- Joined
- Oct 16, 2023
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Cat information - Pierce 6 yr old fixed male
Health history (**extremely long**) - he was very sick as a baby (was actually my foster from the shelter I worked at at the time) weighed 1.7 lbs at 3 months, chronic URI (supposedly calici virus and feline herpes), extreme diarrhea due to coccidia, and ear mites. Needless to say he didn’t have an easy started to life.
once infections were cleared with him and his litter mate Pierce was still congested and hacking, he responded somewhat to rounds of steroid injections and prednisolone but only somewhat. Asthma was on our radar but since steroids weren’t fully controlling his respiratory issues my vet suggested an exploratory scope procedure. At this point Pierce seemed runty, hadn’t grown much since 5 months, didn’t respond as expected to traditional treatments so we went for the scope treatment. What was found was a rather large polyp under his soft pallet at the top of his throat.This was removed at the time and he recovered rather well, he did experience horners syndrome from nerve damaged but it resolved.
all seemed fine for several following months. He got better, stronger, and was about to finally meow properly and purr for the first time! Because of the polyp my vet assumed it was not asthma causing issues, rather congestion from the growth and perhaps left over lung issues from his illness as a kitten. We just continued to monitor. At two years old however the hacking and coughing came back. At this time he did need a dental cleaning and we discussed checking while he was under of the polyp was returning (there is a 50% chance it could grow back during his life) well the polyp was not there. Which was good news however it did not explain the coughing, we discussed trying a course of pred to see how he would responded and a chronic inflammation disorder or genetic syndrome was on the radar. At this time I was unfortunately moving states so I had to switch vets. We started a course of steroids with a new vet and he did GREAT! My new vet was extremely conservative with steroids, as one should be, so we did tapered courses as needed to control the asthma.
however April 2022 Pierce had a hypertensive episode with a suspected stroke. He collapsed, his breathing was elevated, his pupils were different sizes. He almost died, the ER vet tried to have me put him down, I refused. His Blood pressure was so high he could have coded. His Retinas detached due to pressure. He spent a few days in the ICU. he developed a minor heart murmur. We did ultrasounds on him and his heart, extensive chest rads, internal med consults. No one could pin point why this happened. Even still to this day, no one knows- even after thousands spent, three internal medicine specialists, a cardiologist evaluation etc. All that was found was a suspected genetic issue with his one adrenal gland and kidneys- they’re misshaped but labs look fine. We could not afford an MRI after the ICU and testing (7k in a matter of months spent- MRI would be approximately 2.5k where I am) and honestly the fact he recovered and is well today, I don’t think it was honestly needed anyway. The recovery was very rough, he even had a bout of alopecia and lost fur, and I had doubts at times I did the right thing but by six months he was himself again, no long lasting issues from this event. The cardiology appointment found no issues with his heart, just a minor murmur that comes on after stress which is normal at times (another $800 for no answers). He was on a blood thinner and steroids all through his recovery and after his heart was clear we took him off the thinner. His specialist actually somewhat “fired” us March 2023 lol just because he was doing fantastic! Obviously she said to contact with any issues but IMED was no longer needed. We got him down to 2.5 mg of prednisolone every other day and his breathing issues were under control. His blood work was great. There is apparently nothing wrong with him currently that can be found.
She said we may never have answers for what his underlying issues may be but at best we can just treat symptoms. It could be autoimmune, it could be an inflammatory disorder, etc but right now nothing is fitting together and he’s fine. She told us to just continue with his primary vet for blood work monitoring. We just did lab work four weeks ago with his new primary (we moved in august again) and all was clear.
This all brings us to today. The last week I saw his doing a gulping motion ONLY while purring- I thought it was weird but I thought nothing of it. Sunday night he had his first asthma event in a year and a half. It made me distraught after everything this cats been through. I knew his specialist and primary weren’t open of course. He was due for his 2.5 mg dose. I gave it. He continued wheezing through out the day. In the past I’ve been told to up his dosage if he had a break through event. By the evening I trusted my gut and gave him another 2.5 mg dose, suspected he’s built a tolerance over the last 18 months. He did great overnight and seems okayish today, mild coughs here and there but no full blown attacks. I have left a voicemail for the specialist but naturally I’m afraid I won’t hear back today. His primary vet who he’s only seen once isn’t in today either. I’m just worried and unsure how to make him comfortable until I can speak to a vet and I know asthma is a delicate issue. I’m considering talking to the vet to finally get him on inhaled medication, we haven’t done this since he responded very well to extremely low dose pred. The other thing is his chest rads didn’t show typical asthma signs, but his symptoms and responses to medication do?
the only thing I can think of that caused this is A) he built a tolerance B) the change in weather C) I did use a new litter in a few boxes due to cost but I still kept the usual litter in some - new litter is now thrown out because I feel stupid.
anyway sorry for lengthy post, if anyone has advice or input I would love to chat. My poor boys been through SO MUCH and I really just hate sitting with anxiety and him having wheezing/coughing issues while waiting to hear from the vet about upping his dosage.
Health history (**extremely long**) - he was very sick as a baby (was actually my foster from the shelter I worked at at the time) weighed 1.7 lbs at 3 months, chronic URI (supposedly calici virus and feline herpes), extreme diarrhea due to coccidia, and ear mites. Needless to say he didn’t have an easy started to life.
once infections were cleared with him and his litter mate Pierce was still congested and hacking, he responded somewhat to rounds of steroid injections and prednisolone but only somewhat. Asthma was on our radar but since steroids weren’t fully controlling his respiratory issues my vet suggested an exploratory scope procedure. At this point Pierce seemed runty, hadn’t grown much since 5 months, didn’t respond as expected to traditional treatments so we went for the scope treatment. What was found was a rather large polyp under his soft pallet at the top of his throat.This was removed at the time and he recovered rather well, he did experience horners syndrome from nerve damaged but it resolved.
all seemed fine for several following months. He got better, stronger, and was about to finally meow properly and purr for the first time! Because of the polyp my vet assumed it was not asthma causing issues, rather congestion from the growth and perhaps left over lung issues from his illness as a kitten. We just continued to monitor. At two years old however the hacking and coughing came back. At this time he did need a dental cleaning and we discussed checking while he was under of the polyp was returning (there is a 50% chance it could grow back during his life) well the polyp was not there. Which was good news however it did not explain the coughing, we discussed trying a course of pred to see how he would responded and a chronic inflammation disorder or genetic syndrome was on the radar. At this time I was unfortunately moving states so I had to switch vets. We started a course of steroids with a new vet and he did GREAT! My new vet was extremely conservative with steroids, as one should be, so we did tapered courses as needed to control the asthma.
however April 2022 Pierce had a hypertensive episode with a suspected stroke. He collapsed, his breathing was elevated, his pupils were different sizes. He almost died, the ER vet tried to have me put him down, I refused. His Blood pressure was so high he could have coded. His Retinas detached due to pressure. He spent a few days in the ICU. he developed a minor heart murmur. We did ultrasounds on him and his heart, extensive chest rads, internal med consults. No one could pin point why this happened. Even still to this day, no one knows- even after thousands spent, three internal medicine specialists, a cardiologist evaluation etc. All that was found was a suspected genetic issue with his one adrenal gland and kidneys- they’re misshaped but labs look fine. We could not afford an MRI after the ICU and testing (7k in a matter of months spent- MRI would be approximately 2.5k where I am) and honestly the fact he recovered and is well today, I don’t think it was honestly needed anyway. The recovery was very rough, he even had a bout of alopecia and lost fur, and I had doubts at times I did the right thing but by six months he was himself again, no long lasting issues from this event. The cardiology appointment found no issues with his heart, just a minor murmur that comes on after stress which is normal at times (another $800 for no answers). He was on a blood thinner and steroids all through his recovery and after his heart was clear we took him off the thinner. His specialist actually somewhat “fired” us March 2023 lol just because he was doing fantastic! Obviously she said to contact with any issues but IMED was no longer needed. We got him down to 2.5 mg of prednisolone every other day and his breathing issues were under control. His blood work was great. There is apparently nothing wrong with him currently that can be found.
She said we may never have answers for what his underlying issues may be but at best we can just treat symptoms. It could be autoimmune, it could be an inflammatory disorder, etc but right now nothing is fitting together and he’s fine. She told us to just continue with his primary vet for blood work monitoring. We just did lab work four weeks ago with his new primary (we moved in august again) and all was clear.
This all brings us to today. The last week I saw his doing a gulping motion ONLY while purring- I thought it was weird but I thought nothing of it. Sunday night he had his first asthma event in a year and a half. It made me distraught after everything this cats been through. I knew his specialist and primary weren’t open of course. He was due for his 2.5 mg dose. I gave it. He continued wheezing through out the day. In the past I’ve been told to up his dosage if he had a break through event. By the evening I trusted my gut and gave him another 2.5 mg dose, suspected he’s built a tolerance over the last 18 months. He did great overnight and seems okayish today, mild coughs here and there but no full blown attacks. I have left a voicemail for the specialist but naturally I’m afraid I won’t hear back today. His primary vet who he’s only seen once isn’t in today either. I’m just worried and unsure how to make him comfortable until I can speak to a vet and I know asthma is a delicate issue. I’m considering talking to the vet to finally get him on inhaled medication, we haven’t done this since he responded very well to extremely low dose pred. The other thing is his chest rads didn’t show typical asthma signs, but his symptoms and responses to medication do?
the only thing I can think of that caused this is A) he built a tolerance B) the change in weather C) I did use a new litter in a few boxes due to cost but I still kept the usual litter in some - new litter is now thrown out because I feel stupid.
anyway sorry for lengthy post, if anyone has advice or input I would love to chat. My poor boys been through SO MUCH and I really just hate sitting with anxiety and him having wheezing/coughing issues while waiting to hear from the vet about upping his dosage.
I just reread my posting and realized there’s a few mistakes
I did end up leaving one box of the clay to prevent our senior cat from peeing outside the box (it’s been a major issue since we moved) and that’s the box they seem to use the most. Hopefully I can fully transition them off clay quickly.
to top it off she was just spent his bi annual physical and blood work from our primary four weeks ago; which he always get his heart checked and blood pressure taken. so honestly I do not plan to spend $180 for an additional visit with internal medicine. 
him and his brother are truly my pride and joy. Tristan is the one with the orange eyes and torn ear. Out of all of the cats I’ve had throughout my life they hold a very special place In my heart.
