Just me again...sorry guys. After another long day with Rambo at the vet and multiple tests she's completely stumped (as are the other vets in the practice) as to what Rambo's got.
Brief History:
Beginning of July - Rambo's eye swells up. Took him to the vet, she thought maybe he'd run into something and he had the kitty equivalent of a black eye. She gave him antibiotic/steroid ointment. He also got his annual vaccines.
Next day: The other eye swells up. I called the vet and told her...she recommended putting the ointment in the other eye and seeing what happened over the weekend. Both eyes cleared up.
One week later: Come home to find vomit all over the house, and Rambo limp and lethargic, making strange groaning noises when he breathed or tried to eat. Swallowing made him gag. Rushed him to the emergency vet. Turns out there were blisters/sores on the back of his throat, his throat was swollen and he was very dehydrated and he had a temp of 104. Rambo spent 2 days in the hospital on IV fluids, antibiotics and when the swelling didn't go down steroids. X-Rays of his chest/belly showed nothing.
After the steroid/antibiotic treatment Rambo seemed to be recovered. He ate, played...when he went in for a quick check he had lost quite a bit of weight (around 1lbs + over the course of his illness).
August 18th/19th. Rambo starts struggling to eat again, making the groaning noise and gagging sometimes after swallowing. I kept up on his electrolytes this time, and he continued trying to eat. Saturday he was pretty quiet, but he perked up alot on sunday and was charging around the house. Monday he again struggled to eat when I came home at lunch. So I called the vet and dropped him off for the whole day on tuesday for tests.
Tuesday (22nd) - Rambo was brought in to the vet for the day. They checked his throat (no blisters). He did eat some food for them without gagging. Did blood work, no abnormalities in his blood work. FIV/FELV negative. The did 2 xrays of his throat and see no obvious issues with his throat, but there may be some swelling of his esophagus. They even gave him some barium to try and highlight any issues. No fever.
The vet was stumped, so she suggests try to treat him as if he has ulcers in his esophagus/acid reflux type condition. I brought him home, gave him the meds and let him eat. He ate raw food last night and finished the plate.
This morning (Weds) - wake up, Rambo's right eye is swollen up the same as the original symptom from July. I know all he did was eat and sleep last night because i was keeping an eye on him.
Guys I am completely and utterly baffled (as is the vet) and so frustrated that I'm near tears everytime I think of this. I've spent over $1500 bucks trying to treat and diagnose Rambo, and we're still no closer to an answer. The next step would be to send Rambo away for an endoscopy of his throat, but now with the eye swelling....I don't know what to do.
Does anyone have any thoughts, suggestions or experiences that could offer some direction on where to go now???
thank you all for reading...
Stumped Meowmy
Raegan
Brief History:
Beginning of July - Rambo's eye swells up. Took him to the vet, she thought maybe he'd run into something and he had the kitty equivalent of a black eye. She gave him antibiotic/steroid ointment. He also got his annual vaccines.
Next day: The other eye swells up. I called the vet and told her...she recommended putting the ointment in the other eye and seeing what happened over the weekend. Both eyes cleared up.
One week later: Come home to find vomit all over the house, and Rambo limp and lethargic, making strange groaning noises when he breathed or tried to eat. Swallowing made him gag. Rushed him to the emergency vet. Turns out there were blisters/sores on the back of his throat, his throat was swollen and he was very dehydrated and he had a temp of 104. Rambo spent 2 days in the hospital on IV fluids, antibiotics and when the swelling didn't go down steroids. X-Rays of his chest/belly showed nothing.
After the steroid/antibiotic treatment Rambo seemed to be recovered. He ate, played...when he went in for a quick check he had lost quite a bit of weight (around 1lbs + over the course of his illness).
August 18th/19th. Rambo starts struggling to eat again, making the groaning noise and gagging sometimes after swallowing. I kept up on his electrolytes this time, and he continued trying to eat. Saturday he was pretty quiet, but he perked up alot on sunday and was charging around the house. Monday he again struggled to eat when I came home at lunch. So I called the vet and dropped him off for the whole day on tuesday for tests.
Tuesday (22nd) - Rambo was brought in to the vet for the day. They checked his throat (no blisters). He did eat some food for them without gagging. Did blood work, no abnormalities in his blood work. FIV/FELV negative. The did 2 xrays of his throat and see no obvious issues with his throat, but there may be some swelling of his esophagus. They even gave him some barium to try and highlight any issues. No fever.
The vet was stumped, so she suggests try to treat him as if he has ulcers in his esophagus/acid reflux type condition. I brought him home, gave him the meds and let him eat. He ate raw food last night and finished the plate.
This morning (Weds) - wake up, Rambo's right eye is swollen up the same as the original symptom from July. I know all he did was eat and sleep last night because i was keeping an eye on him.
Guys I am completely and utterly baffled (as is the vet) and so frustrated that I'm near tears everytime I think of this. I've spent over $1500 bucks trying to treat and diagnose Rambo, and we're still no closer to an answer. The next step would be to send Rambo away for an endoscopy of his throat, but now with the eye swelling....I don't know what to do.
Does anyone have any thoughts, suggestions or experiences that could offer some direction on where to go now???
thank you all for reading...
Stumped Meowmy
Raegan