Possible hip dysplasia and heart problem?

[ldg]

I have NO idea about finding the lung worm in feces over what period of time. :dk: I just know that it can present on an x-ray and look just like asthma. :nod: Flowerbelle's fecal that found the lung worm was in the first three months - it was after about a month. So I just don't know!

And I remember when the vet found it. He was freaking out at the slide in the microscope. He'd never seen a fecal sample so packed with parasites. He had to look up what type they were. And then he had to find out where they could come from. At the time, he said snails. But as our ferals kept turning up with them, and we've never seen snails, we had to do some digging, and realized they can come from slugs as well. Which makes sense, because I think they are snails without the house. :lol3: If we called them "naked snails" here, it wouldn't have been such a mystery for as long as it was as to how the cats were getting the lung worm! :lol3:

 

[burretje]

I took Zeya to the vet again this afternoon  

  

No stool yet and it has been at least 60 hours now... I wanted to make sure she was not blocked up. She might also have a bladder problem. This morning she urinated small amounts three times in about 2 hours. That is not good. Ofcourse she did not pee again when I wanted to collect a sample to bring to the vet. 

 Cats... 

She got a laxative and a pain killer. I have to bring in a urine sample as soon as possible. If it gets worse (for example if she stops eating or starts vomitting), I have to come back tomorrow. 

The sad thing is that she had a bladder catheter during the anaestetics last wednesday, which might have caused the bladder problem... 

The good news is that the bloodwork came back clean. No abnormalities.

The other "good" news is that Zeya was her old self again at the vet's. She hissed and growled as she always does when she's there. 

 

[ldg]

Oh poor Zeya! she doesn't have an infection from the catheter! And :cross: for poop!

 

[burretje]

Cats.... sometimes.... 

The vet's office closes at 8 pm and ofcourse Zeya walked into the litter box to pee at 8.05 pm....

Fortunately the vet´s office was still open, so I could get the urine sample analysed anyway. It was fine!  

I´ll be keeping a close eye on her though. I still think she pees more often than she normally does.

I´m not sure if Zeya has pooped yet. I´ve been watching the litter boxes like a hawk for three days now, Whenever I was out or sleeping, Zeya has been alone with a box, so I could make sure I knew if she used it.

When I ran over to the vet with the urine sample I forgot to bring her upstairs though... When I came back 15 minutes later someone had pooped. 

 Ofcourse they did not leave a name sign. 

 It can´t have been Noortje or Lara, so that just leaves Zeya and her sister Mya...  50% chance... 

 

[burretje]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ever wondered how happy you can be with poop? Well very happy!! Zeya finally pooped, what a relief! I'll take it to the laboratory first thing tomorrow morning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ldg]

on ALL fronts!

And YES we SO know the happy about poop dance!

 

[burretje]

I think it was meant to be for Zeya to take this long to poop. I went to the lab this morning, which is located just next to the university clinic for small animals. As I walked there I saw a lady with two dogs. The dogs were hanging in their leashes. Just in front of them a rabbit tried to get away. It tried.... but it was dragging its hind legs over the ground. I was astonished to see, she kept on walking in the same direction as the rabbit was trying to flee. I was flabbergasted when she crossed the street and left the rabbit, who was obviously seriously injured, sitting there. She was only 20 meters from the clinic! And she did nothing!

I went inside the clinic to get the rabbit some help. They cought it. Its legs were broken all over. They will be putting him down to prevent further suffering. Poor thing... 

I was glad I was there at the moment I was. Poor rabbit. Everybody just walked by and did nothing. 

 

[ldg]

Oh thank you for helping the rabbit! People can really suck.

Hop happily now, little rabbit, free from any more pain.

 

[burretje]

Zeya had another fit of troubled breathing just now

It is past midnight here, so I had already gone to bed. The cats were playing in the hallway as they often do when I have been out for the day. Suddenly I heard a cat gasping for air. I got up quickly and saw that Zeya was in trouble. I felt so guilty as I ran downstairs to get my camera, so I could show the vet what it looks like. It took me only about 10 seconds to get the camera, but she was breathing normally again before I got to her. 

I am so worried about her. It is such a relief the fit did not last long, but it really does worry me she had another. Poor thing. 

She seems to be fine now. She's playing with a valerian mouse I made a couple of days ago and kicking the hell out of it with her hind legs.

Still no word from the ENT specialist with the test results yet. It has almost been a week now... 

 

[ldg]

Oh I'm so sorry!!!!!!! Are the episodes usually this short? I sure hope so.....

 

[burretje]

It varies. This was the shortest one up to now. The longest one lasted about 30 minutes.

 

[ldg]

Oh that's got to cause you complete panic!

you'll hear back from the ENT people soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[burretje]

Finally! 

The ENT specialist called with the results. Blood and stool were fine. 

Unfortunately this means we still do not know what is wrong.  

So the saga continues. The next appointment is this wednesday.

They will do the wash on Zeya, only a slightly different type with a smaller tube, which is not dangerous for her. Mya (Zeya's sister) is also coming along. She's back in full force rhinotracheitis (and Zeya is starting as well). I took Mya to the vet last week, but she didn't get antibiotics yet, because we want her to be examined by the specialist first. So this is why they both go this wednesday. 

 

[burretje]

This morning we had another appointment at the ENT. They examined Mya and took a sample of her nose discharge. This will be sent to the lab.

Zeya had another round of anaestetics and they did a wash. During the procedure she had another spasm. The oxygen level in the blood became really low... She had great trouble waking up after. I got the impression that I must be relieved that she is still alive.

She seems fine now. As soon as we got home she started running through the house. I was supposed to keep her kalm and prevent her from jumping on things. This is utterly impossible. She seems to feel an urge to keep moving. 

Hopefully they will now find the cause of her problems.

 

[ldg]

Wow - it seems that anesthesia doesn't agree with her at all! I REALLY hope they're able to find the source of this problem, so any anesthesia needed can be only when (and hopefully there won't be any!) there's a medical emergency!

 

[burretje]

Nothing special was found in the last tests either.... I don't know whether to be happy or to be frustrated. There is nothing left they can test. So there is something wrong, but what we do not know.

The spots in the lungs might be scarring from an earlier pneumonia. If so, this should disappear over time. However the spots are so small, they cannot be the cause of the troubled breathing. The rhinotracteitis is better now with the antibiotics. 

Still... now I'm left with two coughing cats, one of which has episodes of troubled breathing, but there was no cause found and therefore no treatment can be given. 

 

[burretje]

It had been a while since my last post. 

Zeya is now diagnosed with Astma. I did nog give up on her after the specialist told me nothing else could be done and continued the search. My vet supported me when I wanted to try Astma medication. Zeya responded very well to this and now is free from coughing spells and no longer has episodes of troubled breathing. 

She gets her medication using the Aerokat twice daily and does not mind this at all.