Strange illness in Maine Coon X kitten

Hi folks,

Long time!

I recently had the pleasure of fostering three Maine Coon mix kittens.  Gorgeous, fluffy, HUGE for their age, sweet as pie.  Came into rescue from a local shelter where they were owner surrenders, approx. 20 minutes before they were pulled by us.  So little if any exposure to shelter contagions.  Shelter had time only to intake, vaccinate, deworm, FeLV test prior to us pulling the kittens.  FeLV neg.

All three (two M one F) were altered without incident.

The two males were adopted and the adopter reported one came down with URI and is on meds, the other has diarrhea.

The female was due to be adopted when she became listless, dysphoric, wouldn't eat or drink, vocalizing in pain.  Upon taking her to the vet's office, the vet noted she was having severe difficulty breathing (dyspnea).  A lateral full-body radiograph revealed nothing apparently amiss, including clear lung fields, but she nearly passed out on the radiograph table.

Vet kept her overnight (that was Friday) with the statement that he'd try fluids (she was quite dehydrated) and steroids but the prognosis was poor.  Well, she made it overnight and was Bright Alert and Active the next morning, ate some, vomited some.  Barium study revealed no apparent blockage or GI issues.  Vet wanted to keep her the rest of the weekend (it's Sunday afternoon now).

So we will see what she's like in the morning, but the vet has little idea what was going on.  The way she was breathing on admission suggested asthma or related lung issues but the radiograph didn't confirm.  We at home suspected obstruction because she had been retching without producing anything and vocalizing in pain while doing so.  Again, barium study didn't confirm.

Any thoughts at all?  Diagnostic tests to try?  She is about 3.5 months old, has had two FVRCP shots and a rabies vaccine.  Spayed without incident (I find a lot of times congenital disorders pop up when they're under anesthesia).  Vet thought it might be congenital but no structural abnormalities on radiographs.

Secondly, I am not sure what to tell the potential adopters.  I avoided the subject by telling them I had a family emergency and couldn't meet them at the scheduled time, at the advice of the rescue president.  I do not feel comfortable adopting her out to someone who is not prepared for a special needs kitty if we can't figure this out, assuming she recovers.

If you have no idea (or even if you do) please just send healing thoughts our way.  Little Liza is a precious kitten.

This is Liza.

Poor Liza. I hope she is back to good health by tomorrow.

Liza is home from the vet.  Diagnosis is still uncertain but she is much recovered.  Vet thinks it MIGHT have been post-nasal drip causing nausea from a URI and she has had a shot of Convenia.  Still doesn't explain why she couldn't breathe, though.

What has a urinary infection got to do with a post-nasal drip, I wonder?  They seem at opposite ends of the body to me.  

Most peculiar.  

I have a post nasal drip and it makes me cough.  I've had it for over 20 years, cough cough.  I guess it can also cause nausea, depending on how thick is the drip.  It doesn't cause laboured breathing though and I don't have asthma.  Theoretically, antihistamines and steroids help, but I've never found any that work for me.  

Poor "little", ahem, Liza.  Sending her and you psychic hugs    

@Brian007 URI, upper respiratory infection, not UTI.

@stephanietx   THANK YOU for clearing that up!!      Phew, I was concerned there for a minute, hahaha    

Another causality of the dangers of abbreviations, hey.

Thanks, again, for your seedy clear up of my stoopid mess     

Kat Hamlin said:

 
Liza is home from the vet.  Diagnosis is still uncertain but she is much recovered.  Vet thinks it MIGHT have been post-nasal drip causing nausea from a URI and she has had a shot of Convenia.  Still doesn't explain why she couldn't breathe, though.

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Assuming her recovery complete, the chances are you might never know.  Given her condition, a thorough examination of the soft tissues of the airway and small airways was impossible, though in the future, if there's a recurrence (or to stave off the possibility if the new owner's particularly overcautious), a Computed Tomograph would certainly help (though only once her breathing was near-normal again, of course).  Doubtless the Vet will keep the possibility of both aspergillosis and nasopharyngeal polyps in mind when her next examination is done.