URI

[tkl]

My 16 yr old male cat started having trouble breathing on the 16th of April. I took him to the vet. His wbc is very high--75K. He has no fever.  XRays show no fluid in lungs or chest cavity. All other blood tests are normal. No Feline Leukemia or peritonitis. He is on two different antibiotics-baytril and amoxicillin. He is on Furosomide. He was given a long acting steroid shot. He still sounds like a percolating coffee pot (but does sound a bit better than before) and he isn't eating. I am force feeding him at this point. He does drink water on his own. The current vet is the voice of doom saying he may have cancer but has not given me any real proof of this. His antibiotic regimen will be up on Monday the 28th. What else could he possibly have and what other tests can be run? Please advise!

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

am so sorry i feel your pain, was there 4 weeks ago with my baby dog kizmoe he was 17 years old and so hard to let go but we all have to. God bless you for giving him a great home life , wow 16 years a good life 18 really a good life. maybe one day you can get another and give it a great home to.

[ibizan]

my hearfelt sympathy to u !he had a good long life and u helped him acheive it!he is at the Rainbow Bridge with many of our departed furry loved ones!:)

[tkl]

Sidney had to be put to sleep. He had a large tumor in his throat and he could no longer breath properly. I am devastated.

[tkl]

I'm not sure why the vet gave him the furosimide. He said he even tried to pull fluid from the lungs but there wasn't any there. He said his heart looked good as did his lungs. Sidney still sounds like a percolating coffee pot when he breaths. I live in ND so there aren't any vet specialists where I live. The vet I took him to seems to mainly deal with larger animals and dogs. I am taking him to another vet this morning. He isn't eating on his own, I am force feeding him 4x daily. This morning is the first time he threw up what I fed him. It seems like he has a lot of mucus in his throat area-trachea. I will see what the new vet has to say about him.

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

If there was no problem with your cat's heart and no fluid in the lungs why did your present vet put your cat on a Furosemide (which is a diuretic for heart disease, hypertension,  and pleural effusion)?  I think it is time your cat had an echocardiogram by a veterinary radiologist or cardilogist.  I would have blood pressures performed on your cat, and I would also request an appetite stimulant from your vet such as cyproheptidine or mirtazapine.  Your cat must eat or he will develop fatty liver disease.

Your vet could also switch the antibiotic to zithromax as a therapeutic trial.

Unforntuantely, there are some cancers that are microscopic or to small to show up on X-Rays so your vet may be correct.

[ibizan]

wow u got the luck with the seniors!mine stopped drinking water and eating had diarrhea and shrunk....sure sign of cancer but if u an vet can turn this around that would be great!

[tkl]

I have another cat, age 18, and he stopped eating last July. The vet said he had CRF. The same vet my 16 year old went to. They wanted me to put him down, too. I took him to a different vet. I force fed him for several days and now he is a happy camper and it wasn't CRF like the one vet said it was. I simply will not accept my 16 year old having cancer. It came on too quickly and it has to be some virus causing him his illness.

[ibizan]

wow 16 is a good long life for a cat!what a trucker!there is so much that could be wrong with a cat this age....i've had cats close to that age and when they stopped eating i thought cancer.....and i was right....stopping eating is a sign the body is shutting down....i don't mean to sound doom but when they do this there isn't anything that can be done...u might be able to entice them with stinky food but it will probably be short lived.I've sent 5 cats of my own to the Rainbow Bridge over the years......best of luck....don't let ur good friend suffer...bet u won't!