Worms + Feline Herpes + Chronic Cough + worse after deworming = ??

@MartyMcJackson, any new updates?

Just was wondering

@catwoman707  , thank you so much for checking in on our boy!  Mea culpa for the delay in posting an update.  My partner came down with shingles a week or so ago, so things have been a little overwhelming around here lately!

Jackson is doing okay for now.  As I suspected, the vet doesn't feel comfortable with dosing the Profender every two weeks, even after reviewing the safety data that you sent.  She is willing to prescribe it monthly, though, and she feels confident that eventually "we will win".  I am skeptical, but he does seem to gradually be getting better, so... fingers crossed.  His cough isn't gone, but it is down to about one spell in 24 hours on average, vs the 6-12 spells he would have in 24 hrs prior to starting the Profender.  His bloating is still pretty bad, though.  

I pushed this issue as hard as I could with the vet, as everything you have said in this thread makes total sense to me.  But this vet is already pushing the boundaries of her comfort zone for us given that she has never seen Jackson in person (she took over his case when our original vet left the practice and moved out of state), so we're having to tread kind of lightly just to ensure that we have a vet for him *at all*.  Getting a second opinion would be very difficult at this time b/c of the difficulty of getting him in for an office visit... and even if we were to utilize a vet who makes house-calls, Jackson would still have to be anesthetized in order to examine him, and honestly, that makes us very nervous even in an office medical setting, much less at our home, away from all the emergency medical supports of a full vet's office.

What I'm hoping is that over the next few months of Profender treatment on our current vet's terms, that Jackson will continue to progress with allowing us to handle him, thus making it more feasible to take him for a second opinion if needed.  Several days ago he allowed me to get both hands under him and scoop him up an inch or two off the ground, three times (!) in a row, which you can bet I rewarded immediately with his favorite treats.  I then pushed the envelope and tried for a fourth time (what was I thinking?), at which time he promptly smacked the crap out of me... lol... I deserved it!  So, thanks to my over-eagerness, this became a one step forward, two steps back situation... but we will get back to it as soon as he is comfortable again.

In the meantime, he is still eating well, playing well, having normal bowel movements, fur looks good, energy is good... he is okay enough, at least for now.  The vet did specify that if he were having dire symptoms, she might consider taking more drastic action.  Hopefully what she is willing to do for now will at least keep him from getting to that point... and maybe she is right that sooner or later we will "win" with the monthly dosing.  I certainly hope so!  But please know we are keeping your wisdom in our back pocket and will not hesitate to get a second opinion in the future if we can't get him well with this vet's assistance.  Thank you again!    

Thanks so much for the update, I watch for an email notifying me of one, so I was happy to read the latest news.

I completely understand where you are at this point, lets hope that she's correct, and in time, the profender will take care of his issue.

It still makes me uneasy, I must say, especially knowing that it helps, but at the 2 week mark he seems to go right back to the old signs all over again.

I've even thought to myself whether or not it may be more beneficial if you ordered some pyrantel (no prescription needed) and were to dose him every 2 weeks with that, which is what I do with my rescue cats and kittens. It's extremely mild and harmless, can't overdose a cat, and is given to very young/small kittens too.

It's a standard dewormer many vets use, but one that CAN easily be given every 2 weeks for as long as needed.

Anyway, just a thought, but let's just see how this profender does him, or not, but that might be the next step in getting this crap gone!!

Keep me posted!! Good to hear from you.

@MartyMcJackson,

How's things going?

Aw, @catwoman707, thank you for checking in again!  Jackson had his third monthly dose of Profender about two weeks ago, and it does seem like slowly but surely he is making progress.  He still does regress after a week to ten days following treatment, but the decline seems to be getting less steep with each dose.  He's now down to coughing only every few days, and his bloating does look noticeably better, although not gone.  The vet gave us six total doses for monthly use.  I'm really hopeful that things will be under control after that many!

In other news... I am now able to pick this little guy up and hold him for a good 10-15 seconds several times a day, sometimes longer!  I worked up to it slowly with him, starting by scooping him up off the ground an inch at a time.  By now he sometimes is comfortable enough to settle in with his paws over my shoulder, and sometimes also will look around with great interest to see things from that height.  So sweet! 

So... overall, good progress with our little guy! 

Aww that's wonderful news!!! Yay!

I still worry about the treatments, I think I'd be tempted to dose them every 3 weeks even......hmmmm, not that I should be here suggesting this but can't help myself..... haha

Maybe then another 3 doses might do the job, but the time in between is concerning, it's like they have time enough to ALMOST grow back all the way but maybe not quite, and at that rate it could take a year....
Anyway, at least for now he is slowly imporving, just hate to see it go back to the way it was if he doesn't get totally well.

I hear you.  The vet just isn't comfortable with dosing any more frequently than every 28 days, so... we're going with it for now.  If it takes a year, so be it.  We will not let him go back to how he was!  No way!     Also, I think we are really getting close to being able to put him in a cat carrier (you know, like a "normal" cat... haha) in order to MUCH more easily transport him to the vet of our choosing, if need be, vs just having to stick with the one who is willing to work with us over the phone.  I ordered a carrier with a large, top-loading door, and my hope is to get him accustomed to it and start rewarding him for going inside, and eventually for allowing me to pick him up and deposit him into that top-loading door.  Fingers crossed!  This would really be a huge relief, if we know we can get him into a carrier without massive blood loss in the process! 

I know right??! I hear that.

Maybe leaving it out in the open, top on the side and door opened, put a blanket or something cozy and put a treat now and then in it, he just might get very comfortable in it! Fingers crossed for you too!

What I can add to the discussion is a good method of transporting feral cats to and from the vet as I had to do it every 5 days for 6 weeks with my Grey Boy who hd terrible injuries and needed dressing changes every 5 days for 6 weeks.  Initially he settled into a laundry basket in my laundry room (the first night I trapped him in there).  I gave him a tranquilizer (1/4 of a 1mg.lorazepam tablet, generic for ativan -- has little to no taste and what you can taste is just a little sweetness), crushed and wrapped in a piece of turkey bacon.  It didn't knock him out but made him calm and sleepy rather than his hyperalert feral self, at which time I placed a second laundry basket over the top of the one he was sleeping in and used zip ties to hitch the top to the bottom, then put the whole contraption into the back seat of the car and off we went.  At the vet's office we would cut the zip ties on the ends and one side and open the top like it was hinged enough for the vet to give him a quick shot of something to knock him out -- maybe ketamine -- and they would take him in, change his bandages and put him back in the laundry basket while he was still out cold and then hitch new zip ties on the open areas.  (In case he woke up before we got home, but he never did.)  I would then take him home, put his basket back where it was and remove the top laundry basket.  When he woke up, he was fine and not even upset.  You could try that technique with yours.  Mine would never have gone into a carrier, and if he did, getting him out could have been dangerous.  This guy is totally feral and has been for his entire life.

So how do you get yours into a laundry basket the first time?  Mine went in because it was the only attractive place in the small laundry room he was in.  He was too badly injured to do much else, and it was preferable to the hard floor.  However, there WAS one day when it was time to go and even though he was sleepy, he was on the floor and not in the basket.  That day I took an empty laundry basket (these are rectangular, soft plastic ones) and put it over him, then slid a piece of plexiglass under the basket and the cat (the plexiglass used to be in a frame over a poster, I had to get creative). flipped the entire thing over and carefully attached the second basket to the top with the zip ties as I gradually slid out the plexiglass.  Necessity is the mother of invention!   I'm hoping this helps you, and anyone else who needs to transport a feral cat to the vet or anywhere else.

One other thought, since the cat is this old and has a chronic cough, it is always possible she has a heartworm.  Cats usually only get ONE heartworm and it doesn't usually bother them for a couple of years, until it dies, then it can get flushed into the lungs and if the entire heartworm doesn't block the artery and kill the cat, then the little pieces can cause an inflammatory reaction with coughing and edema in the lungs.  It can be fatal, or you can sometimes get them through it with steroids and fluids.  Just a thought..........there's a hearworrm test for dogs but I dont know if it works on cats or not.  Ask your vet.  Good luck with this cat -- let us know how it turns out.

2 ferals live in my home with my other tame 8, one of which i have developed the relationship with him of grabbing his tail and reining him in, he tolerates it.  the drill is: close doors unless a small desirable bathroom would serve as a refuge that you can corner him into, leave that door slightly open so he dodges in there and then you slither in i mean you block the door as you enter. then order a set of kevlar gloves from the pet supply catalog or go to harbor freight and buy the big long welders gloves that are leather and cover your forearms

plan your time of capture, getting a drink of water has back to you, getting a treat and runs away, you are sitting and he comes up to get petted

put one glove on the non dominant hand, if you have a helper give them the other glove to help and pin the cat;  you are going to be moving fast,  ungloved hand grabs the tail, gloved hand comes down on torso/body to push to floor so you are not yanking his tail as he runs away so you push to secure him and move the hand on his tail to his neck to hold him tight now pull him close to your body to comfort him, and transfer to a carrier

i am not a brutal person but the goal is care for a animal with more wild than tame thoughts in his brain.  usually mine calms and i can pet him and if i lie on my sofa he will on his own free will jump on my chest to be petted.

you have to plan this out, if you have a helper, the younger the better,  the more thought and swifter you can do this the better and try to make it pleasant by cuddling/petting him if he tolerates petting, my second feral just is terrified to be touched by me and will rip the hell out of me while peeing herself,  i know my home is a safer environment than yard catting it so i will sneak up over her and squirt a little flea killer on her back neck otherwise stay away

the other cats treat me like a rock star or( at least somebody with a thumb that can open stuff)

 please don't hate on me this is it

or buy a really big havahart trap it works different

Update on this thread: Two years later, and our Jackson is maintaining very well on monthly topical Revolution.  @catwoman707  ,you were so right about using Profender initially to get the problem under control.  We switched to using a mobile vet unit whose vet was more open to this.  I can't remember exactly how long we kept him on the Profender, but I'm thinking it was at least six months.  Then the new vet proposed weaning him off the Profender in favor of Revolution, and all seems to be okay - no more episodes of vomiting live or dead worms, and never passing them in his feces.  The vet does suspect that the roundworms encysted in his lung tissue, so we anticipate keeping him on the Revolution indefinitely.  He is still a noisy breather and sometimes a "snorter" - still does seem to get mucus-y in his airway, to the point where purring will sometimes throw him into a coughing fit.  Thus far we've decided not to treat the cough (which the vet has said is probably either asthma or just spasms from the mucus on his vocal cords, stirred up by purring), since the episodes are brief and he always bounces back quickly and returns to his purring, happy self - and also since his coughing episodes are just about identical to a past rescue cat of mine who never worsened or progressed, and that cat lived a very happy 22 years!  We will keep a watchful eye on the coughing, of course, but hopefully Jackson will follow in his footsteps!  

MartyMcJackson said:

 
Update on this thread: Two years later, and our Jackson is maintaining very well on monthly topical Revolution.  @catwoman707  ,you were so right about using Profender initially to get the problem under control.  We switched to using a mobile vet unit whose vet was more open to this.  I can't remember exactly how long we kept him on the Profender, but I'm thinking it was at least six months.  Then the new vet proposed weaning him off the Profender in favor of Revolution, and all seems to be okay - no more episodes of vomiting live or dead worms, and never passing them in his feces.  The vet does suspect that the roundworms encysted in his lung tissue, so we anticipate keeping him on the Revolution indefinitely.  He is still a noisy breather and sometimes a "snorter" - still does seem to get mucus-y in his airway, to the point where purring will sometimes throw him into a coughing fit.  Thus far we've decided not to treat the cough (which the vet has said is probably either asthma or just spasms from the mucus on his vocal cords, stirred up by purring), since the episodes are brief and he always bounces back quickly and returns to his purring, happy self - and also since his coughing episodes are just about identical to a past rescue cat of mine who never worsened or progressed, and that cat lived a very happy 22 years!  We will keep a watchful eye on the coughing, of course, but hopefully Jackson will follow in his footsteps!  

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Such a great outcome for Jackson!

I thought with his cough and especially bad infestation that he likely had roundworms in his chest as well.

Revolution I would say should be continued for life actually due to his history. He had them very bad.

It will keep him clear of worms, fleas, ticks, and earmites Mine are on it as well and am happy with no fleas, my one cat Krissy is super sensitive to fleas, and living in CA, well, fleas are a common problem. I had used advantage for many years but a couple years back it somehow stopped working, like the fleas became immune, so on to revolution and I'm happy with it.

It's safe too.

Great update!!

I have several cats and some are more sociable than the others, but the best way that I have found for a cat to tolerate being picked up is to bribe them with treats...eventually they get chummy and will submit to the humiliation of being carried...as long as there are goodies involved. Be careful not to give too many since they can make your kitty put on weight. The other method was to play with a laser...my orange cat didn't care much about anyone until I began to play with the lasers and hand out the treats...now he is my buddy and doesn't mind being picked up.

   Archie, the orange cat, is funny about how you pick him up and doesn't like it if he feels confined...with your hands or arms around him. He prefers to sit on my arm, sort of like a shelf. This allows him to feel like he isn't closed in and he tolerates it much better. I also noticed that cats take a few years to settle down and get snuggly...even my most affectionate cats started off as stand-offish.

Jim  

This is not pertaining to your question about the worming medication causing sickness but suggestions that I have found useful with my little formerly feral cat who has been an indoor-only cat for over 3 1/2 years now.    I fed, watered and provided shelter and warm bedding for six months outside before the little feral cat would allow me to touch her--she always ran away from me if I approached and stood just out of reach until I went back indoors.  She desperately needed help and her eyes were a mess.  I borrowed a humane trap from my vet and she would not go into it no matter how I tried to entice her.  After six months of caring for her she allowed me to touch her and the next day at the a.m. feeding I simply picked her up and immediately placed her into a carrying kennel that had been out of her line of sight and took her to the vet.  The little feral cat was examined, dewormed, given her shots and the vet diagnosed a severe allergy to mosquito bites which had resulted in her scratching all the hair off the back of her ears and half her face causing scabs and bleeding constantly.    She also had a chronic Herpes infection in both eyes.  The vet placed her on oral medication and much to my surprise she readily took the pills inside Feline Pill Pockets and she has continued to take her oral meds. this way with no difficulty---unlike eye drops which she resists and fights even to this day.

After bringing her home from the vet, I kept a carrying kennel opened with soft towels in it in her sanctuary room while she was adjusting and before she was allowed to be with my two resident cats in the rest of the house.  She became accustomed to sleeping in the carrying kennel ( the same as every other cat I have ever adopted from an animal shelter or as a stray who comes up to my door begging for food.)  If you keep a carrying kennel open with soft padding inside where the cat can enter and leave at will, it soon becomes a sanctuary and reassuring to the cat and then there is no difficulty getting the formerly-feral cat to the vet inside the carrying kennel for follow-up or routine visits.  For my resident cats who know that going to the vet is going to end up with shots being administered---and it is uncanny how each cat knows when I am about to take them to the vet and all of a sudden the cat is nowhere to be seen---I have learned to have the open carrying kennel out of their line of sight on a table top or counter with the open door at the edge of the table so that as I am holding the cat and place the cat's upper body into the kennel, the cat will pull its legs into the kennel since their legs would be over air with no support until they pull their legs into the kennel--and then I am able to quickly shut the kennel door.

My formerly feral cat is deaf and the vet believes was approx. two years old when brought into the house to be an indoors-only cat.   She has never attempted to go outside--in fact for months after she had been inside she would run to the other side of the sun porch if I went to the back door---evidently she was afraid I was going to put her outside.   In fact, none of my rescues (all have been adult cats) have ever wanted to go back outside.  The combination of not being able to see that well and being deaf has prevented the little formerly feral cat from relaxing with my two other cats and she still growls if they get too close to her although now after 3 1/2 years she usually tolerates them being in the same room with her.  She has continued to be wary about eating, she looks around before each bite of food as if making sure no predator is around and her favorite room in the house is my master bedroom which was her sanctuary room that she stayed in for months after she was brought inside.  She also makes sure no other cat is in her path before going from one room to another.  My vets say she may be this way for the rest of her life since we have no way of knowing what she experienced while living alone outside.

Thank you for helping your little cat--you are her angel and she is worth the time and worry in helping her---she would not have had a chance without your help.