Exhausting "Epidemic"

ljb_rms

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Well, after a week of illness among our 10 house cats, the saga continued last night. This is unbelievable! Last week, Pepper began coughing suddenly one night. Coughing in cats is definitely not a good thing, so I took him to our vet the next day. XRAYs showed a vague bronchial pattern, no fever, so the decision was to give him a small dose of steroid and antibiotic; treating a possible asthma episode and URI. Well, that was Friday. That night, he started sneezing, as did several others. Saturday, Samantha was in respiratory distress and had big time mucous dripping, so off she went as well. They did XRAY's, same result, and treated her with aminophylin, antibiotic and steroid. By Sunday she was a different animal...dramatic improvement. But, on Sunday her best friend Ellie, (they were adopted together), was in respiratory distress; Her turn. Meanwhile, I had more coughing and sneezing. By the time I got back home Sunday we were treating 5 out of 10 with antibiotics. Took Pepper back Tuesday and now HE had fever; more injections and oral antibiotics, and by Wednesday evening I thought everyone was on the road to recovery. BUT, Thursday morning Samantha was coughing, and when I got home from work she was again in respiratory distress. Back to the vet; more XRAYs, more injections...and this morning she is SO much better. She goes back Saturday for a check, and is getting oral antibiotics still. Vet says if this is kennel cough she's never seen it so bad...Overall 7 out of 10 have had at least some symptoms, and these are strictly house cats; NO ONE goes outside! Cannot figure out what in the world is going on. If things don't improve, one will have a lung lavage so a fluid sample can be sent to the lab to try to isolate the culprit bacteria. Thanks for letting me dump all of this...I'm exhausted from vet visits and worry; It's like having kids...you hear them cough and sneeze all night...some of them climb up on my chest in bed to cough or sneeze on me...it's like they're aying "Mom I don't feel well...help me". I'll keep you posted....
 

mslemon

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Those poor babies! I certainly would be curious at to what is causing all this. Something in the home? Something one picked up? Please keep us posted on this mystery! And I hope your babies recover soon so you and your pocketbook get a break.
 
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ljb_rms

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Thanks so much. We've come up with a couple of guesses about the cause, but may never know for sure. We've spent so much $$ in the past week I'm almost embarassed, but I would never deny the best possible care to any of our babies... in addition to the 10 house kitties we have 3 in the barn, a house dog, 8 horses, 2 goats, a cow, a couple of chickens, (no partridge in the pear tree yet, but we're working on it). It's like Old McDonald's farm around our place, but we love it! This site is wonderful...everyone is so welcoming and friendly...I really appreciate it.
 

mslemon

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I can defintely understand. Everyone always asks me "How is the zoo?" I have always had lots of critters. At one point I had 3 big dogs, 5 silly ferrets, and a pigeon, and that didn't include the pets I had in my classroom; a rabbit, mice, guinea pig, and ocassionally for short periods, grass snakes. Now it's just 6 cats. But I know how expensive it can get when babies get sick in a multipet family and how we worry about them.
 

hissy

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I went through all of this with my cats a few years ago. Like you, I exhausted all medical possibilities, but because of the sheer number of cats that we have, and the tenacity of the URI it was like the little dutch boy putting his finger in the dike to stop the water, it just couldn't be done. Finally, I tried a natural product called GSE or Grapefruit Seed Extract. I started mixing one to two drops in the cat's wet food, and dropping some into their water bowls as well. It is a very thick liquid, very bitter tasting, just like the grapefruit melon is. I had used it prior to that when one of my horses got an infection called White Line Disease. The liquid has amazing properties to kill any bacteria or fungus that is attacking the body. So since that time, with now, I have 13 cats, I have never had a reoccurance of the URI. Plus my husband and I also started taking it, and we have not had a cold or flu like symptoms since that time either. You can order it through any good health food store online or find in near you at the same. I cannot recommend this stuff highly enough. It sounds to me like this is just what you might need. A small bottle is about $9.80 and a little goes a long way. Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions. I would be glad to help you out. Or just do a search for GRAPEFRUIT seed extract on any search engine and read about it yourself. But be careful, there is a grape seed extract that is NOT what you want. Good luck!
 
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