In November my 7 month old male tabby cat went missing for a day and a half. We found him underneath a bed with his front legs bent at his elbows away from his body and his head resting on the floor. He wouldn't eat or drink, we rushed him to an emergency vet.
They found that he was constipated, had a mild fever, a fast heartbeat and had shallow breathing. His lungs and heart appeared to be normal. On Monday we took him to the local vet and after new xrays, and bloodtests her conclusion was the blockage was an infected furball, gave him antibiotics and a laxative and he was much better after a few days.
However, the shallow breathing remained, and the 'air hunger' pose. We took him back to the vet, more tests & xrays, no real resolution.
Out of denial I put off getting a specialist to check him out. For the last 5 months he's been a happy active cat, even though he has rapid breathing from his stomache, regularly goes into the air hunger pose, and has remained about the same size and weight (8lbs).
Looking back I remember him doing the air hunger pose (not knowing what it was) around a week before he got sick, so I believe they're unrelated.
Today I scheduled an appointment at a University's School of Veterinary first to see a cardiologist then internal medicine. In anticipation, I took him back to the local vet to get bloodwork done and get a FVRCP vaccination.
There was a long wait, lots of noise and visitors in our room and he was trembling the entire time... He was his normal self when we left home, but by the end of the visit he was breathing quite rapidly. The vet,who's not a cat specialist, wasn't concerned. His bloodwork came back normal.
When I got him to the car he was hyperventilating, and full mouth panting. I thought he was going to die in the 10 minute drive home. (I drove home instead of back to the vet because I knew he would calm down at home and continue to be stressed at the vet.)
The moment we got home, he stopped panting and his breathing slowed, although it was still rapid. He initially tried to hide underneath the seat and then the car. When the other cat came and licked him he calmed down even more. He was almost back to normal within 20 minutes, and after an hour he's breathing like he normally does.
He has mostly purple gums now, but as time passes they are getting pinker.
The local vet said she was at her limit and he needed to go to the University Emergency Hospital. I was afraid the stress of the hour long car ride would kill him. Since it's the weekend, he would be kennelled until Monday when he would see a cardiologist.
I decided the stress of being away from everything and everyone he knows over the weekend would probably be worse for his health. If he's going to die this weekend, I think he and I both would rather him enjoy his home than die in panic in a car or alone in a kennel.
He's ate a can of Fancy Feast, drank water, played with his toys and climbed a tree. As I write this I've just seen him sneeze several times, which he's never done before. Someone is constantly watching him to see if his condition changes.
Am I doing what's best for him?
They found that he was constipated, had a mild fever, a fast heartbeat and had shallow breathing. His lungs and heart appeared to be normal. On Monday we took him to the local vet and after new xrays, and bloodtests her conclusion was the blockage was an infected furball, gave him antibiotics and a laxative and he was much better after a few days.
However, the shallow breathing remained, and the 'air hunger' pose. We took him back to the vet, more tests & xrays, no real resolution.
Out of denial I put off getting a specialist to check him out. For the last 5 months he's been a happy active cat, even though he has rapid breathing from his stomache, regularly goes into the air hunger pose, and has remained about the same size and weight (8lbs).
Looking back I remember him doing the air hunger pose (not knowing what it was) around a week before he got sick, so I believe they're unrelated.
Today I scheduled an appointment at a University's School of Veterinary first to see a cardiologist then internal medicine. In anticipation, I took him back to the local vet to get bloodwork done and get a FVRCP vaccination.
There was a long wait, lots of noise and visitors in our room and he was trembling the entire time... He was his normal self when we left home, but by the end of the visit he was breathing quite rapidly. The vet,who's not a cat specialist, wasn't concerned. His bloodwork came back normal.
When I got him to the car he was hyperventilating, and full mouth panting. I thought he was going to die in the 10 minute drive home. (I drove home instead of back to the vet because I knew he would calm down at home and continue to be stressed at the vet.)
The moment we got home, he stopped panting and his breathing slowed, although it was still rapid. He initially tried to hide underneath the seat and then the car. When the other cat came and licked him he calmed down even more. He was almost back to normal within 20 minutes, and after an hour he's breathing like he normally does.
He has mostly purple gums now, but as time passes they are getting pinker.
The local vet said she was at her limit and he needed to go to the University Emergency Hospital. I was afraid the stress of the hour long car ride would kill him. Since it's the weekend, he would be kennelled until Monday when he would see a cardiologist.
I decided the stress of being away from everything and everyone he knows over the weekend would probably be worse for his health. If he's going to die this weekend, I think he and I both would rather him enjoy his home than die in panic in a car or alone in a kennel.
He's ate a can of Fancy Feast, drank water, played with his toys and climbed a tree. As I write this I've just seen him sneeze several times, which he's never done before. Someone is constantly watching him to see if his condition changes.
Am I doing what's best for him?
