FIV cat has anemia and labored breathing

Neptune is a feral cat that was on our property when we bought our home in Neptune Beach 6 years ago. He is FIV positive and really hasn't had any FIV related issues. We think he is between 13 and 15 years old. A few days ago we noticed he had labored breathing - about 60 breaths a minute. He has allergies and I could hear sounds coming from his nose that sounded like severe congestion. Took him to the vet and they ran a blood panel and it showed his red blood cell count was 22 with 25 being the borderline for anemia. They dispensed a steroid shot. He is not eating much which is probably because of the compromised smelling ability and the anemia. Next day brought him back and they gave him an antibiotic shot because of the severe congestion thinking there might be an infection of some type. Brought him back to the vet today. Still same breathing issue and inappetence. Ran another blood test and the anemia value is now 23.5. And the congestion seems better. So we are headed in the right direction. They ran a test for heart conditions and they came back negative. But the breathing and inappetence are still present. Has anyone here had a similar experience? Are we overlooking something? I was looking at the iron supplements I read about on this site.

Thanks in advance,

Ed and Jill

Awww, I'm so glad he has you to care for him.  I really have no words of wisdom as I have no experience with anemia.  You can try steaming him in the bathroom to help with the congestion.  Get the bathroom nice and steamy and then sit in there with him until the steam dissipates.  Also try offering him some plain meat baby food or some original pate Fancy Feast and see if he'll eat that.  Warming the food up for a few seconds in the microwave or adding warm water to the food will help enhance the aroma.

He really isn't feral anymore. When we moved in, he moved in. Along with 3 other ex-feral cats. They all co-exist very well. He is still breathing the same - about once a second. But his fur feels better and eyes look better. He ate food twice today and drank water. I am taking him tomorrow for an x-ray. Did the shower thing a few times. When he eats food he rubs his left cheek every time. I know he has allergies and is still congested. Maybe a bad tooth?

It's very possible he has tooth problems and maybe a tooth infection.  Be sure the vet checks his mouth for any sores or teeth issues.  Glad he's eaten something and looking a bit better! Keep us posted.

They did a chest x-ray and it did not show and defined cancer tumors. She said they could not rule out caner %100 but certainly tumors are not causing his breathing issues. But they did find some "junk" in his lungs. Perhaps some type of infection. Also did a few other tests including one for Heartworm which she said also applies to fleas - we had a bad flea outbreak a few weeks ago. Dispensed a more powerful antibiotic called Doxycycloline or Doxyrubicn, I forget. The hope is the antibiotic will clear the lungs and it is also the drug of choice for the tests done if any of them come back positive.

So the thought is that maybe it is a combination of anemia and the stuff in the lungs. Both issues are being addressed.

Vet said if this does not clear things up then we need to see an internal medicine doctor.

Sounds like the visit was thorough.  I hope the medication helps. 

Yes doxycycline is a wonderful antibiotic. Be sure to feed first then give meds.

Did they give you pills or a compound liquid?

If its pills be sure to syringe feed 5ml of water after pilling. You don't want it to get stuck in the esophagus. You can roll it in butter to help it slide down the throat better.

I hope this does the trick.

Ask about B12 shots or pet tinic that's a b vitamins and iron liquid supplement that will help the body build more red blood cells.

Keep us posted!

Thank you for taking care of this baby!

They gave us a compound liquid. Might have to force feed him some Nutrical because he has not eaten much today. 

I bought "Liqui-Tinic 4x Flavored Vitamin and Iron Supplement for Dogs, Cats, Puppies & Kittens". Arrived today. 

Took Neptune to an internal medicine doctor yesterday, our vet made the call. Internal dr determined he has asthma. She gave him a bronchodilator injectable and his breathing improved. Did an ultrasound which did not show anything wrong. Did a complementary 2nd x-ray and it shows the material in his lungs is breaking up slowly. So the plan is to give a bronchodilator liquid twice a day and keep giving prednisolone and doxycycline. He still has not eaten anything so we have been force feeding him. Dr dispensed mirtazapine which we will give tonight. He needs to start eating.

I'm sure the supplements will work but once he is eating again chicken livers would add iron to his diet, You or fantastic to treat him so thoughly , most threads expenses are always mentioned and realistically offen a really issue but justnice to eead a thread about vet care with out it , I have a nuyof unvaccinated cat so was looking for information on FelV and FIV as I work my way through blood tests for them , they include kittens and I don't want to rehome them if infected [emoji]128576[/emoji].

yes bad asthma can cause not to eat.  I have a cat with asthma who is on inhaled steroids. its much easier than pilling her. If he gets weird reactions to the mirtazapine you can try Cyproheptadine I believe its called=this is an antihistamine but it is used as an appetite stimulant in kitties-this one lasts 12-24 hours. the mirtaz depending on dose is 2 to 3 days.  we found that 1/8 tablet worked much better than 1/4 tablet-it makes them restless-also the bronchodilator may make them restless as well-so you can ask the vet if they think 1/8 tablet would be better-my vet does 1/8 tablet every 48 hours instead of 1/4 tablet every 3 days but that's just my vet's preference.

but for now don't stop the steroids-its takes a good 24 hours to get the ball rolling so make sure to take it as directed. the albuterol rescue inhaler you can get a script for and its around $60 at the pharmacy. you want to be careful to not give too much of this=right now=its ok-its an emergency but once he stabilizes-its only for coughing/wheezing attack. the doxy will kill any bacteria infection that could be in the lungs so it wont hurt him.

I found the pred to be a wonderful tool in helping my girl breathe better when it was winter time. we have forced hot air and this was a trigger for her breathing so we got air purifiers going but in the winter the air so dry that it can cause wheezing etc. some cats have more trouble in the summer with the hot humid air that feels like an elephant is sitting on their chest.

Hopefully in a day or two you should see improvements. They will sleep quite a bit once the pred kicks in-because they were trying to breathe better so they probably don't sleep well. Once my cats asthma got controlled-the first few days she slept like crazy.

Unfortunately he took a turn for the worse. CBC went down to 18. Got the microplasm results back today - they took 3 days. Turns out he is positive for 2 of the 3 types. And we have not been giving him the doxycycline because he was not eating. So it is a combination of Haemobartonellosis and asthma. Internal medicine Dr said either we hospitalize him now or he will probably die in a day. As I am writing this he is at the emergency clinic getting injectable doxycycline, injectable lasix for water in the lungs, blood transfusion, prednisolone, injectable asthma meds, and regular iv fluids. Hope we caught this in time. Dr said now we know what is causing the problem, so we can address it. Current x-ray showed the lungs cleared up more since the last x-ray.

I probably would have opted to let him go except today he tried to eat food, he drank water, used the litter box, and came to sit by me. He wants to live. We will do everything we can for him.

I will pray that all ends well. I am sending you hugs. yes its treatable but it can be scary at first. Sounds like he still has some fight left in him. Fluids n antibiotics will help him feel better. I am so glad you have him in a good hospital. So sorry for the bad news! HUGS HUGS HUGS!!!

I am sorry to say that we had to euthanize Neptune this morning around 2:30am. He was looking good Saturday. Brought him home and continued feeding and giving him his meds through the feeding tube. Latest x-rays again looked better than the previous ones. Then Saturday night he took a turn for the worse. Took him back to the emergency clinic and they ran some diagnostics and his CBC count had fallen again to about 19 and temperature had dropped to about 97 deg. They got him looking good again in the oxygen tent and bumped the prednisolone up. We took him home Sunday afternoon. He was breathing ok but just looked different. When we got him home he just wanted to hide from us. We knew that was the end. I wish we would have found this problem sooner. Because he was on the property when we bought this house I always felt like this was his home. And now that he is gone the house feels empty even with six other rescue animals. I am sure he is with the rest of our animals in the Rainbow Bridge waiting for us. I myself am not very religious anymore but there has always been something about the Rainbow Bridge that brings me comfort. I'd like to think all of us who are animal advocates will once again be with all the animals we have loved.

Ed and angel Neptune

I am so very sorry for your loss. I hope the memories will help sustain you through the next few days and weeks. You did everything you could and sometimes they have to finish their journey and make a hole in our hearts.

Run free at the Bridge Neptune.

You are loved and will be missed.