3 vet visits and my cat isn't feeling better, herpes, infection, or hairballs?

[Mrtiredcats]

Summary: I have 2 cats who are different degrees of sick, and today I'm feeling a little frustrated after leaving the vet with some laxatone to give to my older cat, after she's been sick for a month, and after being diagnosed with a viral infection prior. The dosage seems high and I'm afraid of making her more sick since she doesn't eat a lot, and she doesn't have a lot of energy leaving me concerned for her health. This will be on the longer side but its been an exhausting month of being seriously concerned that my 8 year old is acting like "an old lady", and I don't want her to become deathly ill while waiting on some over the counter medicine to kick in.
To preface I have two cats, Meulin (8 yrs) and Violet (8 mos.). I adopted violet (shelter cat) 2 months ago, and a few weeks later (approx. 5 weeks ago) both she and meulin got sick, which I understand isn't unusual because she came from a shelter. Violet had all of the basic vaccinations, rabies and etc. I've been back and forth to the vet, paying a bunch of money for overpriced meds for them to just not do much of anything? Violet was sneezing, had slight eye discharge, and sounded very stuffy, like she had a cold. I was given antibiotics for her and she's mostly cleared up, but she still sneezes frequently and sounds stuffy on occasion.
Meulin on the other hand was affected a bit different. She was lethargic, eating and drinking less, feverish, dehydrated, and irritated. I went to an emergency vet at 3am (!!) And was there until 1pm, all because she developed a limp on top of everything and could barely move a foot before plopping down like she was exhausted. Reading online, calcivirus seems to be the only sickness that causes that, but they don't seem to think that's what it is. Either way I paid for x-rays and bloodwork, both came up normal. Emergency vet couldn't diagnose without more tests, so the day later I went to my vet that was finally open after being closed for the weekend. Got antibiotics from E vet even though we didn't know the cause because she needed SOMETHING. My main vet diagnosed it as a viral upper respritory infection, which antibiotics wouldn't really help, but wouldn't really hurt... They put fluids in her and thats the best I've seen her up to that point and ever since. They also made me buy some powder stuff to put in their wet food that seems to do absolutely nothing.. it seems the best meds they've given me so far was gabapentin for her pain, which I only give a couple times a week, and half a dose at that, seems to be the only thing that relaxes her. A few days later she was getting dehydrated again because the antibiotics were giving her diarrhea, so on day 5 of the antibiotics I stopped giving it to her. She kinda got better? But about a week ago she started coughing occasionally, then 3 times a day, now 5-6 times a day. I don't think I've ever seen her cough up a hairball before, lik never in 8 years, but when I went to the follow up appointment I went to today, the vet (one I have never met in my 10 years going there,) said it was likely a blockage caused by a hairball. So I went with it, I feel like Meulin hates me even more after all this crap I've been forcing her mouth, she has always rejected the heck out of oral medications and it's a real struggle to begin with. I looked more into the laxatone (I bought for $17, a dang over the counter medication), and I wasn't very happy about the ingredients (corn syrup??), but I suppose it has a job to do. My main concern at this very moment in time--besides clearly having no idea whats going on with my cats!--is the laxatone. Meulin hates it sooo much, but that's not surprising as she's picky anyway. But I have to give it to her twice a day for 7 days, and everywhere I read online says you should only do it daily for 3 days before backing off the dose and switching to once every 2-3 days...will Meulin be okay? She's usually 15 pounds but has lost weight and is down to 13. She doesn't eat much like I said but has been eating even less, will this make her even weaker? Should I call into work tomorrow so I can get a second opinion, or should I wait it out and see if this does the trick? Are there any additional tests I should look into doing, or have the vets done everything they can? Does she have something that can kill her?
Absolute huge BLESS to everyone who read all the way through, I'm a huge cat lover and Meulin is my baby, I don't want to lose her! I tried to skim over the forum before posting, hopefully I'm following proper guidelines! Any help would be appreciated, I'm posting this at 6 AM because I have literally not slept in 2 days! Thank you!!

 

[di and bob]

She most likely has Feline Herpes, a VERY common viral illness around shelters and litters of kittens. The powder they gave you is most likely L-Lysine, which in my opinion does little after trying it many times. As for the hairballs, try a teaspoon of butter for a few days, or get some hairball treats on Amazon or a local Pet store. Be careful, Laxatone and all these remedies can cause diarrhea too. Make sure she is offered plenty of water and set several small bowls around so she checks them out. My best luck against this virus has been to build up their immune systems and prevent them from ever getting it in the first place. I get DMG on Amazon, Target, or Walmart online and give 1/2 ml every morning mixed in a lickable treat. You start out with twice a day. A bottle lasts a long time. Keep giving this. My cats have leukemia and I have been giving it for over three years now. Get some Delectable Lickables in the STEW flavors at Walmart or other places, they don't care for the bisque. I also give this if anyone does get sick and quits eating, they seem to always take a lick or two of this. please know I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers, hang in there, cats are tough!

 

[FeebysOwner]

I think the laxatone for a possible hairball was just a shot in the dark, tbh. Should the laxatone even be needed, it could be replaced with Miralax which is supposed to be tasteless/odorless and can be added to food/treats. But, in repeating information from above, both of these can cause diarrhea, and butter/margarine would be better for trying to help a cat pass a hairball.

You might also ask about the feline herpes virus, as mentioned above. Even if Meulin was vaccinated for it in the past that does not guarantee she can't contract it anyway. The vaccinations do help to make the virus less severe when contracted later. Some vets will prescribe an anti-viral med (Famciclovir) to help interfere with a herpes flare-up. As I understand, it can also help with reducing any pain that might be associated with the related viral symptoms. Antibiotics don't help with the actual virus, but sometimes cats will acquire a secondary infection from the herpes and in that case the antibiotics are appropriate.

Find out what the powder was and ask about the duration of time it is needed before there would be any positive results. If it is l-lysine, that is not an immediate type of supplement, it is more of a supportive tool when used long term. And, while I always thought DMG was more for support for cats with FIV and FeLV, check with the vet about its helpfulness with herpes. Seems to make sense it could help with herpes too!

Sometimes a probiotic, called Forti Flora - which is really more of a food enticer - can be sprinkled onto food to help with eating. Appetite stimulants can also be given to help a cat eat more. Baby food meat (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut) is a great way to add calories to her diet. Depending on which one you buy, you could add as much as 90 calories with a single jar. And, aside from the Delectables noted above, there are a ton of other lickable treats that you might be able to use to 'hide' meds in if needed. Just do an internet search on 'lickable treats for cats'.

At least to start off with, have a more detailed conversation with your vet about all of this, and especially about the laxatone. If nothing comes of that, you might consider a second opinion (with an entirely different practice to avoid colleague bias), but I am hoping your vet will decide to give you more support/help once you express your concerns/worries.

 

[Astragal14]

It's wonderful you've adopted a shelter kitty!

Everything you've described could be initially caused by stress, which does introduce the possibility of a virus or infection setting in while the immune system is temporarily low. And there has been a big change for everyone, so it's understandable there would be some stress as everyone adjusts. There have also been several medications and supplements given to your cats and the timing of doses is important.

But about a week ago she started coughing occasionally, then 3 times a day, now 5-6 times a day. I don't think I've ever seen her cough up a hairball before, lik never in 8 years, but when I went to the follow up appointment I went to today, the vet (one I have never met in my 10 years going there,) said it was likely a blockage caused by a hairball.

Stress could cause over-grooming and lead to hairballs. The ingredients in laxatone aren't great but Meulin only needs to take it for a short time. The Vetroquinol laxatone comes in two flavors, tuna and maple, if you think she may prefer one flavor over the other. And Miralax is also an option if she doesn't like the laxatone. Ask your vet about the frequency and duration of Miralax if you decide to use that instead of laxatone.

...will Meulin be okay? She's usually 15 pounds but has lost weight and is down to 13. She doesn't eat much like I said but has been eating even less, will this make her even weaker? Should I call into work tomorrow so I can get a second opinion, or should I wait it out and see if this does the trick? Are there any additional tests I should look into doing, or have the vets done everything they can?

The laxatone is very safe, won't make her weaker and will probably help her feel better by getting rid of hairballs (this is also true for Miralax). Has Meulin's weight loss only been in these past 5 weeks, or did her weight loss start before then? That is a lot of weight to lose in a short period of time and it would be a good idea to make sure she's had all the necessary blood work to rule out more serious problems (your primary vet can tell you if the blood work done by the emergency vet was enough or if there are more tests they'd recommend). But there are a few reasons for why she could lose that much weight in the past 5 weeks. Her appetite could be affected by stress from the recent changes, a viral or bacterial infection could reduce her sense of smell and that can make food less appealing, and hairballs can make cats feel nauseated and that can reduce their appetite.

They also made me buy some powder stuff to put in their wet food that seems to do absolutely nothing

Is this lysine powder? I use Viralys lysine powder to control my cat's herpes. Two things to check are if you're giving them enough lysine and if they're eating all of it in their food. The recommended adult dose for the Viralys lysine powder is 500mg - 1000 mg daily; my cat takes 1000 mg daily and his symptoms return if he takes less than 800 mg daily.

Violet was sneezing, had slight eye discharge, and sounded very stuffy, like she had a cold. I was given antibiotics for her and she's mostly cleared up, but she still sneezes frequently and sounds stuffy on occasion.

Do Violet's sneezes have clear discharge or no discharge? If so, that matches the description of a herpes flare. Continue the lysine and make sure she's getting enough and is eating all of it. I don't know what the appropriate dose would be for an 8 month old cat, so be sure to check with your vet.

My main vet diagnosed it as a viral upper respritory infection, which antibiotics wouldn't really help, but wouldn't really hurt... They put fluids in her and thats the best I've seen her up to that point and ever since.

...A few days later she was getting dehydrated again because the antibiotics were giving her diarrhea, so on day 5 of the antibiotics I stopped giving it to her.

Make sure Meulin takes the entire course of antibiotics, it is possible a secondary infection set in as FeebysOwner mentioned. Antibiotics can really disrupt the digestive tract, as you've seen with her diarrhea. A probiotic will help a lot with that, and continue the probiotic for a week after the antibiotic is finished. You could also ask your vet about giving Meulin more fluids, either at home or in a quick appointment. Hopefully she won't need more than a few more doses.

Meulin has several medications and supplements to take and you need to be careful about when you're giving them to her. A few of these can interfere with each other, so Meulin needs to take them a few hours apart.

Laxatone: do not give any other medication or supplement for two hours before or two hours after laxatone. The laxatone's purpose is to make the hair move through her system so she can get rid of it, but it also takes all other meds and supplements with it and they won't be absorbed. I'm not sure about Miralax, so check with your vet.

Antibiotics and probiotics: these two also need to be given a few hours apart from each other, otherwise the antibiotic will overpower the probiotic. It shouldn't matter which one she takes first as long as she's taking both of them daily.

Lysine powder: this can be given with any other medications or supplements (other than laxatone). Just make sure they're both getting enough lysine and eating all of it. Lysine treats and chews are also available if they would prefer something other than the powder.

 

[Mrtiredcats]

Thank you all for your replies, they have been very reassuring and helpful! I will be responding to each of you individually soon. <3

 

[Mrtiredcats]

Let me preface this with a HUGE THANK YOU! I was worried my original post was lengthy but you took an equal amount of time to sit down and respond, I seriously appreciate that, so I will take the time to respond best I can. (Also keep in mind, though I'm not new to forums, I am new to this one, and may have forgotten a few forum posting tricks here and there, so I apologize if any formatting turns out odd)

It's wonderful you've adopted a shelter kitty!

Thank you, but I feel like everyone should! Violet has been such a big sweetheart and fit in to our home very quickly. Most of the cats I've had in the past were rehomes. I truly believe that the right cats will find you

Everything you've described could be initially caused by stress, which does introduce the possibility of a virus or infection setting in while the immune system is temporarily low.

I have definitely considered this, my roommate moved out and I wanted to adopt a cat because I do work 40 hours a week and she's not really used to being alone, she's always had another companion but I understand why a completely new cat would stress her out. It would make sense between the shift of roommates and a new kitten that she has been feeling stressed about it, she was quite angry with me when I brought Violet home, I could tell she felt like I was trying to replace her, but I think she's over that now.

Stress could cause over-grooming and lead to hairballs. The ingredients in laxatone aren't great but Meulin only needs to take it for a short time. The Vetroquinol laxatone comes in two flavors, tuna and maple, if you think she may prefer one flavor over the other. And Miralax is also an option if she doesn't like the laxatone. Ask your vet about the frequency and duration of Miralax if you decide to use that instead of laxatone.

That does make sense, but there hasn't been an uptick in grooming. She's always been a heavy groomer regardless of the sitatuion, a great example is when she was younger she lived with cats with fleas, but she cleaned herself so meticulously she barely had any bites or fleas at any given time. So it's very hard to pinpoint if she's grooming more, but how slow she's been moving, I don't think she's been doing extra anything. I got the maple kind, they didn't really give me a flavor option. As mentioned she HATES oral medications and hates them even if they're "supposed" to taste good (How would you know, Laxatone, you're not a cat!). I don't think it would be worth to try miralex, as she would likely hate it just as much, and I've given her 3 doses of laxatone at this point so I wouldn't want to interrupt that process.

The laxatone is very safe, won't make her weaker and will probably help her feel better by getting rid of hairballs (this is also true for Miralax). Has Meulin's weight loss only been in these past 5 weeks, or did her weight loss start before then? That is a lot of weight to lose in a short period of time and it would be a good idea to make sure she's had all the necessary blood work to rule out more serious problems (your primary vet can tell you if the blood work done by the emergency vet was enough or if there are more tests they'd recommend). But there are a few reasons for why she could lose that much weight in the past 5 weeks. Her appetite could be affected by stress from the recent changes, a viral or bacterial infection could reduce her sense of smell and that can make food less appealing, and hairballs can make cats feel nauseated and that can reduce their appetite.

That is very reassuring! I was afraid that the laxatone might stop her from getting nutritional value from her food, and was afraid that if the problem isn't at ALL a hairball, it could do more harm than good. However, if it wouldn't hurt to try to clear her system out, I'm willing to give it to her for the next week. I also have a LARGE fear of her eating plastic bags and it getting stuck in her stomach, I try my best to hide and keep plastic out of reach but she is so quick to eat plastic that I will put my groceries down and she's already chewing on it before I can put away the milk. Yes,she has been 15 pounds most of her adult life, and the first time I took her to the vet a month ago, she was actually 12 pounds (!!), so I guess she's gained a pound back, but was also a huge red flag to me. She's a lil fat but she's always been healthy, and you could tell her skin was dragging down from weight loss.

Is this lysine powder? I use Viralys lysine powder to control my cat's herpes. Two things to check are if you're giving them enough lysine and if they're eating all of it in their food. The recommended adult dose for the Viralys lysine powder is 500mg - 1000 mg daily; my cat takes 1000 mg daily and his symptoms return if he takes less than 800 mg daily.

Yes! That's what it is, I don't know the exact measurement, was just told to put a scoop from the pre-measured scoop that came with it into their food. I can double check the dosage later, but I will admit that I stopped giving it to them 2 days ago from lack of results over the last month. However, it sounds more and more like herpes, and there's a good possibility they're not getting that full dose anyway, because Meulin barely eats half of her food before walking away, giving it to Violet for her turn (even though they have their own bowls....lol cats, amirite?)

Do Violet's sneezes have clear discharge or no discharge? If so, that matches the description of a herpes flare. Continue the lysine and make sure she's getting enough and is eating all of it. I don't know what the appropriate dose would be for an 8 month old cat, so be sure to check with your vet.

I believe clear discharge, as in, she'll have a chain of sneezes and get slobber all over my face in the process, aha, but that could just be saliva. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe most cats start taking adult doses at 6 months old. It is definitely a process to get into the vet, they have walk ins but I'm only able to do that on Monday, otherwise I have to make appointments even just to ask about medications. It's a 30 minute drive and can take hours of waiting depending on the day, so it's hard to just walk in during business hours throughout the week, especially if I just have a question about medicine.

Make sure Meulin takes the entire course of antibiotics, it is possible a secondary infection set in as FeebysOwner mentioned. Antibiotics can really disrupt the digestive tract, as you've seen with her diarrhea. A probiotic will help a lot with that, and continue the probiotic for a week after the antibiotic is finished. You could also ask your vet about giving Meulin more fluids, either at home or in a quick appointment. Hopefully she won't need more than a few more doses.

This is definitely something I've worried about, as it's the only step I've really done wrong. I usually have no problems carrying out an antibiotic, I understand why and how it's important to finish an antibiotic, and to be honest I took her off the antibiotics out of panic, and from the fact that the vet could do nothing over the phone without me walking in with meulin. Because of this I made the rash decision to take her off the antibiotics on day 5. The panic came from her improved state after getting fluids, and after paying nearly $400 so far between both cats, it seemed like the antibiotics were causing her to get worse again, making the fluids seem almost pointless.

Meulin has several medications and supplements to take and you need to be careful about when you're giving them to her. A few of these can interfere with each other, so Meulin needs to take them a few hours apart. ...... Laxatone: do not give any other medication or supplement for two hours before or two hours after laxatone. The laxatone's purpose is to make the hair move through her system so she can get rid of it, but it also takes all other meds and supplements with it and they won't be absorbed. I'm not sure about Miralax, so check with your vet. ..... Antibiotics and probiotics: these two also need to be given a few hours apart from each other, otherwise the antibiotic will overpower the probiotic. It shouldn't matter which one she takes first as long as she's taking both of them daily.

Thank you for this piece of advice, the last thing I want to do is cut down the effectiveness of the meds I've bought for her. She is free fed dry food but I feed them UP TO 3oz of wet food (per cat) twice a day, so I should be able to monitor when she consumes food and meds. I'll be sure to time the laxatone better.

Lysine powder: this can be given with any other medications or supplements (other than laxatone). Just make sure they're both getting enough lysine and eating all of it. Lysine treats and chews are also available if they would prefer something other than the powder.

I will look into those! Meulin has never been food motivated and has never been one to eat much, so I don't have hope for most treats or oral medications, and for now they seem to take the lysine powder just fine as long as it's mixed with the wet food.

I also want to make the note that they did xrays and bloodwork and found nothing wrong.

That's the end of the replies, here's my current conclusion:

I will make another appointment for next week. If she improves I will cancel the appoinntment. If she stays the same or gets worse, I'm taking her back. I'm going to stress that I believe she might have herpes, and will request testing her for it (which probably should have been done sooner, but what can ya do.) By then I will have the results of how laxatone affected her to help rule out furballs, if that really is what it is (can you tell I'm skeptical about the hairballs? I really HOPEthe coughing is as simple as hairballs). And then, go from there I suppose!

I really appreciate all your help, some things like the time between medications are super important things that the vets absolutely should have mentioned, as THEY are the ones selling overpriced over the counters without much effort to properly diagnose her... It might sound dumb, but I've noticed that dogs are typically taken much more seriously and treated much quicker than cats, and I believe favoritism doesn't belong in a vet's office at all. Not really relevant, just something that bothers me when I go into vets' offices. I will continue monitoring her and doing a better job at scheduling her meds, and I will continue to get her fluids during examinations if she's doing rough.

I believe that's it! Took me quite a while to type all of this out, phew. I'll probably post an update in a week after I go back to the vet. If something bad happens sooner I will also post, so no news is good news for now!

Thank you again!

 

[Astragal14]

It might sound dumb, but I've noticed that dogs are typically taken much more seriously and treated much quicker than cats, and I believe favoritism doesn't belong in a vet's office at all. Not really relevant, just something that bothers me when I go into vets' offices.

It's not dumb at all, it seems to be the reality! A lot of doctors and a lot of medications seem to view cats as just small dogs. And we know that's not the case at all! You're definitely not the only one who has noticed this! We go to a cats-only veterinary office and I will never go back to a regular veterinary office. We didn't have this where we used to live, I didn't even know cats only vets existed! It looks like they're becoming more common, so I hope they'll be easier to find from now on.

I will make another appointment for next week. If she improves I will cancel the appoinntment. If she stays the same or gets worse, I'm taking her back. I'm going to stress that I believe she might have herpes, and will request testing her for it (which probably should have been done sooner, but what can ya do.) By then I will have the results of how laxatone affected her to help rule out furballs, if that really is what it is (can you tell I'm skeptical about the hairballs? I really HOPEthe coughing is as simple as hairballs). And then, go from there I suppose!

This is a great plan. The laxatone should resolve or reduce hairballs within a week, so if Meulin continues coughing then it is likely something else (maybe an infection?). And it's also great that her blood work was normal! The effect of the lysine may not be as obvious for Meulin if she does have an infection, but it is still helping. And hopefully it will clear up Violet's sneezing soon too.

Please send an update and let us know how Meulin and Violet are doing after their appointments. And I'm sorry to hear that your vet is so difficult to reach, but I'm glad that you have this forum for questions and advice.

I truly believe that the right cats will find you

This is exactly what I think too!!