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- Jun 21, 2014
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My cat of 14 years, Caleb, a Maine Coon, has recently had fluid build up around his lungs. This started about a month ago now. Looking back I think it started with a cough he suddenly started getting at night but when I took him to the vet he thought it was acid reflux and focused on that as there were no other triggers at the time. Shortly after finishing the week of meds for that, he started breathing heavy and I noticed occasionally out of his mouth as well as not being able to lay down and get comfortable for very long or sometimes at all. I took him to the vet and the way they had to shake him out of his kennel (still upset over this!) caused him so much added stress on top of breathing heavy that I had to rush him to the hospital b/c his regular vet could not hear his lungs. They put him on oxygen and drained 250ml chyle fluid from his chest around his lungs. They noticed a tissue mass in front of his heart but could not get a sample for fear of puncturing his heart. They made him comfortable and I took him home.
5 days later I noticed he was breathing heavy again so I moved up his normal vet follow up after the hospital, and they had to drain 200ml from his chest again, this time at the vet's office so at least it was cheaper. In the meantime they ran what feels like millions of tests to try and determine what's going on. They ruled out heart worm and all his labs came back normal, except his stress test which was high...but two vet visits in one week on my poor kitty would do that!
5 days later I had to take him back again to have the fluid drained b/c his breathing got heavy again. They drained 210ml from his left side alone and were only able to drain 30ml from his right side b/c he had discomfort the 2x the vet tried. I had a cardiac ultra sound scheduled the next day to look more at his heart. They ruled out cardiomyapathy and all the readings on his heart came back normal. He ran the numbers 3x. He sent those results off for one last pet scan test, I'm still confused on the name, but basically to double check his findings but he was fairly confident his heart is not the cause. They want me to next do an MRI but I'm literally at the end of money I have not to mention my cat is having trouble breathing every 3-5 days!
We are going back to the vet today. I'm putting my foot down on running all these tests and just putting a band-aid on the problem and offering my Caleb no more of a solution than a 5 day interval. Today is actually only 3 days since his last drainage. I fear what is happening to the lining of his chest and lungs though!
I've taken it upon myself to research what could be going on. I've asked the vet to look into Rutin to put him on and will talk to him about what putting a tube in his chest for drainage entails. I want to get to the bottom line of what is causing this but I need some time to save up money and in the mean time I want more of a solution for my kitty! I'm hoping with the Rutin and maybe the tube I can get more time to save up and move on to an MRI next month. I fear the tissue in front of his heart could be a tumor and thus the cause. But I'm no expert.
I just feel like continuing to run blood work and labs over and over has me going in circles and in the mean time we are doing nothing longer than a few days to help Caleb! I told my mom I feel like they are taking advantage of me and my money and I need her to back me up today in saying this is what I want to do now!
I guess my question is, has anyone else ever had something like this come up? I read that 50% of cases like this just can't be solved but with Rutin and the tubes they can at least help with the build up. I am not giving up on Caleb b/c aside from whatever this is, he is fine! We are not in the end stage and I did not appreciate when the vet said putting him down could be an option based on what I could afford. If I did that I would never NEVER forgive myself b/c he's not there yet. We are not there yet. If we were I would do what's best for him. But it's not that time yet!
Anyway in my research I came across this site and thought I'd throw up my story in case anyone else is going through something just as scary. I've spent a great deal crying this past month but sucking it up and pushing it down b/c I don't want to be sad around my kitty. I'm hear to support him and do what's best for him. Thank you for taking the time to read this!
5 days later I noticed he was breathing heavy again so I moved up his normal vet follow up after the hospital, and they had to drain 200ml from his chest again, this time at the vet's office so at least it was cheaper. In the meantime they ran what feels like millions of tests to try and determine what's going on. They ruled out heart worm and all his labs came back normal, except his stress test which was high...but two vet visits in one week on my poor kitty would do that!
5 days later I had to take him back again to have the fluid drained b/c his breathing got heavy again. They drained 210ml from his left side alone and were only able to drain 30ml from his right side b/c he had discomfort the 2x the vet tried. I had a cardiac ultra sound scheduled the next day to look more at his heart. They ruled out cardiomyapathy and all the readings on his heart came back normal. He ran the numbers 3x. He sent those results off for one last pet scan test, I'm still confused on the name, but basically to double check his findings but he was fairly confident his heart is not the cause. They want me to next do an MRI but I'm literally at the end of money I have not to mention my cat is having trouble breathing every 3-5 days!
We are going back to the vet today. I'm putting my foot down on running all these tests and just putting a band-aid on the problem and offering my Caleb no more of a solution than a 5 day interval. Today is actually only 3 days since his last drainage. I fear what is happening to the lining of his chest and lungs though!
I've taken it upon myself to research what could be going on. I've asked the vet to look into Rutin to put him on and will talk to him about what putting a tube in his chest for drainage entails. I want to get to the bottom line of what is causing this but I need some time to save up money and in the mean time I want more of a solution for my kitty! I'm hoping with the Rutin and maybe the tube I can get more time to save up and move on to an MRI next month. I fear the tissue in front of his heart could be a tumor and thus the cause. But I'm no expert.
I just feel like continuing to run blood work and labs over and over has me going in circles and in the mean time we are doing nothing longer than a few days to help Caleb! I told my mom I feel like they are taking advantage of me and my money and I need her to back me up today in saying this is what I want to do now!
I guess my question is, has anyone else ever had something like this come up? I read that 50% of cases like this just can't be solved but with Rutin and the tubes they can at least help with the build up. I am not giving up on Caleb b/c aside from whatever this is, he is fine! We are not in the end stage and I did not appreciate when the vet said putting him down could be an option based on what I could afford. If I did that I would never NEVER forgive myself b/c he's not there yet. We are not there yet. If we were I would do what's best for him. But it's not that time yet!
Anyway in my research I came across this site and thought I'd throw up my story in case anyone else is going through something just as scary. I've spent a great deal crying this past month but sucking it up and pushing it down b/c I don't want to be sad around my kitty. I'm hear to support him and do what's best for him. Thank you for taking the time to read this!