Vibes needed for tonight

My cat was fine this morning, played and ate his breakfast as normal. As I was preparing it for him, I noticed him messing about with something on the floor. It was a tiny piece of glass. I removed it at once. Last night I had broken a glass and although I thought that I had cleared it all up, I had clearly not.

At lunchtime he projectile vomited and after was quiet and withdrawn. He sometimes does this when he has a hair ball. He is a Turkish angora and although I groom him everyday he still gets them from time to time.

Later when I went to check on him again, I noticed with horror that he had a tiny amount of blood coming from his nose. My mind went to the glass on the floor. He was at the vets within ten minutes its just down the road from me and my kind neighbour gave us a lift.

The vet gave him antibiotics and something to stop nausea. He was very stressed while he was there so she said that she would not give him a general anisthetic or keep him in overnight as the stress would be too much. He is to go back first thing in the morning.

Since we returned home, he has not even come out of his carry bag. He sneezes from time to time - he gets hay fever at this time of year. He has not used his tray today. The vet said that he had a very full bladder. He has just slept.

I am sitting up with him until he goes to the vets again. I feel terrible that he is so ill and that its all my fault. He is my best friend and looked after me when my husband was away in afganistan.

He really needs everyone's vibes

Oh, so sorry to hear your cat is ailing. Did the vet think he had ingested some of the glass?  for your baby. No matter what we do, cats will get sick and get into things they should leave alone.  Hoping that he will be OK, and that the vet will find what is wrong.

Ahh I'm sure that was scary for you i'm so sorry! Sending positivity through the net to you!

Oh no! :heart2:

Please keep us posted!

...and I know you think the two events are related, but it seems so very unlikely to me that they are. If he'd ingested any of the glass (which there would be no reason for him to do so), it would be a problem elsewhere in his body, not his nose. More !!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone. He still has not come out of his carry bag. He is sleeping and snoring a little-not sure if that is good or not. The vet said that an x ray would not show up a little bit of glass. He looks so sorry and ill. Just have to wait the night out with him until he goes back to the vet in the morning.

He woke about twenty mins ago. My husband came down to see how he was doing and he purred for him. I went into the kitchen and ran the tap - that's his signal for meal time. Opened the fridge - another signal, not thinking for a moment that he would be interested and felt him rubbing around my legs!!!!

He has just licked his bowl clean of his turkey and is now sat looking out of the kitchen window waiting for the dawn chorus as he does every morning....

Just hope he keeps it down and uses his tray soon. My husband thinks its hair balls.

Thanks again for all your vibes, its been a long night and they have really helped. Will post what the vet says in the morn .

I think it's possible that the glass gave him a little cut in the nose that wasn't noticeable until he vomited/sneezed. So maybe glass cut and then a hairball?

Sending some vibes over...

Just got back from the vets now. He does not think that he has eaten glass as he ate a meal and has so far kept it down.

He thinks that he has perhaps got a hair all that made him sick, got stressed about it which in turn has brought out cat flu symptoms. He said that the virus although harmless can be passed on from the mother and lie dormant until he gets stressed.

He is asleep again now. Just wish he would use his litter tray.....

By cat flu, I assume you are talking about Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, caused by the Feline herpesvirus-1.  If this is correct, a daily dose of l-lysine will help him. It replaces one of the amino acids the virus uses to replicate.

Could you tell me more about l lysine please? The vet did not mention it. He just said cat flu which I assumed was the same virus that he has his annual boosters for.

He had an incident which was much more mild last November. He got stressed when my husband returned home after being away for so long. His parents had come to stay as well which must have stressed him. He did not eat his lunch and I noticed a green discharge around his eyes. He was at the vets within the hour and he said much the same thing. He was fine again by the evening. Until today I had forgotten about it as it was so minor. He is normally so fit and healthy, he glows with good health. People always comment on how great he looks.

An hour ago he left his carry bag and used his tray - a normal poop and wee but has refused to eat. He is back in his carry bag again sleeping. I can't bear to see him like this.

Oh thank goodness he peed. I was really worried about that when I saw he still hadn't!

It sure sounds like the stress has caused complications to what might have been a hairball.

Turks rule! said:

Could you tell me more about l lysine please? The vet did not mention it. He just said cat flu which I assumed was the same virus that he has his annual boosters for.
 

Click to expand...

Here are some threads about l-lysine (1099 of them!)    www.thecatsite.com/newsearch?search=l-lysine   

Like I said the l-lysine replaces an amino acid that the FHV needs to replicate. This results in fewer viable viruses in the sinuses, nose and trachea. The FHV has an affinity for the optic nerve and  can cause the eye to have to be removed, like Silly and Flowerbelle. A cat can be a carrier of FHV and not show any symptoms. The only sure method to diagnose it is to take a swab from the nose or throat, culture it and use the fluorescence method of assay.

A lot of cats have FHV and live normal lives.  Google FHV and you can research it yourself.  It is very interesting.

He has just eaten most of a 2.5oz portion of venison. He refused the turkey that I offered him first. It's about twenty hours since his last meal. Now he is back in his carry bag sleeping again. It's full of leaves and twigs that have got caught in there from when we take him to the woods for walks. Wish I could clean it out.... The carry bag has clearly become his sanctuary while he is feeling so ill.

It's going to be another long night.

Thanks for the info, will take a look at it now.

Well, I have done some research and it looks as if he does have FVR with this flare up being caused by the stress of trying to vomit up a hair ball. He is sneezing, but has no discharge from eyes or nose.

He got out of his carry bag this morning and ate a little breakfast. We also put him in the bathroom which we had got full of steam to try and help him a little. Poor kit is now back in his carry bag again sleeping, although I did manage to clean it while he was having his steam session.

I have never thought of him being a "stressy" cat. He loves being out and about in the car, buses, even the Paris metro. We had builders in the house for weeks and he didn't mind-he made friends with them and had a lovely time playing in the empty kitchen units. Then he vomits and it sets all this off...

I am a little annoyed that the vet was not more helpfull yesterday . Although he gave me an idea of what was wrong, there was no mention of how to manage this illness or even what to do about the hair ball!!!!

Once he gets through this, I need to tackle the hair ball problem and do more research on the lysine. At the moment I am finding conflicting advice ie its good if the virus effects the eyes but can make the flare ups worse if the eyes are not affected . It all seems very confusing and I think I will need to speak to the vet about it.

I see that diet plays a part, so at least we have that right as he eats a Franken pray raw diet. Just wish he could tell me when he feels stressed ....

Turks rule! said:

!

Once he gets through this, I need to tackle the hair ball problem and do more research on the lysine. At the moment I am finding conflicting advice ie its good if the virus effects the eyes but can make the flare ups worse if the eyes are not affected . It all seems very confusing and I think I will need to speak to the vet about it.
 

Click to expand...

I should have said that it affects the connection from the eyes to the sinus area. I know my Silly has less discharge (eye boogers) when she is getting the lysine. You are doing the right thing researching it for yourself. I have read that they are investigating a gel that helps the ocular part of the disease.

Glad to hear he ate. That's usually the turning point in my experience. As for hairballs, some of us on this site use egg yolk lecithin and also sometimes slippery elm bark for more natural hairball control. The lecithin helps break down the fat that binds hairballs together so that they can be passed easier. The SEB add some fiber which seems to help some cats. It also provides some anti-inflammatory coating of the digestive tract, so it's good for other things as well.

He has eaten again and finally come out of his carry bag!!!!!!

He ate kidneys, then about 40 mins later came into the kitchen on very unsteady legs (broke my heart to see ) and cried or rather croaked for more. He then almost ate a full portion of gizzards.

He has now gone upstairs for the first time and is sleeping under a radiator . What a relief, although he has not used his tray since yesterday . I will certainly take a good look at the hair ball remedies mentioned above. Don't think him or I can go through this again.

Both my little Frenchman and I would like to say a huge merci to all members who have helped us. We have felt really supported during this horrible time x