Breathing Difficulties

[MistyMog]

Hi there, I am wondering if any of you have similar experiences. We are in the UK
Our cat Moggy is 8 years old.
About three weeks ago she had the odd cough, that you thought would be a furball. No furball came. Then the cough became more regular, mostly in the morning with neck extended, wheezing and unproductive for about a minute then stopping. Then she became a bit withdrawn and stopped eating. About two weeks ago we took her to the vets, she was given antibiotic and steroid injections. The vet talked about asthma or an infection. That evening she seemed fine, was sociable and ate some food. Then over 3-4 days she slowly deteriorated again. 6 days after the first visit, she went to the vets, she was given another steroid injection and the vet talked about X-rays and tests on the lungs, we had to take her back the next day when she was prescribed Azithromycin. By this time she was having difficulty breathing and moving and had mostly stopped eating. After the final visit to the vet she did recover a little and ate and seemed hungry, but then deteriorated again. The Azithromycin was started two days ago and she has had 6 doses so far but there has been no improvement. There are another 5 days of it to go.
Our cat now can’t really move without running out of breath, has a raspy nose or throat and no sense of smell, there are bits of mucus from the eyes but not much and we are trying to feed her with a syringe but she is getting about 10% of what she would normally have. If there was an infection would you expect to have seen improvement so far, or can improvement sometimes take a little longer. We were told to wait until the antibiotic course is finished before taking her back, but I think I would have taken her today if it wasn’t closed. Has any one has such an experience of illness developing like this over about three weeks?

 

[fionasmom]

Welcome to The Cat Site although I am sorry that your cat's difficulties are what brought you here.

Were any tests done? The vet has followed a standard protocol for what would be a respiratory infection but something is definitely not responding. I am not a vet, but your description, which despite mentioning mucus, made me wonder about a heart related cough.

She is not able to move because of her inability to breathe, and is not eating, along with any other discomfort she is experiencing. You were told to finish the antibiotic, which is fine, but you have a cat in distress and I think that you have to get back to the vet and ask for diagnostic tests.

To answer your initial question, I have had cats with URIs who responded to the medication within a reasonable period of time and who did seem to be making a turn for the better as I continued to administer the meds.

 

[MistyMog]

Thank you for your reply. We will be back at the vets as soon as it opens. The vets have checked and said that her oxygen has been fine during those three visits. They have said there is no temperature but this doesn’t rule out infection. She had an ultrasound during the last visit which was to check for fluid on the lungs but there was none. I think that would have indicated a heart issue. The vet mentioned Mycoplasma and that was why she was given the Azithromycin. What is a reasonable time for a response to antibiotics?

 

[stephanietx]

Did they do an x-ray to check for asthma? It sounds like she might have an upper respiratory infection since she has mucus coming from her eyes. Are allergies severe where you live? Sometimes excessive post nasal drainage can cause the hoarse meow and coughing, just like in humans.

 

[MistyMog]

They didn’t, it was mentioned at the second and third visit but in the end they recommended the antibiotics. The only thing I thought they might do but didn’t was blood tests, I’m not sure what they’d be testing for. I do think it is an URI but it’s the length of time this has been going on which has me worried.

 

[stephanietx]

You might have to syringe feed her. Try offering wet food with a mix of plain meat baby food. Warm it with some warm water to enhance the aroma. You could also try plain saline drops in her nose to clear some of the congestion. Also, you can steam her in the bathroom. Turn the shower on as hot as you can get it and close the bathroom door. Leave the water running until the bathroom is steamy. Sit in the bathroom with her until the steam dissipates. This will also help clear her sinuses.

 

[MistyMog]

Thank you so much again for your reply, we’ve been trying a lot of those things. We have managed to give her around 25grams of purée and water from a syringe and she spent time in the bathroom with the shower on but it made no difference to her breathing. We might try the saline spray.

 

[stephanietx]

Use saline drops, but it's hard to get in the nose.

 

[tyleete]

I use a vaporizer whenseasonal allergies are at their worst here. Just this year we started mine on 5mg of Zyrtec (genetic form though) a day. It's made a huge improvement with mine. No more vaporizer.
As for antiantibiotics, some work better than others for different bacterial type infections. So she might just need a different one. But if she's not responding at all by Day 3? Doesn't sound promising with that one. It sounds like the eating is related to the nasal congestion. Mine has this problem when bothering her. It's hard for them to eat, because they literally cannot breathe while eating through their mouths.
Good luck & prayers

 

[KrazeeVTmama]

Hi there, I am wondering if any of you have similar experiences. We are in the UK
Our cat Moggy is 8 years old.
About three weeks ago she had the odd cough, that you thought would be a furball. No furball came. Then the cough became more regular, mostly in the morning with neck extended, wheezing and unproductive for about a minute then stopping. Then she became a bit withdrawn and stopped eating. About two weeks ago we took her to the vets, she was given antibiotic and steroid injections. The vet talked about asthma or an infection. That evening she seemed fine, was sociable and ate some food. Then over 3-4 days she slowly deteriorated again. 6 days after the first visit, she went to the vets, she was given another steroid injection and the vet talked about X-rays and tests on the lungs, we had to take her back the next day when she was prescribed Azithromycin. By this time she was having difficulty breathing and moving and had mostly stopped eating. After the final visit to the vet she did recover a little and ate and seemed hungry, but then deteriorated again. The Azithromycin was started two days ago and she has had 6 doses so far but there has been no improvement. There are another 5 days of it to go.
Our cat now can’t really move without running out of breath, has a raspy nose or throat and no sense of smell, there are bits of mucus from the eyes but not much and we are trying to feed her with a syringe but she is getting about 10% of what she would normally have. If there was an infection would you expect to have seen improvement so far, or can improvement sometimes take a little longer. We were told to wait until the antibiotic course is finished before taking her back, but I think I would have taken her today if it wasn’t closed. Has any one has such an experience of illness developing like this over about three weeks?

I would like to share as much information as I can. Has your cat had their distemper vaccine? I rescued a little kitty once who ended up with what they called a virulent calicivirus, there were sores in her throat and mouth I had not seen. This came with runny eyes and lethargy but they could cough due to sores in the throat. Sadly there is no cure for that one and you would be doing all you can already. I syringe fed pureed cat food mixed with lots of water, warmed just a touch like baby food, and only enouvh to be in the mouth so they have to swallow so they dont aspirate.

My other thought may upset some, but cats and dogs are in fact getting Covid. Obviously that is viral. And it presents fairly similarly in cats and dogs, and it has various degrees of severity just like among humans. Most get the sneezes and maybe a little cough that disappears and they recover, similar again. Others continue to decline. I have known a few people who have claimed to have vaccinated their animals for Covid due to this. Making sure they do not have no food or water for over 24 consecutive hours is fairly important as that is when organ failure can begin for some, especially if they are unwell to begin with. If this has already happened (no food for over a day) perhaps without you even realizing it could be contributing to the issues.
I am not a vet, but have worked with shelter care and multiple rescue organizations, along with facilitating many, many rescues, for over 20 years now. I am far from an authority but I have done a lot of alternative emergency medicine, working alongside shelters with their knowledge and advice as my guide. I wish you the best of luck, I would certainly return to the vet as soon as you can. Our vet has a fantastic emergency response, but we are small town over here and all of these things dont happen everywhere I suppose.