Cat Is Coughing /fluid Around Lung

[brittany.]

My sweet Sissy has been coughing on and off for about a year (rough estimate). I took her to the vet, vet listened to her and stated that it sounded like she had bronchitis. He treated her with an antibiotic shot (convenia) and a steroid (depo medrol). This helped her for a few months and then her cough would come back. We repeated the vet visit with same treatment for a few times.
Her cough has recently returned and seems worse. This time, I can tell that her breathing is heavier and more rapid. I decided to give a new vet a shot. He examined her, thought maybe she had kitty asthma, and decided to do xrays. The xrays showed that one of her lungs is not fully inflated because there is fluid around it. He treated her with a steroid (depo medrol) and an antibiotic shot (baytril). He said that he could go in, remove the fluid with a needle, but it would more than likely return. We are trying the antibiotic and steroid treatment first. She is suppose to go back in 5 days for him to listen to her again and to receive second antibiotic treatment. He also mentioned about trying a diuretic.

She is 8-9 years old and 19lbs.

Has anyone had anything similar happen to their cats?

 

[FeebysOwner]

I have no first hand experience with what you are describing, but it sounds like plural effusion and there can be many causes. A few of them are things like CHF, a severe infection, metabolic problems, and unfortunately even cancer.

While the steroids are likely to help in the short term, it is not a solution to the problem. And, I am not even sure what either vet is/was hoping to accomplish with that and an antibiotic, without further testing. If this were to be an infection, determining the type of infection would be tantamount in identifying the best antibiotic to treat it and eradicate it.

Has either vet done any bloodwork to look for possible clues/abnormal readings? I would think a CBC, Electrolyte, and Chemical Profile blood work up would be in order - and probably a urinalysis as well. I would also think a vet would want to test the fluid. Maybe even a CT scan?

Is Sissy eating/drinking/using the litter box normally? How about playing? Does the vet consider Sissy overweight at 19 pounds, or is she just a particularly big cat? If she were to be considered overweight, did the vet suggest that could be part of the problem?

 

[amandag1]

My sweet Sissy has been coughing on and off for about a year (rough estimate). I took her to the vet, vet listened to her and stated that it sounded like she had bronchitis. He treated her with an antibiotic shot (convenia) and a steroid (depo medrol). This helped her for a few months and then her cough would come back. We repeated the vet visit with same treatment for a few times.
Her cough has recently returned and seems worse. This time, I can tell that her breathing is heavier and more rapid. I decided to give a new vet a shot. He examined her, thought maybe she had kitty asthma, and decided to do xrays. The xrays showed that one of her lungs is not fully inflated because there is fluid around it. He treated her with a steroid (depo medrol) and an antibiotic shot (baytril). He said that he could go in, remove the fluid with a needle, but it would more than likely return. We are trying the antibiotic and steroid treatment first. She is suppose to go back in 5 days for him to listen to her again and to receive second antibiotic treatment. He also mentioned about trying a diuretic.

She is 8-9 years old and 19lbs.

Has anyone had anything similar happen to their cats?

Ask your vet if they considered any cardiac / heart disease.
Fluid buildup can be from infections like pneumonia but also can be from heart disease
Did she have any elevated white blood cells/ blood work done? Did it show any thing in her bloodwork?
Ask for a cardiologist.
My Louie has had rapid breathing and cough/honking sounds and he has heart disease....

 

[amandag1]

An antibiotic would only make sense if your cat had an infection causing the fluid buildup....otherwise it wont do anything

 

[brittany.]

I have no first hand experience with what you are describing, but it sounds like plural effusion and there can be many causes. A few of them are things like CHF, a severe infection, metabolic problems, and unfortunately even cancer.

While the steroids are likely to help in the short term, it is not a solution to the problem. And, I am not even sure what either vet is/was hoping to accomplish with that and an antibiotic, without further testing. If this were to be an infection, determining the type of infection would be tantamount in identifying the best antibiotic to treat it and eradicate it.

Has either vet done any bloodwork to look for possible clues/abnormal readings? I would think a CBC, Electrolyte, and Chemical Profile blood work up would be in order - and probably a urinalysis as well. I would also think a vet would want to test the fluid. Maybe even a CT scan?

Is Sissy eating/drinking/using the litter box normally? How about playing? Does the vet consider Sissy overweight at 19 pounds, or is she just a particularly big cat? If she were to be considered overweight, did the vet suggest that could be part of the problem?

Neither vet has done any lab work on her. He mentioned that if we did pull the fluid, that we might send it out to see. She does seem to be eating and drinking like normal. I believe litter box use is normal, hard to narrow down since I also have 2 other cats. She doesn't play much, unless she gets a wild hair. New vet did not mention her weight as her being overweight. I made comments about her being large, but he never did. Old vet did comment on her weight and said that it is probably pushing on her chest causing it to be difficult.

 

[brittany.]

Ask your vet if they considered any cardiac / heart disease.
Fluid buildup can be from infections like pneumonia but also can be from heart disease
Did she have any elevated white blood cells/ blood work done? Did it show any thing in her bloodwork?
Ask for a cardiologist.
My Louie has had rapid breathing and cough/honking sounds and he has heart disease....

He never mentioned anything about cardiac / heart disease. Would he have been able to notice anything from her chest xrays?
Can the fluid build up AROUND her lung from pneumonia? No other labs were done, but am going to mention them to him.
How did you find out about your Louie's heart disease?

 

[amandag1]

He never mentioned anything about cardiac / heart disease. Would he have been able to notice anything from her chest xrays?
Can the fluid build up AROUND her lung from pneumonia? No other labs were done, but am going to mention them to him.
How did you find out about your Louie's heart disease?

For Louie, they took blood work and saw nothing strange there and then did chest xrays and an ecchocardiogram.
They explained to me that typically if fluid buildup comes from heart disease then we dont see illness signs of fever, high white blood cell etc and we only see the fluid in / around the lungs. It was confirmed with the eccho.

I dont want to jump on your vet- either one that you saw, but they should definitely take some blood tests, IMO they shouldnt be giving antibiotics without seeing if your kitty has an infection. I'd suggest bloodwork, mention heart disease (it's HCM in cats) and have them look into it. Or try someone who is more cat-specific.
Louie was COMPLETELY normal, played, ate, slept, chased bugs.....everything.
Until one day he was found panting , having rapid breathing and not wanting to eat, the ER visit led to a full 4-5 day hospital stay and diagnosis of chronic disease...which sadly has a poor prognosis.
Now that I know more about cat cardiac disease...I swear I'd always ask for it to be checked because the cat can totally be 100% normal in all other ways and live with this problem until it gets bad.
Signs are usually rapid breathing, open mouth breathing, not wanting to eat much....

 

[amandag1]

Also- sending the fluid will test the fluid's content but may not get the source of the content..

 

[brittany.]

For Louie, they took blood work and saw nothing strange there and then did chest xrays and an ecchocardiogram.
They explained to me that typically if fluid buildup comes from heart disease then we dont see illness signs of fever, high white blood cell etc and we only see the fluid in / around the lungs. It was confirmed with the eccho.

I dont want to jump on your vet- either one that you saw, but they should definitely take some blood tests, IMO they shouldnt be giving antibiotics without seeing if your kitty has an infection. I'd suggest bloodwork, mention heart disease (it's HCM in cats) and have them look into it. Or try someone who is more cat-specific.
Louie was COMPLETELY normal, played, ate, slept, chased bugs.....everything.
Until one day he was found panting , having rapid breathing and not wanting to eat, the ER visit led to a full 4-5 day hospital stay and diagnosis of chronic disease...which sadly has a poor prognosis.
Now that I know more about cat cardiac disease...I swear I'd always ask for it to be checked because the cat can totally be 100% normal in all other ways and live with this problem until it gets bad.
Signs are usually rapid breathing, open mouth breathing, not wanting to eat much....

I am definitely going to ask them about it. I switched vets hoping to find more answers as to why her cough keeps happening. Which the fluid around her lungs is new. I was hoping for this to be a minor issue, but it definitely seems like it'll be chronic and more serious. Her cough sounds like she is trying to cough up phelm but comes up short. She also wheezes at times after a cough episode. Her rapid breathing never happened until now, which I feel like the cough was taking a toll on her and making it difficult to catch her breath. Thank you for your help. How is your Louie today?

 

[amandag1]

I am definitely going to ask them about it. I switched vets hoping to find more answers as to why her cough keeps happening. Which the fluid around her lungs is new. I was hoping for this to be a minor issue, but it definitely seems like it'll be chronic and more serious. Her cough sounds like she is trying to cough up phelm but comes up short. She also wheezes at times after a cough episode. Her rapid breathing never happened until now, which I feel like the cough was taking a toll on her and making it difficult to catch her breath. Thank you for your help. How is your Louie today?

Same thing happened to Louie 2 night ago. He was coughing almost like he was trying to get a hairball up but produced nothing. Then went into an episode of rapid breathing. He also didnt want me to touch him , he let out a sharp meow , I could tell her was stressed.
Louie takes diuretics 3 times a day.
I'm hoping the fluid is from something else for Sissy, but , definitely check for heart disease too.
Louie is OK, he has his days. They told me cats don't live well with his stage of heart disease, he may go in a month...a week...a year...a few years, we don't know. It is incredibly hard and my heart breaks thinking his time here is short. Wishing you the best.

 

[brittany.]

Same thing happened to Louie 2 night ago. He was coughing almost like he was trying to get a hairball up but produced nothing. Then went into an episode of rapid breathing. He also didnt want me to touch him , he let out a sharp meow , I could tell her was stressed.
Louie takes diuretics 3 times a day.
I'm hoping the fluid is from something else for Sissy, but , definitely check for heart disease too.
Louie is OK, he has his days. They told me cats don't live well with his stage of heart disease, he may go in a month...a week...a year...a few years, we don't know. It is incredibly hard and my heart breaks thinking his time here is short. Wishing you the best.

That breaks my heart I am sorry to hear that about Louie. I hope his days are easy. It is so sad to see our sweet babies in distress and pain.

 

[CatLover49]

My sweet Sissy has been coughing on and off for about a year (rough estimate). I took her to the vet, vet listened to her and stated that it sounded like she had bronchitis. He treated her with an antibiotic shot (convenia) and a steroid (depo medrol). This helped her for a few months and then her cough would come back. We repeated the vet visit with same treatment for a few times.
Her cough has recently returned and seems worse. This time, I can tell that her breathing is heavier and more rapid. I decided to give a new vet a shot. He examined her, thought maybe she had kitty asthma, and decided to do xrays. The xrays showed that one of her lungs is not fully inflated because there is fluid around it. He treated her with a steroid (depo medrol) and an antibiotic shot (baytril). He said that he could go in, remove the fluid with a needle, but it would more than likely return. We are trying the antibiotic and steroid treatment first. She is suppose to go back in 5 days for him to listen to her again and to receive second antibiotic treatment. He also mentioned about trying a diuretic.

She is 8-9 years old and 19lbs.

Has anyone had anything similar happen to their cats?

Hope ure kitty is going to b ok...What breed is she??Asking because of the 19 lb weight..

 

[CatLover49]

I have no first hand experience with what you are describing, but it sounds like plural effusion and there can be many causes. A few of them are things like CHF, a severe infection, metabolic problems, and unfortunately even cancer.

While the steroids are likely to help in the short term, it is not a solution to the problem. And, I am not even sure what either vet is/was hoping to accomplish with that and an antibiotic, without further testing. If this were to be an infection, determining the type of infection would be tantamount in identifying the best antibiotic to treat it and eradicate it.

Has either vet done any bloodwork to look for possible clues/abnormal readings? I would think a CBC, Electrolyte, and Chemical Profile blood work up would be in order - and probably a urinalysis as well. I would also think a vet would want to test the fluid. Maybe even a CT scan?

Is Sissy eating/drinking/using the litter box normally? How about playing? Does the vet consider Sissy overweight at 19 pounds, or is she just a particularly big cat? If she were to be considered overweight, did the vet suggest that could be part of the problem?

.I just asked the same question about the weight...I asked what breed was she...to weigh 19 lbs

 

[brittany.]

Hope ure kitty is going to b ok...What breed is she??Asking because of the 19 lb weight..

Thank you, I hope so too!
She is just a domestic short hair.
Her brother is also just as large as she is. Her sister is a little smaller.

 

[CatLover49]

Thank you, I hope so too!
She is just a domestic short hair.
Her brother is also just as large as she is. Her sister is a little smaller.

Got any picsof all ure cats..Thats what my cat is a domestic Shorthair

 

[brittany.]

 

[brittany.]

Bear, Sissy and Momma.

 

[CatLover49]

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They are adorable

 

[CatLover49]

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This is my boy Snowball

 

[brittany.]

View attachment 286178
This is my boy Snowball

Beautiful!