Chronically Sick Kitty - Any Thoughts Or Ideas Appreciated

[Ntrope]

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum but I thought I might show you all my case and see if you had any ideas for helping out my little girl Flower.
She has been congested for literally 5 months now. She doesn't sneeze, there is virtually no discharge, just super congested and noisy sinuses. She has had a mild fever when I've taken her to the vet as well. Over this period of time, she has been given a couple of different antibiotics (in case of a secondary infection), two treatments of Depo/Covenia and a few other anti-inflammatories.

When she first gets the depo, she usually eats like a horse and feels better for the first couple of weeks. It's like a miracle - back to her old self. Otherwise, she is lethargic and sleeps most of the day. Her appetite increases with the medication but wanes in between. She'll get 1/8 of mirtazapine which will stimulate the appetite, but it usually doesn't last more than 4 -5 days. She tolerates that well.

She was around 11 lbs when she first started showing symptoms and now just over 7.

Last week, the vet flushed her sinuses and got a bunch of white, slimy mucousy stuff out of her nose. She felt great for about 4 days, and is now starting to clog up again.

Ultrasound showed nothing unusual (slightly enlarged lymph nodes, but vet seemed to attribute that to the inflammation and constant stress her body is under).

Tests show negative for pretty much all the viruses.

So....a lot to read but I appreciate any thoughts, advice you can offer. I have L-Lysine, Fortiflora, nutritional gel, little remedies nose drops, I have the nose drops from the vet too.

I've also tried apple cider vinegar on her neck. None of these seem to help.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Primula]

I'm not going to pretend I know anything about this, but I'm sure someone will come along who does.

The weight loss does not sound good. How old is she?

 

[Ntrope]

She is about 7.5 years old. Never any problems until this other than having a few teeth pulled several years ago.

 

[Kieka]

I could see weight loss simply being lack of smell so eating less. It could also be a symptom.

I would assume your vet ruled out an allergy? Allergy symptoms aren't always the same. My Dad and I are both allergic to cats but how our bodies react are different. He gets congested, I just can't breath.

 

[Ntrope]

She has not been tested for allergies at this point. And, just a side not, she is a Snowshoe just like yours =).

 

[Primula]

She is about 7.5 years old. Never any problems until this other than having a few teeth pulled several years ago.

7LBS is not a good weight for a cat of that age.

 

[Kieka]

7 pounds wouldn't be good if her body condition is poor too. If she was overweight before the rapid loss isn't good but her new weight may be closer to what she should maintain once healthy. Photos and body condition are better evaluators than numbers. My girl is right around 7 pounds and she is looking a little tubby. My boy at 13 pounds needs to gain some weight because he is looking skinny (I wish I had his waist definition).

That issue aside. I would ask the vet if we could try an allergy treatment. But I have allergies myself and know the line between allergy and sick is fine. It doesn't hurt to see if it can help.

I would also probably seek out a second opinion. Fresh eyes and an unbiased opinion. When it comes to cat health there are just so many different veterinarian approaches out there. Your vet could be missing something that another sees immediately. It is not a negative reflection on your vet that they aren't catching the root cause. Every vet has different approaches, knowledge, and interests.

Edit: Snowshoes are fun. and for reference to the above comment on weight here are my two. Rocket (7 pounds) first and Link (13 pounds) second.

 

[Ntrope]

Wow! They're beautiful! This is Flower. They could be siblings so similar!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I can't see the full lab report, but did they test her for pseudamonas. We just had another poster with a similar problem a few days ago. Maybe there will be something in this thread, and the related links within that will help: Chronic Uri

 

[Kieka]

View attachment 177093 Wow! They're beautiful! This is Flower. They could be siblings so similar!

She is adorable. I hope you are able to figure it out soon and she is feeling better.

 

[Ntrope]

Thanks for the kind wishes. Flower is still feeling pretty bad. She is only barely eating but at least she is eating some. The vet wants to biopsy her sinus tissue and do another saline flush in a month, after the depo/covenia wears off. He says being on these drugs could cause problems with the tests. I'm a little afraid of having the biopsy done since her sinuses are already so inflamed, it may do more harm than good. I would think they would be able to identify any bacterial presence by testing the mucous. For now, I'll just try and encourage her to keep eating, keep up the steam treatments and hope the antibiotics help.

kieka - I appreciate the suggestion to try another opinion. As it turns out, she's seen several different vets from two different practices. I think the doctor she is seeing now is probably the best one in town. He's a true cat lover and specialist at this practice. Up until seeing him, no one ever even suggested the sinus flush, which made her feel so much better if only temporarily.

So beyond what I'm already doing - steam, l-lysine, hand-feeding, nose drops... can you think of anything else that might help?

 

[stephenq]

So beyond what I'm already doing - steam, l-lysine, hand-feeding, nose drops... can you think of anything else that might help?

A culture and sensitivity test to see exactly what antibiotic the infection will respond to could be very helpful.

 

[Ntrope]

Thanks, stephenq... I thought that's what the vet was going to do when they did her nasal flush. They don't need to biopsy the tissue for a culture, do they? They can just test the mucous?

 

[stephenq]

Thanks, stephenq... I thought that's what the vet was going to do when they did her nasal flush. They don't need to biopsy the tissue for a culture, do they? They can just test the mucous?

I believe you are correct, they just need to culture the mucous....

 

[Ntrope]

Thanks. I spoke to my vet today. We're going to try another nasal flush and biopsy in about a month. Because Flower is currently on a round of Depo/Covenia, we cannot do it sooner than that. I just need to try and keep her symptoms under control as much as possible until then. I appreciate your input. Thanks!