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Requesting vibes for Hobbes - eye infection
- Thread starter calvin&i
- Start Date
Me too.
Me three!!!!Originally Posted by LDG
Me too.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #24
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2010
- Messages
- 677
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- 3
Awwww - thanks so much for the vibes!
We've been needing them so much. It's been kind of rough the past week with Calvin but we are keeping our fingers crossed that he's on the road to recovery.
Update (sorry, long):
Last tuesday Calvin had a bout of cough
Wednesday: he had 3 bouts of coughs (exactly like asthma attack), some sneezing and not himself.
Thursday: he had 1 cough in the morning, some sneezing and was withdrawn. Took him to the clinic - our regular vet was on leave and another doctor saw him, diagnosed asthma and put him on prednisone. Since Hobbes had URI a few days back and conjunctivitis I raised it but he did not think that an antibiotic would be useful at that point. I came home and gave him a pred but my evening he got much worse - lots of asthma attaks (even on pred) and sneezing and he was totally withdrawn. I called the boys' sitter, who works at the clinic, and she called the regular vet, who asked to give him another pred
Friday: DH took time off from work and we both took Calvin to the clinic. He was there for a few hours and not surprisingly - NO SYMPTOMS. He had an x-ray and turned positive for heartworm antibody and negative for antigen. We got him home and he again got worse. We had to give him 2 preds that evening. Bought HEPA filters for our central air system and multiple air purifiers for the rooms. (I told DH we are not sending Calvin to college since we spent his college fund on purifying air
) We kept him in the bedroom at night with the humidifer running. Till that point our asking for antibiotics since we saw him having classic symptoms of URI had not worked (our thought was that Hobbes had it and although those are virus, zithromax has always worked for Hobbes and we wanted to try it). Friday night we were frustrated and I asked DH if zithromax would be harmful for him and after some research we just gave him one dose to see) He again needed 2 5mg preds to keep his symptoms under control
Saturday: The symptoms persisted - by then we were running on no sleep. Calvin was too sick to sleep and we kept them in our bedroom with the humidifier. The vet called and said we could add antibiotics. By evening we could see Calvin improving a little at a time and Sunday and Monday we saw more improvements - his appetite, mood, less sneezing and running nose and eyes. We decreased his prednisone to 5 mg once a day and though there has been sporadic coughs, they have not been too out of control.
Tuesday/ yesterday: We took Hobbes to the cardiologist, and with our vet sending her a fax with Calvin's details too, she did a consult with us - with Calvin's x-rays and blood work and general symptoms. Since Calvin has responded better to zithromax than prednisone, she recommended we wean him off the pred and keep him on zithromax- after 10 days we are to give him a dose of the antibiotic every 72 hours for 6 weeks. In case the asthma gets worse we will call her. If things gets worse, we may have to do a tracheal wash but Calvin needs to be off steriods for 2-3 weeks for that to be useful. It seems we went from Calvin being diagnosed as primarily asthma to severe infection - we dont think it was ONLY asthma, since the antibiotic really helped, but it can be a combination of both or only infection - we hope the next few weeks will determine that. Calvin's heart seemed slightly large in the x-ray but he's not really slim and that can be the reason but down the line we may get an echo for him, expecially if we have to keep him on long term steroids.
The good news we got was Hobbes's heart looks good and he does not need to go to the cardiologist for follow ups. He tested negative for both heartworm antibody and antigen. We will now keep them both on Revolution (we had previously not since our vet did not want to add too many meds since they were being treated for other stuff and they are indoor only).
So we try weaning off Calvin from the prednisone and see how that does. Am bracing myself for a few asthma/ asthma-like attacks.
Would appreciate if anyone has any ideas/ comments as to what we do now - how to deal with the situation.
Update (sorry, long):
Last tuesday Calvin had a bout of cough
Wednesday: he had 3 bouts of coughs (exactly like asthma attack), some sneezing and not himself.
Thursday: he had 1 cough in the morning, some sneezing and was withdrawn. Took him to the clinic - our regular vet was on leave and another doctor saw him, diagnosed asthma and put him on prednisone. Since Hobbes had URI a few days back and conjunctivitis I raised it but he did not think that an antibiotic would be useful at that point. I came home and gave him a pred but my evening he got much worse - lots of asthma attaks (even on pred) and sneezing and he was totally withdrawn. I called the boys' sitter, who works at the clinic, and she called the regular vet, who asked to give him another pred
Friday: DH took time off from work and we both took Calvin to the clinic. He was there for a few hours and not surprisingly - NO SYMPTOMS. He had an x-ray and turned positive for heartworm antibody and negative for antigen. We got him home and he again got worse. We had to give him 2 preds that evening. Bought HEPA filters for our central air system and multiple air purifiers for the rooms. (I told DH we are not sending Calvin to college since we spent his college fund on purifying air
Saturday: The symptoms persisted - by then we were running on no sleep. Calvin was too sick to sleep and we kept them in our bedroom with the humidifier. The vet called and said we could add antibiotics. By evening we could see Calvin improving a little at a time and Sunday and Monday we saw more improvements - his appetite, mood, less sneezing and running nose and eyes. We decreased his prednisone to 5 mg once a day and though there has been sporadic coughs, they have not been too out of control.
Tuesday/ yesterday: We took Hobbes to the cardiologist, and with our vet sending her a fax with Calvin's details too, she did a consult with us - with Calvin's x-rays and blood work and general symptoms. Since Calvin has responded better to zithromax than prednisone, she recommended we wean him off the pred and keep him on zithromax- after 10 days we are to give him a dose of the antibiotic every 72 hours for 6 weeks. In case the asthma gets worse we will call her. If things gets worse, we may have to do a tracheal wash but Calvin needs to be off steriods for 2-3 weeks for that to be useful. It seems we went from Calvin being diagnosed as primarily asthma to severe infection - we dont think it was ONLY asthma, since the antibiotic really helped, but it can be a combination of both or only infection - we hope the next few weeks will determine that. Calvin's heart seemed slightly large in the x-ray but he's not really slim and that can be the reason but down the line we may get an echo for him, expecially if we have to keep him on long term steroids.
The good news we got was Hobbes's heart looks good and he does not need to go to the cardiologist for follow ups. He tested negative for both heartworm antibody and antigen. We will now keep them both on Revolution (we had previously not since our vet did not want to add too many meds since they were being treated for other stuff and they are indoor only).
So we try weaning off Calvin from the prednisone and see how that does. Am bracing myself for a few asthma/ asthma-like attacks.
Would appreciate if anyone has any ideas/ comments as to what we do now - how to deal with the situation.
I wish I had advice, but I just have no experience with asthma or persistent URIs in cats. Just asthma/allergies in me. But thank you for taking the time to update. I am just so sorry you and the boys are going through this! At least good news from the cardiologist.
BTW... if it is asthma/allergies (seasonal/environmental), I wonder if an antihistimine would help?
Many vets prescribe benadryl - which is horrible, and makes cats foam. But zyrtec (cetirizine) is a much newer drug, doesn't make them foam, and has been shown to work really well in cats.
I know it helps me tremendously. Just putting that out there.
Sending mega heaps of vibes for all of you, that you can get this figured out! : vibes: : vibes:
BTW... if it is asthma/allergies (seasonal/environmental), I wonder if an antihistimine would help?
Sending mega heaps of vibes for all of you, that you can get this figured out! : vibes: : vibes:
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
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Thanks for the vibes, LaurieOriginally Posted by LDG
I wish I had advice, but I just have no experience with asthma or persistent URIs in cats. Just asthma/allergies in me. But thank you for taking the time to update. I am just so sorry you and the boys are going through this! At least good news from the cardiologist.
BTW... if it is asthma/allergies (seasonal/environmental), I wonder if an antihistimine would help?Many vets prescribe benadryl - which is horrible, and makes cats foam. But zyrtec (cetirizine) is a much newer drug, doesn't make them foam, and has been shown to work really well in cats.I know it helps me tremendously. Just putting that out there.
Sending mega heaps of vibes for all of you, that you can get this figured out! : vibes: : vibes:
The only major symptom that Calvin has now is the "asthma" cough - and that's a mystery - whether it is an airway issue (as normal asthma) or an infection thing. Calvin did have another "attack" an hour ago
DH did ask the doc about antihistamine - especially when Calvin was continually sneezing. Unfortunately, they'd prefer not to do that - I cannot remember the exact reason but it may be because the antihistamines stop the symptoms but not really deal with the inflammation or something. There were too many things discussed and sorry I do not remember all of them
I really am feeling so bad for you and your DH. I know how hard this is dealing with sick pets. I have two as well so I know the roller coaster you are on right now, and it is just heartbreaking
. Yes, it is all too much to take and we are here for you
. The good news is that news from the cardiologist about Hobbes
! I wish I had some helpful thoughts about Calvin but I it really sounds like you have a great support system in your vet. Just sending along massive vibes to you and your babies, especially Calvin today
Well let's hope that WHATEVER it is, the zithromax fixes it, and you don't have to watch him have more coughing spells.
