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- Jan 29, 2013
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Hi Everyone,
I am new here and looking for some thoughts, advice, anything anyone could share would be very much appreciated.
I adopted Francis Xavier, a beautiful two year old boy, from a rescue org a little over ten weeks ago. He had an upper respiratory infection and I brought him home with the antibiotic they'd been giving him. He was sneezing, coughing, etc.
He never shook the infection so I brought him to a new vet that I selected when I adopted another kitty, Beau Edward, ten months ago. Well, Francis seemed to shake off the URI after this round of antibiotics. Then, after a week and a half, it returned. I took him back to the vet and came home with another antibiotic. It went away again, then returned again. His cough remained the whole time, though, even when the sneezing went away on the antibiotics.
I took him in today to have diagnostics done to find out what the cough may be from, as it never goes away from the antibiotics.
It is a dry cough, almost like he is trying to expel a hairball. He can cough at any time, not just a certain time, or after play, etc.
He is eating, playing, cuddling, being his usual self. The last few days he has been coughing a little more.
I kept taking him in to the vets and everyone was hoping the coughing was from a lingering URI and it would go away. It didn't and his last antibiotic round ended yesterday. That is why I took him in today to run some diagnostic tests.
An xray showed that his heart was a little enlarged. The way the vet put it was "a little long." Now, the same vet had scared me with a story of one of her cats who died from Cardiomyopathy........then she looked at Francis' xray and I asked her if her cat's heart had been a little long. She said yes. I am scared.
She is sending the xray out for a radiology consultation.
I did not ask the right questions while at the vet. I lost a kitty less than three months ago and her brother only ten months before that. Both were eldery kitties whom I had given chronic care to for a year and a half combined. I think I am so sensitive right now that I didn't behave as I normally would and ask the right questions, not jump to the worse conclusions, etc.
My question is.........does Francis has to have a heart condition, or could there be a chance that his heart looked enlarged due to some fluid build up from the lengthy/repeated URI?
I had originally gone in there thinking he may have asthma and the doctor did say that she was thinking the bloodwork may point to that. But, I didn't ask her if it looked at all like he had asthma from the xrays. I was told a doctor should be able to tell that, but I didn't ask, I just assumed the worse and thought Fran had a heart issue--even though she is not confirming that just yet, just saying that it 'looks' a little enlarged and wants another to take a look at it. I have to wait a couple of days for this second opinion.
This is a new vet. My two kitties who passed went to a veterinary specialist hospital as they had cancer, kidney disease, diabetes, etc. (Well, my Eddie had diabetes for over ten years......so he went there a long time).
Any thoughts? Would everyone just wait before they started freaking out here? Anyone with a similiar experience? Or, anyone that feels like talking about Cardiomyopathy, any type of heart disease, asthma, URI's, oh, anything anybody would like to share.
Thank you so much,
Eddysmom
I am new here and looking for some thoughts, advice, anything anyone could share would be very much appreciated.
I adopted Francis Xavier, a beautiful two year old boy, from a rescue org a little over ten weeks ago. He had an upper respiratory infection and I brought him home with the antibiotic they'd been giving him. He was sneezing, coughing, etc.
He never shook the infection so I brought him to a new vet that I selected when I adopted another kitty, Beau Edward, ten months ago. Well, Francis seemed to shake off the URI after this round of antibiotics. Then, after a week and a half, it returned. I took him back to the vet and came home with another antibiotic. It went away again, then returned again. His cough remained the whole time, though, even when the sneezing went away on the antibiotics.
I took him in today to have diagnostics done to find out what the cough may be from, as it never goes away from the antibiotics.
It is a dry cough, almost like he is trying to expel a hairball. He can cough at any time, not just a certain time, or after play, etc.
He is eating, playing, cuddling, being his usual self. The last few days he has been coughing a little more.
I kept taking him in to the vets and everyone was hoping the coughing was from a lingering URI and it would go away. It didn't and his last antibiotic round ended yesterday. That is why I took him in today to run some diagnostic tests.
An xray showed that his heart was a little enlarged. The way the vet put it was "a little long." Now, the same vet had scared me with a story of one of her cats who died from Cardiomyopathy........then she looked at Francis' xray and I asked her if her cat's heart had been a little long. She said yes. I am scared.
She is sending the xray out for a radiology consultation.
I did not ask the right questions while at the vet. I lost a kitty less than three months ago and her brother only ten months before that. Both were eldery kitties whom I had given chronic care to for a year and a half combined. I think I am so sensitive right now that I didn't behave as I normally would and ask the right questions, not jump to the worse conclusions, etc.
My question is.........does Francis has to have a heart condition, or could there be a chance that his heart looked enlarged due to some fluid build up from the lengthy/repeated URI?
I had originally gone in there thinking he may have asthma and the doctor did say that she was thinking the bloodwork may point to that. But, I didn't ask her if it looked at all like he had asthma from the xrays. I was told a doctor should be able to tell that, but I didn't ask, I just assumed the worse and thought Fran had a heart issue--even though she is not confirming that just yet, just saying that it 'looks' a little enlarged and wants another to take a look at it. I have to wait a couple of days for this second opinion.
This is a new vet. My two kitties who passed went to a veterinary specialist hospital as they had cancer, kidney disease, diabetes, etc. (Well, my Eddie had diabetes for over ten years......so he went there a long time).
Any thoughts? Would everyone just wait before they started freaking out here? Anyone with a similiar experience? Or, anyone that feels like talking about Cardiomyopathy, any type of heart disease, asthma, URI's, oh, anything anybody would like to share.
Thank you so much,
Eddysmom