Can Anyone Help Please? (Long Post - Sorry)

Your vet should do bloodwork and xrays. At her age this could be cancer, it is unlikely that a simple URI would take her this long to get over. Has she been in contact with other cats lately? Has she ever been tested for feleuk or FIV?

Lucy's never been tested. She began sneezing last Friday night but as I said in my original post we had been getting major work done on our kitchen and dust was everywhere. Even we were sneezing with it so didn't give it much thought. It wasn't till Monday that it was apparent that there was something wrong with Lucy so we took her straight to the vet where she got two shots, one an antibiotic to help prevent any secondary infection setting in and the other an anti-inflammatory. This seemed to do the trick at the time and she was back to her usual self by late evening. Unfortunately, by late Tuesday night she had deteriorated again and had to be taken back to the vet on Wednesday. She was given another shot. It made no difference so she went back yesterday and was given another two shots of antibiotic and anti-inflammatory again.

Tonight we got the bathroom steamed up. I put a little Vicks in the water and we sat in the bathroom for about 15 minutes. My son very gently and carefully removed the dried up mucus from Lucy's nose and we gently bathed her face and eyes (using a fresh cotton-wool pad for each eye, nose and mouth). She wasn't too happy about it - she's still fiesty then we put her back in the bedroom to relax.

I went up to the bedroom about an hour ago and Lucy came out from under the bed and for the first time in several days, she took a drink of water by herself. A very small step in the right direction. We have also managed to get 300ml of chicken broth via syringe, very carefully a drip at a time through the side of her mouth onto her tongue. Hopefully this will give here some nourishment as well as fluid too. We are going to repeat this in about another hour's time as we don't want to go too quickly with this incase we stress her out too much.

I am also going to mix up some A/D and put it on a flat plate for her as I think she would manage a flat plate better than her own bowl at the moment and hope she will try to eat some of that.

I hope we've reached a turning point but her drinking water by herself has given me a little ray of hope.

The great thing about a/d is that it can also fit into a syringe. If she's not eating you can try very small doses so she can get a little bit of nutriets. After a long period of not eating cats can easily develop hepatic lipadosis. Vets will often suggest feeding them human food, or whatever they'll eat because something is better than nothing. Hope things continue to improve!

Try to raise her dishes up too. If she has a cold her sinuses will be congested and sore- she may not want to lower her head to eat and drink.

fingers crossed that you have reached a turning point... your doing such an amazing job caring for yer your in our thoughts

Lucy's a lot better today (she's still getting IV fluids at the vets). Her eyes have stopped watering now - it's just her nose that's choked up. Her temperature is normal but she is still on antibiotics. The vet has also given her some medication to break up the mucus in her nose so she can breathe through her nose again. She's still not eating but they think once they get her nose cleared she will.

We've just come back from visiting her and, oh boy, was she pleased to see us. She's got her purr back (first time I've heard her purring in over a week) and was so pleased to see us she was getting tangled up on her drip line, rolling over on her back for me to rub her tummy and giving me snotty-nosed kisses. I'm very cautiously optimistic she may make a full recovery, but it's early days yet. Lucy is not a cat who drinks water often so when they stop the IV fluids, that will be a telling time. She's one of those cats who gets enough liquid through her food so she really has got to start eating. She's also an incredibly fussy cat who'll only eat certain foods - and lets you know if she doesn't like something! She can give you such a filthy, reproachful look. Of all our cats, she's got the most expressive face. You can tell when she's happy, when she's annoyed, when she doesn't like the food you've put down for her, when she's feeling mischievous just by looking at the expression on her face.

I hope she continues to improve and am keeping my fingers crossed that she's back home with us soon.

So glad she is doing well
Anne

hope she is back home with you soon

Sending prayers and Get Well Soon vibes to Lucy.

When I first started reading this thread, I was so worried! It does sound as if Lucy is improving, which I hope is still the case. You have done an amazing thing, caring for this girl the way you have. Rest assured, she will never forget the love and kindness you have shown her!

Glad to hear Lucy seems to be getting better. I was so worried. Keep us updated and sending prayers for Lucy to continue improving.

I've put on a new thread called "Lucy's Home"

Yeah Lucy!!!!!!!!!!!!! So glad to hear your doing better!!