Hi everyone, i'm coming here for advice from anyone that has dealt with something like this before or just any well wishes you can offer my girl, Kitty.
It all started, maybe, around October-December 2019 with Kitty getting very picky with her dry food. She's been picky her whole life with dry food and treats. She's never touched anything else, other than wet food. I thought maybe she was getting a sensitive mouth so tried her with easier to chew kitten chow (she needed the extra lbs, very small cat, around 5lbs). She ate this 2-4x a day, when she wasn't eating much other than treats/wet food.
Then came along February 2020. Honestly, this could have started back when I got her a new heated bed November 2019 and I would see her lay on the tile floor because I thought she was cooling off from being too warm. Who knows. In February I noticed her sides going in and out more than i've noticed before. Never thought too much of it because she's small. Then I started noticing her sitting in the "sphinx" position and she didn't have as much energy. February 29th 2020 I noticed her breathing through her mouth after physical exertion. I wasn't able to get her to the vet until March 6th 2020 due to the weekend/work.
Vet told me her lungs sounded clear and that it doesn't sound like she has a heart murmur. Immediately I was told to bring her to the other vet that had diagnostics. She got an xray. The vet showed me the xray and there was fluid in her chest cavity going down into the abdomen, mostly in chest. Couldn't see her heart or stomach. Her lungs were completely clear.. no abnormal growths in the areas you could see. I asked if furosemide would do anything and he said he wouldn't be against trying it. He didn't really tell me what he thinks it could be and told me if the furosemide doesn't work in 3-4 days then I should put her to sleep. Doesn't think a chest tap would be a good idea because she's too worked up (she will bite/scratch if she's scared) without sedation and doesn't think it's a good idea to put her to sleep to do a chest tap because she might not wake up.
So basically I have no idea why this happened, what caused it, and no one told me to do any follow up to see how she's doing. The visit was rushed as well since they were really busy. I feel kind of hopeless with not a lot of info from the vet.
The good news: she's been eating lots (even if it's only temptations and wet food), drinking lots, still cleaning, coming down the stairs to see us, peeing/pooping. She started furosemide yesterday, the 6th, at 4pm and by 4am she had peed 10 times and has peed 5 more times since 5am this morning (7th) on her second dose of 0.5ml of furosemide twice a day. Her breaths per minute were 36 while resting before the vet and today they are 28-29 per minute while resting and she is no longer open-mouth breathing after physical exertion.
I've ordered Rutin since I have no idea what kind of fluid is in her, so maybe it's heart related build up or chylothorax? The only weird thing today is that after doing certain activities she has small sneezing fits with nose twitches like something is tickling her nose, which didn't happen before the vet yesterday.
Most of this is just venting... but would love if anyone could give me some well wishes for my little girl or any suggestions to make her more comfortable. Thank you.
It all started, maybe, around October-December 2019 with Kitty getting very picky with her dry food. She's been picky her whole life with dry food and treats. She's never touched anything else, other than wet food. I thought maybe she was getting a sensitive mouth so tried her with easier to chew kitten chow (she needed the extra lbs, very small cat, around 5lbs). She ate this 2-4x a day, when she wasn't eating much other than treats/wet food.
Then came along February 2020. Honestly, this could have started back when I got her a new heated bed November 2019 and I would see her lay on the tile floor because I thought she was cooling off from being too warm. Who knows. In February I noticed her sides going in and out more than i've noticed before. Never thought too much of it because she's small. Then I started noticing her sitting in the "sphinx" position and she didn't have as much energy. February 29th 2020 I noticed her breathing through her mouth after physical exertion. I wasn't able to get her to the vet until March 6th 2020 due to the weekend/work.
Vet told me her lungs sounded clear and that it doesn't sound like she has a heart murmur. Immediately I was told to bring her to the other vet that had diagnostics. She got an xray. The vet showed me the xray and there was fluid in her chest cavity going down into the abdomen, mostly in chest. Couldn't see her heart or stomach. Her lungs were completely clear.. no abnormal growths in the areas you could see. I asked if furosemide would do anything and he said he wouldn't be against trying it. He didn't really tell me what he thinks it could be and told me if the furosemide doesn't work in 3-4 days then I should put her to sleep. Doesn't think a chest tap would be a good idea because she's too worked up (she will bite/scratch if she's scared) without sedation and doesn't think it's a good idea to put her to sleep to do a chest tap because she might not wake up.
So basically I have no idea why this happened, what caused it, and no one told me to do any follow up to see how she's doing. The visit was rushed as well since they were really busy. I feel kind of hopeless with not a lot of info from the vet.
The good news: she's been eating lots (even if it's only temptations and wet food), drinking lots, still cleaning, coming down the stairs to see us, peeing/pooping. She started furosemide yesterday, the 6th, at 4pm and by 4am she had peed 10 times and has peed 5 more times since 5am this morning (7th) on her second dose of 0.5ml of furosemide twice a day. Her breaths per minute were 36 while resting before the vet and today they are 28-29 per minute while resting and she is no longer open-mouth breathing after physical exertion.
I've ordered Rutin since I have no idea what kind of fluid is in her, so maybe it's heart related build up or chylothorax? The only weird thing today is that after doing certain activities she has small sneezing fits with nose twitches like something is tickling her nose, which didn't happen before the vet yesterday.
Most of this is just venting... but would love if anyone could give me some well wishes for my little girl or any suggestions to make her more comfortable. Thank you.