Hey everyone!
I posted a month ago about some digestive issues with my cat - luckily those seem to have resolved for now but at the same time she had some URI symptoms that had taken a back burner while we figured out how to deal with her other issues. She had some clear looking eye discharge that would dry down to black crust, is a little sneeze-y, and sounds slightly congested (kinda sounds like she has mucus in her throat?). The eye discharge and sneezing has become minimal compared to months ago. She will occasionally have wheezing fits that last about 1-2 minutes - these she's had for her whole life but they've been really infrequent. She had a chest x-ray done February of 2022 and they said her lungs looked clear so most likely not asthma. I actually don't live with her, this is my parents cat but I handle all health related things when they come up. That's led to me staying at my parents from early June til now and I've seen her have 3 wheezing fits, June 5th, July 18th, and August 9th (this last one was less aggressive, kinda light wheezing).
Energy wise, she doesn't have zoomies these days but she's still active and spends some time outside making rounds or running if she feels like it. Eats, drinks normally, and uses the litter box regularly. She's also about 11-12 years old so I know I have to anticipate some changes as these years pass.
Because of her previous digestive health scare, I feel like I've become more worried about the worst case scenarios and at the moment, I've been paying extra attention to her breathing. I uploaded a few videos here with dates as the file names. Through Googling normal and abnormal cat breathing, I've come across the term 'paradoxical breathing' which seems to be what she does occasionally, although it's still a little hard for me to understand so I'm not sure if I'm classifying it correctly. It's not rapid or labored luckily, and it's not all the time, so I'm wondering if this is just normal and wanted to get everyones thoughts.
I've also talked to one of her vets about the wheezing and he really didn't seem concerned because of the infrequency. I had also shown a vet at the same clinic a video of her breathing and she also didn't seem concerned and said to worry only if her breathing was labored. Regardless, I'm planning on taking her to the vet tomorrow or Sunday to try and get chest x-rays. Anything else I could ask for? A heartworm test? As someone who has very minimal veterinary knowledge, I'm worried about potential fluid build up. I'd of course like to catch anything early.
Thank you everyone!
I posted a month ago about some digestive issues with my cat - luckily those seem to have resolved for now but at the same time she had some URI symptoms that had taken a back burner while we figured out how to deal with her other issues. She had some clear looking eye discharge that would dry down to black crust, is a little sneeze-y, and sounds slightly congested (kinda sounds like she has mucus in her throat?). The eye discharge and sneezing has become minimal compared to months ago. She will occasionally have wheezing fits that last about 1-2 minutes - these she's had for her whole life but they've been really infrequent. She had a chest x-ray done February of 2022 and they said her lungs looked clear so most likely not asthma. I actually don't live with her, this is my parents cat but I handle all health related things when they come up. That's led to me staying at my parents from early June til now and I've seen her have 3 wheezing fits, June 5th, July 18th, and August 9th (this last one was less aggressive, kinda light wheezing).
Energy wise, she doesn't have zoomies these days but she's still active and spends some time outside making rounds or running if she feels like it. Eats, drinks normally, and uses the litter box regularly. She's also about 11-12 years old so I know I have to anticipate some changes as these years pass.
Because of her previous digestive health scare, I feel like I've become more worried about the worst case scenarios and at the moment, I've been paying extra attention to her breathing. I uploaded a few videos here with dates as the file names. Through Googling normal and abnormal cat breathing, I've come across the term 'paradoxical breathing' which seems to be what she does occasionally, although it's still a little hard for me to understand so I'm not sure if I'm classifying it correctly. It's not rapid or labored luckily, and it's not all the time, so I'm wondering if this is just normal and wanted to get everyones thoughts.
I've also talked to one of her vets about the wheezing and he really didn't seem concerned because of the infrequency. I had also shown a vet at the same clinic a video of her breathing and she also didn't seem concerned and said to worry only if her breathing was labored. Regardless, I'm planning on taking her to the vet tomorrow or Sunday to try and get chest x-rays. Anything else I could ask for? A heartworm test? As someone who has very minimal veterinary knowledge, I'm worried about potential fluid build up. I'd of course like to catch anything early.
Thank you everyone!
