.

Oh yes, chicken, beef, or ham babyfood can be a great help in sparking her interest to eat on her own!

Here's Carolina's thread with the video on syringe feeding: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ighlight=video

What a relief to read this update!!. I know Sonya's still poorly but she'll soon be better

Give her lots of scritches from all of us at TCS and many strong healthy for her to get well soon.

Have you got a picture you can put in Fur pics so we can see your little girl?

Glad to hear she's had another Vet visit and you've got another plan underway, but still wondering about this "mystery virus". What are their (the vet's) thoughts on that besides that she should be able to fight it off herself? The sub-q fluids they gave her should really help her feel better, and if need be, you can do those at home, along with force feeding. We do sub-q (fluid under the skin) on our kitty 3 times a week at home for his kidney disease.

As for offering her baby food, remember, only give her Stage One baby food...I don't think anyone mentioned that. But really, the A/D is probably the best thing for her at the moment...has extra calories and nutrients and is supposedly very tempting to cats, especially when warmed. My Sven took to it immediately when he wouldn't eat much else.

How's the "pilling" going? I find that to be the hardest of anything to do ! And how is she feeling today?

Hi everyone,

Sonya seems to be a little stronger today. She's able to jump on the couch if she wants to. I've been trying to improve on my kitty burrito technique. She doesn't like to be rolled up in the towel, so I have to try to wrap it around her as quickly as I can. I'm going to the pet store this evening and try to find a feeding syringe that works a little smoother. The vet provided syringes have a rubber seal on the plunger that can be sticky at times.

Is it OK to microwave the food directly? I've heard some people say that microwaves can destroy the vitamins in food. I wouldn't want to do that if it were true. I've found that 7 seconds is enough to take the chill off. The vet says that making the food slightly warm will make it more appetizing to cats.

I've heard that too, but we microwave our food LOL. I use 8 seconds.

Is your kitty burrito improving?? Glad you got a different vet to check, I know how worrying it can be. Re microwaving food, remember that food continues to get hot even when taken out of the microwave, so leave it for at least a minute after you remove it from the microwave.
please keep us updated x

Hi SueG,

Tonight, Sonya has been going to the kitchen and asking for some food. She's managed to eat some food on her own out of her regular food dish; although not near as much as she normally does when she's feeling normal. I'm going to have to keep feeding her by syringe in addition to whatever she's able to eat own her own until her appetite picks up some more. My burrito technique still needs work, but I'm managing to get at least 15cc in her at a time. She's also started to groom herself again which I'm hoping is a sign that she's regaining some of her strength.

I'm so pleased for both of you, I could cry, I'm such a softie ha ha. She seems to be recovering, asking for food and grooming are good signs. It may take a while for her to go back to eating normally so don't worry about that.
much love to you both