Gracie needs vibes.....

[carolina]

Gracie is doing really well on some things, and not so much on others...
She is eating better, at this point only spoon-fed 2 meals, am and pm, 2oz each, and eating her whole dry on her own
Her coat looks better already, she pack of hairloss is pretty much gone, she is no longer lethargic, her eyes are bright, she looks much healthier overall.
She is still on appetite stimulants 2x a day, and staring tomorrow she will go on once a day.
As of today,she is officially off Methimazole

The bad news is, she developed a pretty darn bad cough. I was assuming this to be a stuck hairball since she went off her hairball treats, but after the cough persisting 6 days of straight Vaseline and pumpkin, I am not sure. It does not sound like asthma - there is no hacking like asthma. It is a cough.... but it can get pretty bad to make her tired and go out of breath. It has been getting a little better lately, but I want to take no chances.... I am going out of town Sunday, so tomorrow I am going to the vet and getting a chest x-ray.
Hopefully it is nothing serious..... she is not acting sick, which is the good news..... and her breathing is good otherwise.
Please, if you can spare some vibes for her to continue to eat while I am away (Kelly will up her stimulants if her appetite goes down), and for tomorrow's problem to be only hairballs or a simple infection.... She can take all the vibes she can

 

[otto]

Many vibes and much love to Gracie. I hope she is not developing an allergy to the new food, since it is helping her so well, though that was my first thought.

Gracie :heart3: :heart3:

 

[ldg]

!!!!! After what we're going through with Flowerbelle, I think this is a good idea. And I REALLY hope it's not a food allergy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cross:

 

[jcat]

The cough is worrying - it's a good thing you're getting it checked out. Could it be your heat?
Mega for your girl!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Yes, I'm hoping it's not allergies, along with everyone else.  But, if it were, I'd think she'd have been coughing earlier, so maybe it IS just your dry air now that it's winter

that it's nothing serious!

 

[carolina]

Gracie went to the vet today, but there are not many answers - she went to Bugsy's hospital, but saw another vet, not Bugsy's as he is only going to be there next week, and I am going to be out of town.
Her vet, in another clinic, is going to be available Tuesday only, and they didn't have an in-house x-ray machine, so I decided we should go before I left....
Big mistake, big waste of money.
My appointment was at 11:30. They set her up in the room, I told a bit of Gracie's background, and the vet's first words were: The clinic closes in three minutes, so let me do the exam, because I have to go. :wife:
She listened to her lungs, wrote in a piece of paper..... I asked her if she heard anything - HELLO-O would you think about telling me? No, her lungs are clear.
I had faxed yesterday Gracies history and her blood test, she did not get it, nor bother to go to the front to take a look at it.
She pressed on Gracie's throat and she started coughing she then said, simply, it can be Tracheoitis or a tumor. Just like that. Said that we can do x-rays and then and endoscopy. I told her to get x-rays.... When the tech was taking her away, I told him to take her by the scruff - otherwise she would freak out..... Next thing I know he is carrying her by her belly and she is one freaked out kitty - I said... I just told you she needs to be scruffed and that she will freak - didn't you listen?
They come back and say that I need to come back - she was moving too much and trying to bite. (duh)
I asked - can't you gas her a little? - nope - we are closing now, we don't have the time.... I said.... Isoflurane doesn't take that long for the effects to go away.... Nope. Can you come back monday? No - I am out of town - which is why I came here today for this. Tuesday? Nope - I am out of town. Wednesday? Nope - I said I am out of town.
They want me to go Thursday.
I asked if they could see anything in this x-ray....... kind of.... She was moving too much, but it was a little shady around the heart.... It could be just because she was moving too much though..... We really need to take them over - different views of the trachea, heart and lungs.
GUESS if she charged me for the x-ray? You guessed it right yep.
She was not going to do anything about it - just send me home with Gracie.... then I asked her: what is the biggest probability here? She said - an irritation, inflammation of the trachea. Asked how she would treat it - A shot of steroids. Asked if it was cancer, if that would do any harm.... Nope it would be beneficial to reduce the inflammation on the surrounding tissue. So, that's what I told her to do, and went on my way.
I am not going to go back to her Thursday.
Kelly is going to take her to her vet Tuesday, and they will take the x-rays next door. Her vet is wonderful, and she is the one treating her for the thyroid.
I am not taking her suggestions of diagnosis either - there are SO many possibilities here..... sooo many - I will let her investigate and get to her conclusions alone.
I will also work on getting my $$$ back from the hospital with Bugsy's vet, who is wonderful, and the practice's owner- he would NEVER, in a million years, have done that - that is like water to wine when comparing to him.
Her cough has been getting a little better on the last few days, and after the steroid shot it seems to have calmed down somewhat -
I really don't think it is food allergies - she has no scratching, no diarrhea, and the cough is more on her throat than anything....
To me, it can be hairballs, aspiration from force-feeding - I did not notice that she aspirated, but this started after force-feeding, foreign object, tracheitis..... Good news is, it seems to be getting better, not worst - on Tuesday it was REALLY bad.... Wednesday started to get a little better..... Today it is not as bad anymore..... Still there, but not as bad.
On Tuesday, everytime she moved, she would have a cough fit - not today....
Anyways, that's the story - I will know more Tuesday..... Today was annoying and I feel I got my wallet stolen from me - ripped off.... but at least she got her steroids and I know her lungs are clear.
Tuesday we start over -

 

[otto]

I'm so sorry you both had to go through that, how incredibly aggravating. I'm glad you intent to make a complaint.

So glad to hear she is doing better. Aspiration....I hadn't thought of that! That certainly could cause some coughing, as could a scratch in the throat. Thank heaven for Kelly.

Keep us posted.

Gracie :heart3:

You

 

[carolina]

I'm so sorry you both had to go through that, how incredibly aggravating. I'm glad you intent to make a complaint.

So glad to hear she is doing better. Aspiration....I hadn't thought of that! That certainly could cause some coughing, as could a scratch in the throat. Thank heaven for Kelly.

Keep us posted.

Gracie :heart3:

You

Yep.... I was reading an article about what could cause it today..... and then that's when I realized it.... wait.... this started when I started force-feeding her.....
I said in the article, that with foreign object, or aspiration, even when they pass the "object", it can create a lot of inflammation on the throat/trachea, and can take a while to pass - the coughing irritates even more..... and it can become chronic.
So that's definitely a possibility.
I did not notice her aspirating at all, but it is definitely a coincidence.
So it is the heater being on 100% of the time, the hairballs treats being discontinued...... etc..... We will see

 

[carolina]

So far things are looking up - she hasn't coughed for a while...... Just a little after she came from the vet, but nothing at all from about 4-5 until now (it is 2:30am).
Perhaps this is just an irritation on her throat and all she needed was some steroid :cross:

 

[feralvr]

YAY Glad to hear she is a bit better today after the steroid. BUT what is that about the vet ....... How in the world could they charge you for xray's that didn't turn out clearly. I only say this because in the past - same thing has happened. My vet has never charged me for unclear xray's due to the cat moving. Hope you can get out of paying for those :cross:

For Gracie to continue on a positive, healthy path. :rub:

 

[ldg]

So far things are looking up - she hasn't coughed for a while...... Just a little after she came from the vet, but nothing at all from about 4-5 until now (it is 2:30am).
Perhaps this is just an irritation on her throat and all she needed was some steroid :cross:

:bigthumb: Oh I SO hope it was just irritation from hairball-related coughing after having had to stop her hairball treats!

 

[carolina]

:bigthumb: Oh I SO hope it was just irritation from hairball-related coughing after having had to stop her hairball treats!

Thank you Laurie.... I wish the news were still as good
It is very late here in Florida, so I am just going to paste my FB posts from yesterday and today -

Yesterday: "My little girl really needs me right now and I am not there I just want to go home and be with her... She is not doing well again... tomorrow Kelly will take her to Dr. Escobedo, Bugsy's vet... She will be in great hands... But I am scared for what this could be... She has been eating poorly since I left, and is taking no force feeding (she hyperventilated when Kelly tried...) Gracie is really skittish and stressed- it took the longest for her to just not hiss at my sight. I hate that she will go to the vet tomorrow, and might be another day of not eating well... But tonight after this stress she started wheezing and Dr. Escobedo is concerned about her heart... So... From my conversation with him, with what's going on, he said she needs to go in straight away- it can be pretty serious ... I just can't wait for Wednesday so I can be there with her... I want to take care of my baby 24x7 :,("

Today: Well... Gracie isn't doing well... she is doing better than yesterday, but the news are not good... She has congestive heart failure, due most likely to HCM There is fluid around her heart. her heart is enlarged, and the walls thickened. Her liver is also inflamed. There is a spot on her lung- can be a tumor, or can be just fluids. She got diuretics at the vet, and spent most of the day in the oxygen tank, as her breathing was labored... By the end of the day she was doing much better, and had eaten 2 cans of food already- that's the good news. Dr. Escobedo said she responded really well to the diuretics, and a lot less fluid could be seen already around the heart by the time she went home. She was chatty and "loud" lol. He said we need to see how she responds to the treatment- many cats can have a normal quality of life when treated for a long while... So now all we can hope is that she will do well on it... As far as her liver, can be hepatic lipidosis or cancer- hoping for the first, of course.... She has to continue on appetite stimulants long term- and we will see how her enzymes go down... Well... That's the story... Can't wait to go home...

I have spoken to Kelly, and she is doing much better now at home - she is barely coughing, and her breathing is much better too. She has eaten another can of food. These are small cans, and NOT her y/d, just MAX Cat - for now, she just has to eat - when I get back I will spoon feed her y/d - I do not want her thyroid to get out of control, damaging even more her heart - fine balance here in between her liver and heart.

Dr. Escobedo is really happy with her response to the diuretics - he said when a cat wont respond to treatments, it doesn't.... and Gracie responded really fast - by the end of the day she had made great progress in regards to the fluid around her heart. Now is to see if she responds to the rest of the treatment, and to the diet - this will mean a few treats a day - keeping the stress down is a must so pilling is really last case here.... I hope these couple of days on max cat didn't completely mess it up.... God, I hope so many things.... that she responds well to the treatment, that the spot in the lung is not cancer, that the liver issue is not cancer either, and that she gets better so she stands her own soon...... My Gracie baby girl, mommie is coming home tomorrow.... :heart3:

 

[jcat]

Wow, a lot has been happening with her. It's good to hear she's responding to the diuretics. Jamie was getting them 3x a day the first week and now 2x in pill form. I've also got enough for 3 injections in an emergency. Hopefully Gracie will continue to improve and there's no cancer. Mega for her!

 

[meuzettesmom]

I am glad she got what you were doing all that time. Cats feel and feel very deeply. Sometimes too deep for people to notice or understand, for you have to read body language. You two were a great team at beating the battle down.

 

[otto]

Carolina how terrible for you that you aren't home when all this is happening. Thank God for Kelly. Though she is not you, Gracie knows her at least. I'm glad Gracie has responded to treatment, and you will be home with her today.

Love and vibes for you both.

Gracie :heart3:

Carolina

 

[mbjerkness]

Happy to hear she is responding to treatment. Many good health vibes for Gracie.

 

[feralvr]

Glad Gracie is responding to the diuretics. I am sure this is weighing on you greatly, not being there . Thank goodness for Kelly and at least Gracie knows her. I really hope your girl continues to eat and get better soon :cross:

 

[ldg]

Carolina, I am SO sorry for the news. I can't begin to imagine how stressful it is going through something like this when you have to travel for business. Thank GOD for Kelly .... and for Dr. Escobedo. :heart3: It's certainly a relief to hear she responded to the treatment and feels better. :nod:

Mega vibes for Gracie, and for you. Vibes she does well with the treatment for her heart, that not eating her y/d for a few days is not messing with her liver, and that the spot(s) are NOT cancer!

 

[otto]

Checking in for an update on Gracie.

Gracie :heart3:

Carolina:

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry things  have taken a turn for the worse since I last checked in here!  But, at least she has responded well to the diuretics, so that's good.  Now here's hoping that the further diagnostics are as good as can be (not cancer).