Sick Cat, advice?

[Ro]

Hope your cat gets better Sainters. I took in an elderly barn cat a couple years ago now, as my first-ever pet. And wow, I could not imagine not having a cat after he passes on now. I have grown to love him so much it's crazy.

I've been meaning to post this for a while now, but it's been getting really bad lately, and this is a good thread for it. Don't mean to steal your thunder Sainters, but maybe somebody has some good advice for me about Joey.

He is constantly stuffed up. Sneezing. Often, it's a boogery mess. Never any blood in it, which is a good thing, but it's almost always thick, yellowly/green, and mucousy. Gross. He's in good spirits though almost all the time, the same affectionate cat he was when I brought him home because there were early signs of this illness.

He's been on and off medication from the vet that seems to clear him up alright, but the problem is once he goes off whatever cycle of pills he's on, after about a week the boogers/congestion come right back. I hate to say it, because he's a nice guy, but I don't think our vet knows what the heck is going on. Every time we visit the story changes- chronic this and that, sinus infection, swollen nasal passages, allergies, sinunitis, nothing we can do, try giving him half a Benadryl, could keep him on the meds, could try something... So frustrating.

The thing is, Joey really is doing OK, I just feel quite awful for him when his nose is all crusty when I come home, or when he sneezes a stringy booger all over his face and I have to wetwipe him to death. Or when I hear him trying to breathe and he's straining becuase of the congestion.

Any ideas? My opinion is that it's a chronic condition that I will have to deal with until he passes on. I really don't want to keep him on medication constantly, partly because it can't be good for his immune system, it's no fun to hold him down and stuff pills down his throat every day, and it's ultimately livable as long as I can treat the symptoms somewhat.

Some of the stuff I've done- take him in the bathroom with me in the morning when I have a hot shower (steam), put a little water on his dry food to make sure he stays extra hydrated, got one of those nose things for babies where you put the end in his nose and squeeze it and it sucks boogers out. Joey hates it though, so it's not very useful.

Should I see a new vet? Just go with the meds? Or have any of you out there experienced anything like this with your pet, and have some advice for me?

[Ro]

Here's a picture of Joseph, on his favorite blanket, posted to incite sympathy and suggestions.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Ro

Hope your cat gets better Sainters. I took in an elderly barn cat a couple years ago now, as my first-ever pet. And wow, I could not imagine not having a cat after he passes on now. I have grown to love him so much it's crazy.

I've been meaning to post this for a while now, but it's been getting really bad lately, and this is a good thread for it. Don't mean to steal your thunder Sainters, but maybe somebody has some good advice for me about Joey.

He is constantly stuffed up. Sneezing. Often, it's a boogery mess. Never any blood in it, which is a good thing, but it's almost always thick, yellowly/green, and mucousy. Gross. He's in good spirits though almost all the time, the same affectionate cat he was when I brought him home because there were early signs of this illness.

He's been on and off medication from the vet that seems to clear him up alright, but the problem is once he goes off whatever cycle of pills he's on, after about a week the boogers/congestion come right back. I hate to say it, because he's a nice guy, but I don't think our vet knows what the heck is going on. Every time we visit the story changes- chronic this and that, sinus infection, swollen nasal passages, allergies, sinunitis, nothing we can do, try giving him half a Benadryl, could keep him on the meds, could try something... So frustrating.

The thing is, Joey really is doing OK, I just feel quite awful for him when his nose is all crusty when I come home, or when he sneezes a stringy booger all over his face and I have to wetwipe him to death. Or when I hear him trying to breathe and he's straining becuase of the congestion.

Any ideas? My opinion is that it's a chronic condition that I will have to deal with until he passes on. I really don't want to keep him on medication constantly, partly because it can't be good for his immune system, it's no fun to hold him down and stuff pills down his throat every day, and it's ultimately livable as long as I can treat the symptoms somewhat.

Some of the stuff I've done- take him in the bathroom with me in the morning when I have a hot shower (steam), put a little water on his dry food to make sure he stays extra hydrated, got one of those nose things for babies where you put the end in his nose and squeeze it and it sucks boogers out. Joey hates it though, so it's not very useful.

Should I see a new vet? Just go with the meds? Or have any of you out there experienced anything like this with your pet, and have some advice for me?

I would be tempted to change vets, we had a similar situation not that long ago with my sisters mutt. He was sneezing, blowing snot all over the place, wheezing the whole works. The vet was similar in not being able to pin it down. We took him to a different vet and found out that he had cancerous growths in his lungs the sneezing and snot was his body's attempts to clear the obstructions.

I'm not trying to scare you or depress you Ro, but it doesn't hurt to get a second opinion.

[Sainters7]

Haha nice Ro, i have the exact same blanket and my cat lays on it all the time! Although she does that kneading thing on it with her claws so its got pills all over it now, so I try to flip it inside out when she walks in the room. She's an Edmonton cat too so I'm wondering if she has a hidden agenda when she does it.

Sorry to hear about your cat. I dont know much about it so I'm afraid I'm not much help. Although I can tell you that I had a buddy in high school who's dog always, ALWAYS did that. It was disgusting, but he lived with it fine. Unfortunately it seemed chronic though, as in the five years I knew him for when they had it, it never got any better(or worse, if thats any consolation). Eventually they did put him down though, but I think its more because he was grossing everyone out by snotting everywhere. But he's a dog so he'd jump on you and snot, cats are a little more unimposing I'm sure. Hope everything works out with him!

[bigtmac19]

Hey Sainters, glad to hear your kitty is doing okay.

All you guys have me worrying about my kitty now. She is what you would call obese. So I will be sure to watch if she ever stops eating, which seems impossible, that's her favourite thing to do. We have had her on a diet since November (Vet recommended food, and quantity) she has actually lost about 1-1/2 lbs, so she is doing well.
I never heard about a cat having fatty liver.
I know a human who has that, I didn't know cats could suffer from that.

Exact same thing happened to our younger cat when she was 2 years old. It freaked me out as well, but after 4 days and finally getting her to drink water out of a bottle cap; she got better in a day!

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by bigtmac19

Hey Sainters, glad to hear your kitty is doing okay.

All you guys have me worrying about my kitty now. She is what you would call obese. So I will be sure to watch if she ever stops eating, which seems impossible, that's her favourite thing to do. We have had her on a diet since November (Vet recommended food, and quantity) she has actually lost about 1-1/2 lbs, so she is doing well.
I never heard about a cat having fatty liver.
I know a human who has that, I didn't know cats could suffer from that.

My cat's probably classified as "obese" as well -- she used to be average sized but has put on some weight since she developed asthma (I think it's because she doesn't run around the house as much as she used to). We've been feeding her "weight control" food to try to help, but it looks like she's reached a plateau -- no more weight gain but no weight loss either.

After reading this thread I fed her some canned food as a treat; she normally whines for attention when I get home (even after I put her food out) but last night she was glued to her bowl and wolfed that food down without giving me a second thought

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

My cat's probably classified as "obese" as well -- she used to be average sized but has put on some weight since she developed asthma (I think it's because she doesn't run around the house as much as she used to). We've been feeding her "weight control" food to try to help, but it looks like she's reached a plateau -- no more weight gain but no weight loss either.

After reading this thread I fed her some canned food as a treat; she normally whines for attention when I get home (even after I put her food out) but last night she was glued to her bowl and wolfed that food down without giving me a second thought

Our cat has never been active except when she was a very young kitten. We can't ever get her to play. We have tried numerous toys, we are lucky to get five minutes of her half-heartedly batting at them. She sleeps and eats and that is it. It's hilarious watching her come down the stairs, its' two feet, two feet, clump clump down. We haven't seen her run in 12 years.

[Sainters7]

Just thought I'd give an update on the ol kitty cat, since this thread saw alot more responses than I thought it would. We got her back yesterday with the feeding tube, and although she kinda looks like Frankenstein right now, she seems to be doing better. I was very, very happy this morning to see her actually take a couple bites of regular food on her own, which is very good news! That means this tube may be out pretty quick, which is good because it's quite the chore to have to inject her with food four times a day, and she doesn't seem too keen on it.

She's also being extremely affectionate, which is not really her thing usually(she loves being around people, but not really held. I chalk that up to her solitary streetcat origins), I think she realizes we saved her life. For those who have a cat who hasn't eaten in a few days, I'd really recommend the tube. We were told it isn't used nearly as often as it should be, and its actually not that expensive(maybe $350 for the tube, operation, anesthesia, and overnight stay). I'm convinced its the difference between her sleeping in my room right now, as opposed to being buried in the back yard.

Altogether, I'm not completely relieved yet, and won't be until she's got the tube removed and eating comfortably on her own. But so far it looks like she's gonna be fine.

[Ro]

Great to hear Sainters. The affectionate side must be a nice change.

Also just wanted to say thanks for the advice re: Joey. I'm thinking another visit to a new vet in the next week or so is the best idea.

Cheers!