IN SHORT: she can’t get enough air, raspy breathing, green mucus – vet thought it’s cat flu, then tuberculosis, now he thinks lungworms are causing pneumonia. However, NO meds (antibiotics, dexamethasone, etc etc) have worked AT ALL.
Hello everyone,
My cat has been sick for the last year, and I’m at my wits end. The vet could not find a conclusive diagnosis. Nothing seems to help… I’m hoping someone here has any idea.
Her symptoms:
· Can’t breathe well, sits still with her face upwards and mouth slightly open (to get some air). She won’t lay down.
· Every breath sounds raspy, like something is bubbling.
· Every now and then she swallows hard (again, like something was bubbling up).
· Green mucus runs from her nose (I have to clean her nose for her when it plugs her nostrils).
· She barely eats or drinks.
· She feels relatively cold to the touch, no fever. (I have not taken her temperature)
On a bad day all these symptoms are present and severe.
She has some ‘good’ days but even then, she sounds raspy and can’t breathe like a healthy cat.
Her history: Two years ago she began to sneeze and cough. The vet thought it was cat flu. She got antibiotics daily, and prednisolone and dexamethasone. The raspy breathing stayed.
The breathing difficulties and general malaise got worse over the past year so we took her to a (new) vet about two months ago. He took x-ray photos and saw white dots in her lower lungs, so he thought it was tuberculosis. But because she had not been dewormed, he changed his mind and said it might be lungworm. So she got dewormed; she got antibiotics (only made her cold symptoms grow worse); and she got dexamethasone again.
Nothing worked at all, she is still feeling very poor and can't breathe properly.
My guess is pneumonia... but my biggest question is, Why don't the meds help?
Feeling very clueless and hopeless, my cat deserves better.
Does anyone know what this might be and if it can be helped?
P.S. We have three other cats in the house, none of them have gotten sick at all.
Hello everyone,
My cat has been sick for the last year, and I’m at my wits end. The vet could not find a conclusive diagnosis. Nothing seems to help… I’m hoping someone here has any idea.
Her symptoms:
· Can’t breathe well, sits still with her face upwards and mouth slightly open (to get some air). She won’t lay down.
· Every breath sounds raspy, like something is bubbling.
· Every now and then she swallows hard (again, like something was bubbling up).
· Green mucus runs from her nose (I have to clean her nose for her when it plugs her nostrils).
· She barely eats or drinks.
· She feels relatively cold to the touch, no fever. (I have not taken her temperature)
On a bad day all these symptoms are present and severe.
She has some ‘good’ days but even then, she sounds raspy and can’t breathe like a healthy cat.
Her history: Two years ago she began to sneeze and cough. The vet thought it was cat flu. She got antibiotics daily, and prednisolone and dexamethasone. The raspy breathing stayed.
The breathing difficulties and general malaise got worse over the past year so we took her to a (new) vet about two months ago. He took x-ray photos and saw white dots in her lower lungs, so he thought it was tuberculosis. But because she had not been dewormed, he changed his mind and said it might be lungworm. So she got dewormed; she got antibiotics (only made her cold symptoms grow worse); and she got dexamethasone again.
Nothing worked at all, she is still feeling very poor and can't breathe properly.
My guess is pneumonia... but my biggest question is, Why don't the meds help?
Feeling very clueless and hopeless, my cat deserves better.
Does anyone know what this might be and if it can be helped?
P.S. We have three other cats in the house, none of them have gotten sick at all.