cat's drowning in drainage

my dear patch is drowning. it's all internal, can't see any nasal drip or eye discharge.

but inside his head it's a gurgle factory.

he struggles to inhale.

each breath is a lifetime.

i hope i can save him.

it's been going on for months.

it's worse and worse.

i don't know how much time i have left.

he's a scrappy rescue cat but he's wearing out from this, constant, chore to breathe.

in the seven years i've had him he's had bouts of this. but i'm afraid this one won't end until he dies from it.

herpes?

or would that mean nasal and eye discharge? 

i've got limited time, limited money. and many others to take care of.

should i express order some powdered lysine and get that into him? i have read it takes weeks but can help immediately.

i bought some gel from the vet, lysine gel, but i can't say he's actually ingested any. he didn't like it so i wiped it on his toe-tops for a few days.

or should i do this idexx upper respiratory disease scan someone mentioned? have no idea what it costs.  to better diagnose the problem.

he's really struggling, i need to know where to focus my efforts.

i took him to the vet early on and she said other than the congestion he seemed healthy.

but the gurgling, struggling has become much worse.

i'm grateful his appetite has remained good. it would have to, all the energy he uses to breathe.

but i sense he's declining. 

also, he has been fighting diarrhea and i've found that the drug metronidazole (flagyl) helps this. i believe it is an antibiotic.

is there any correlation between the diarrhea and the congestion?

is one thing racking his body?

i can't say the congestion has responded to the diarrhea antibiotic but i plan to put him back on this med this weekend, as tomorrow is payday and i can afford some of the pills. 

so...

should i express order some lysine powder? 

or, focus on getting the diagnosis with a blood scan?

or?

please forgive that i won't have much time to tend this post.

but maybe you have a one-shot thought.

i'll hope to update this post soon.

Have you actually had him to a vet recently? I'm sorry to sound harsh but if your little one is struggling with every breath then he is suffering badly. You need to get him to a vet NOW or he will die in pain. Please, for his sake do as I ask as it's not fair to have him suffering the way he is!

I agree. If it's as bad as you describe, then the poor guy needs to be seen by a vet ASAP.

Have your vet do a culture and sensitivity test on the drainage!  Sounds like there's a secondary infection going on.  The culture will tell them what kind of infection it is and the sensitivity test will tell them which medication will best clear it up.  Also, have the vet do a fecal test for worms as well as other parasites.

Do you run a vaporizer for him or steam him in the bathroom?  That might help expel some of the snot. 

Thank you all for your thoughts. 

Three weeks later he still struggles to breathe. We cleared up the diarrhea with metronidazole (flagyl).

I suspect his malady is the herpes virus.

I bought some l-lysine gel at the vet (supposed to suppress herpes cold symptoms), and I was told he would naturally love the taste.

"My mom uses it for her cats," one of the women in the vet's office said. "All she has to do is snap the cap open and the cats come running."

Alas, that wasn't so in my case. Patch wasn't at all interested, didn't even seem to notice when I dabbed some on his paw-tops.

There went $28.

So I ordered some l-lysine capsules on line and have been giving him the powder, mixed in baby food (turkey or beef).

So far I can't tell much improvement.

However, I did buy a vaporizer and, to my surprise, that does seem to help him quite a bit.

His breathing is still a struggle but no longer sounds like a buzz-saw on metal.

So I second the opinion that a vaporizer can help a congested cat.

It cost only $13 at a local store and uses ultrasound, not heat. You can see the mist coming out of it.

I put it right next to his spot and after 30 suspicious seconds he ignored it, and now the vapor rises from the device and falls upon him.

Hardest thing is having to refill it three times a day.

But it has done him so good that I'm glad to do it.

I probably said he has been sick for months. I guess his immune system can't stifle this bout.

I also have started giving him Immunostim'r (you can google it if you're interested) in hopes of building his immunity.

I'm grateful that he continues to eat well enough. Mostly I feed him shredded chicken, but also shredded cheese, tuna and canned cat food when he'll eat it.

I'm afraid he's going to be plagued by this condition until he dies. If it were me I feel I would have given up long ago.

He is a fighter. I took him in from the nearby woods when I moved to a new apartment. He was skinny as a rail. Declawed before someone dumped him. Bravo, world.

He learned to live on bugs. He still is quick to investigate any small bit of whatever he sees -- to see if it might be a bug he could eat. Though I don't believe he's actually eaten bugs since I've had him.

Much.

What did the vet say about the breathing?  Something serious is going on.  You can seen congestion in the lungs with things like FIP and other diseases.  Sometimes in feline asthma.  I am glad to hear the vaporizer helps with some of the breathing.  If your vet didn't say anything about the breathing I would encourage you to find a different vet, something quite serious is going on with your kitty.

It's possible that he has a secondary infection going on.  I'd definitely get a second opinion due to the breathing issue.

Is he FIV FELV negative?

It is time for a vet visit. What you are doing is not enough!  You need to get to the bottom of this and soon. It would be a shame to lose your cat over a  $100 vet visit.

The lysine does NOT heal the cat. It is used for keeping the virus at bay and preventing flare-ups.

When my cats had flare ups, with heavy breathing, snorring, nose discharge and gunk in eyes they had antibiotics, nose drops, eyes drops and ointments, sub q fluids.

I understand your cat doesn't have discharges, but he must be seen by a vet for proper treatment.

Has the vet ruled out other factors that could cause gurgling such as polyps etc...?

I saw another post by you showing a picture of seething your cat threw up...larva, hairball, something. There are parasites that migrate to cats lungs so please get your cat to a vet and find out what is going on.

thank you all, so very much. i get a lot from your replies my best guess is he has herpes. possibly fiv or felv. i've had him for years and he would get horrible colds but then recover. this time he can't recover. i've seen felv and it was more drastic than this. i've seen fiv and there were mouth sores and other things i've not seen in patch. so, presuming herpes, we have tried l-lysine, benadryl (1/4 adult tablet), taurine (powder in baby food), duramycin (tetracyline powder, 1/4 tsp, in baby food) but it's been a steady decline. he is a strong cat who can't beat the disease. his loud breathing has quieted, but i think it's not in a good way. i'm giving him all the comfort i can and am glad the Lord standeth ready to take over when necessary. soon i expect. i believe in euthanasia but the question is always when.he's very uncomfortable now, hour by hour. it's hard to watch him. but he still has an appetite. i guess when he stops eating.

I'm sorry but TAKE HIM TO A VET NOW! He sounds like he's suffering, poor thing! What you're doing is great, but it's not enough. Please don't rely on "the Lord" to heal him. He needs medical intervention!

If he has a serious flare of herpes virus then L-Lysine is NOT going to help him. I agree with the other comments that you need to get your cat to a vet as soon as possible. It could be that he needs something much stronger to knock back the herpes or whatever it is that he dealing with. At the very least you will hopefully get a diagnosis of the exact cause of his current suffering, and be given something that can make him more comfortable white awaiting test results or if it is determined that treatment is not an option. Please don't delay any further. Take your cat to the vet.

The cat has been to the vet. I'm still looking for enlightened ideas about how to help it.

You've received a lot of good information here.  I really would suggest (again) you ask the vet to do a culture & sensitivity test on the nasal drainage.  You could also ask for a PCR URD test to see if you're dealing with herpes or one of the other upper respiratory diseases it tests for.  You can read more about the URD test at this website:  http://www.idexx.com//view/xhtml/en...menu/innovative-tests/real-pcr.jsf?SSOTOKEN=0  

crier said:

 
The cat has been to the vet. I'm still looking for enlightened ideas about how to help it.

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you say he's been to a vet but you say you're GUESSING he may have FELV

if he went to a competent vet there would be NOTHING to guess about

he either has it or not

take him to another vet

My tabby was just like yours. She would wheeze and gurgle. She always had a drop of water hanging from her nose.

I assumed allergies, changed her food and stopped giving her table scraps. Now she breaths normally and her stool firmed up.

I have a cat who has chronic respiratory infections at the advice of a specialist we sedated him and flushed out his sinuses, it took 2 liters of fluid to get everything out he had so much crap up his nose.  He is now on Zithromycin long term (2-3 months) he got it for 5 days and then every 3 days now for 2-3 months.  He is doing so much better.  He was so congested and couldn't breath we couldn't even do an ultrasound on him as he was struggling to breath during the procedure.   He needed the ultrasound for his heart.  I would find a different vet if yours doesn't seem to know how to treat your kitty.  Your kitty sounds very very sick.

I hope your kitty is doing better. I too would try a different vet if at all possible.

crier said:

 
The cat has been to the vet. I'm still looking for enlightened ideas about how to help it.

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You need to get a second opinion if your vet isn't solving the problem, and l would say a second opinion is now urgent from the sound of things

You've had excellent advice from the members,  but you have to remember that no one here is an expert.

Please don't guess what could be wrong,  because your cat sounds like he's suffering