My cat, Penelope, was diagnosed with Pyothorax at the end of October, 2004. (I had to rush her to the emergency room because she was having trouble breathing). Strangely, after the thoreocentesis (sp?), an injection of antibiotics, and a 10 week regimen of oral antibiotics, she managed to get better. This is strange because normally thoracic lavage and hospitalization is required for the initial week of treatment.
Shortly before Penelope went off the antibiotics she started having coughing attacks -- one to four a day. At first, I thought it was a furball but when the vet x-rayed her two weeks ago she found that the right middle lung lobe was consolidated. (There was no evidence of pleural fluid and the heart was normal in appearance, whatever that means). Penelope's been doing well since the x-ray in terms of eating, sleeping, and playing, but she still has the coughing attacks. So, I scheduled a vet appointment for tomorrow (the vet wanted to see her 2-4 weeks after the last visit to re-check the x-rays; because she's still coughing, I'm going sooner rather than later).
The vet visit is a scary thing for both Penelope and myself. Scary for Penelope because she doesn't know what's happening and she's going away from home to a place where they do "bad things" to her -- she was so scared at the last visit that she peed on me! Scary for me because I'm afraid of what they'll find. This is what the vet wrote in her discharge summary last time:
ASSESSMENT: The consolidated lung lobe may be related to the previous history of pyothorax but another issue is possible. I am recommending that we reassess this finding in 2 to 4 weeks and in order to decide whether surgical intervention is appropriate or whether bronchoalveolar lavage under general anesthesia to collect lung secretions for cytology and culture would be a minimally invasive alternative to further assess the situation.
Neither of the alternatives here -- surgery or lavage under anasthesia -- sounds very good to me. So, needless to say, I've been a worried and anxious mess about Penelope. The fact that my cats mean the world to me compounded with the fact that I can be an obsessive person, anyway, well, it's really hampered my ability to work or do anything without thinking about my little girl.
The vet visit is tomorrow so could I bother you all out there to send some good vibes and say some prayers for Penelope? Thanks for letting me write about all this.
Oh, here are some information sites on pyothorax:
http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/pyothorax.html
http://www.catclinic.co.uk/health/pyothorax.htm
http://misshaveachat.homestead.com/pyothorax.html
(Just so you know, Penelope tested negative for FIV and FeLV)
Shortly before Penelope went off the antibiotics she started having coughing attacks -- one to four a day. At first, I thought it was a furball but when the vet x-rayed her two weeks ago she found that the right middle lung lobe was consolidated. (There was no evidence of pleural fluid and the heart was normal in appearance, whatever that means). Penelope's been doing well since the x-ray in terms of eating, sleeping, and playing, but she still has the coughing attacks. So, I scheduled a vet appointment for tomorrow (the vet wanted to see her 2-4 weeks after the last visit to re-check the x-rays; because she's still coughing, I'm going sooner rather than later).
The vet visit is a scary thing for both Penelope and myself. Scary for Penelope because she doesn't know what's happening and she's going away from home to a place where they do "bad things" to her -- she was so scared at the last visit that she peed on me! Scary for me because I'm afraid of what they'll find. This is what the vet wrote in her discharge summary last time:
ASSESSMENT: The consolidated lung lobe may be related to the previous history of pyothorax but another issue is possible. I am recommending that we reassess this finding in 2 to 4 weeks and in order to decide whether surgical intervention is appropriate or whether bronchoalveolar lavage under general anesthesia to collect lung secretions for cytology and culture would be a minimally invasive alternative to further assess the situation.
Neither of the alternatives here -- surgery or lavage under anasthesia -- sounds very good to me. So, needless to say, I've been a worried and anxious mess about Penelope. The fact that my cats mean the world to me compounded with the fact that I can be an obsessive person, anyway, well, it's really hampered my ability to work or do anything without thinking about my little girl.
The vet visit is tomorrow so could I bother you all out there to send some good vibes and say some prayers for Penelope? Thanks for letting me write about all this.
Oh, here are some information sites on pyothorax:
http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/pyothorax.html
http://www.catclinic.co.uk/health/pyothorax.htm
http://misshaveachat.homestead.com/pyothorax.html
(Just so you know, Penelope tested negative for FIV and FeLV)
