A Catch 22, cat's immune system - IBD & URIs

It's about SQ my cat whose never been a "healthy cat" the entire year I've had her. Her health has been up and down  - due to a too high or too low immune system. 

I got her a year ago, in a shelter she was in for 4 years - they later told me she's always been up and down healthwise the 4 years they've had her. She is almost 7, a senior cat, and I wonder if they brought her to the shelter because of her health to begin with 5 years ago.... In the past 14 months she's been to 3 vets, a total of 9 times. They've given me 4 dx'ed for her health conditions:

- IBD, inflamatory bowl disease for the stomach symptoms

- Asthma, for the breathing attacks

- Allergies,

- Upper Respiratory Viruses, both for sneezing/coughing

The problem is: if I treat the IBD and asthma with steroid shots at the vet, the UR infections get worse, since steroids lower the immune system.

Basically she has a bad immune system - it's either too high or two low.

She doesn't have FIV or Feline Leukemia. Her bloodwork/exam/weight/temp all normal. But still the sneezing, coughing, vomiting, and diarrhea - or some combination of them.

This bothers me as I hate seeing her be sick. I don't think she's suffering really - just being sick almost all the time. She gets better/then worse.... My fiance is like "just deal with it, she's fine just sneezing every 5 minutes, why worry? You'll probably get another few years out of her and you can't help her really the vet said".

I'm like - but what is her quality of life? Right now I'd say its about 60% so I'm watching. I just want her better and it's never going to happen. 

I'm getting both sides of the story. Some people say to just put her down, she's a sick cat. Other say it's not fair to her to be put down if she's only sick not dying. Others say it's not fair to let her suffer. I'm on the fence. I hate watching this though. I wish the vets could give me an answer and fix her. They don't.

This is frustrating, depressing, and anxiety provoking. I wish something would change, I can't keep doing this for a few more years.

I don't want a sick cat, but I love SQ.

So what would you do? Any helpful advice is very welcome, thanks in advance. I can't afford to keep taking her to the vet - I'm contemplating air purifiers, grain free pet food, L lysine, and low stress. BUT I don't know if I can afford all that long term, I'm on a fixed income. I can't afford to keep taking her to the vet all these times either. 

I just want a well cat - it's not going to be SQ though apparently  

I love her so much...but it's come to my attention that with all the $$$ I spent on vets I could have taken care of like a dozen well cats. Not that it's her fault, she's just a sick cat...  but I happen to be on SSI  which is a fixed income from a bad back problem.... What would you do? Thank you for any helpful advice. 

Hello and to you for taking this poor girl in and doing so much for her.

I would definitely go with L lysine as a first step. It does sound as though she'd benefit from it a lot. I'm not sure on the dosage, but I believe it is 250mg twice a day as maintenance. Grain free foods do not have to be expensive, but you should keep her on wet food if your not already. Fancy Feast classics (emphasis on classics) are grain free. Here is a good site to check out on IBD in cats http://www.ibdkitties.net/index.html. It also has a food list.

I've started her on L lysine... She seems to be the same, better then worse then better. She is still having the stomach symptoms. She doesn't really play much anymore. She's been sick (with a variety of things - see above) since I've gotten her but this most recent episode for about a month.... She coughs/sneezes about once an hour (sometimes sneezing attacks) which they say it is allergies. The vomitting is about the same - every other day - and her diarrhea is better. 

The vets won't even return my phone calls now. Apparently they've given up on this cat, and it's health and well-being poor little girl. I'm debating what else I really can do besides special food, L lysine, and time. She's a senior almost now, this isn't going to get better and very well might get worse. I might have to eventually put her down because of it. This is so hard.... it's heartbreaking. I love her so much. 

For me personally if a vet didn't return my call or if someone in the office didn't talk to the vet and return my call I would be looking for another vet.  My kitty has IBD but he doesn't have the upper respiratory problems.  I did the vet hopping thing for six years before I found one that could help my kitty.  I think sometimes you have better luck with a cat's only vet.  That's no guarantee though.  I went through one cats only vet when I was trying to find answers.  The vet I take my kitties to now is cat's only.

I'm not going back to that vet - don't get me wrong..., it just seems like every vet I take her to are like "she's healthy". So I'm like 'why does she do ... this, this, and this"? And they either have no answer or look at me like I'm lying because they can't find anything in the tests....  There are only so many vets here in my area, and there are no Cat's Only vets unfortunately, they all are general small animal. I'm kind of at the end of my rope here -  I could take my uncle up on his offer to take her - but what if the URI's are contagious? He has 4 other cats, I don't want to give him another headache either. This is my cat, my problem. Or I could take my parents up on their offer to take her to their vet about 6 hours away from here. But that would stress her out too - the trip. So I don't know what to do.  I don't know if there is much I can do really, being in a rural area. 

IBD won't show up on lab tests which is part of what makes it so frustrating.  Has she been checked for the herpes virus?  That can be done when it is active.  If she doesn't have that and it is all allergies then the treatment as far as the immune system goes would be the same for both the allergies and IBD.   I would definitely try a grain free diets.  Many cats have allergies and/or an intolerance of grains.  It's a healthier diet even if it doesn't help the problems that she has.  You might want to consider a cooked or raw diet, it actually is cheaper than most of the better quality grain free foods.

Thank you, she got over it, again, for now. I'm glad she's acting healthy but from past experience I'm not holding my breath. She's such a sweet cat it's sad to see her this sick. I'm feeding her Fancy Feast Classics, and want to transition her dry food to something grain free as well. The steroid shot helped the IBD/Asthma - but made the allergies? / URI? worse. So I'm trying to transition to a grain free diet and keep her on L lysine. She hasn't been tested for the herpes virus but if (and when) she gets sick again I will definitely ask my old vet (they were more helpful than the new one, at least they returned my calls ). 

But with starting to put her on wet/dry grain free food and L lysine, she's acting like her normal siamese mix self Thank God again. She's only about 7. And she loves to run around meowing - that's her thing, the trill... lol. Thank you everyone who responded