You're right; her breathing definitely doesn't seem normal. It's very quick paced, and heavy. There could be many things that might be causing this - like hot weather, or stress. But, take her to the vet to make sure everything's alright!
Best of luck
I took her to the emergency vet. There is fluid surrounding her lungs. They couldnt get a clear X-Ray beyond the fluid so they don't know what is bleeding out but they suspect a number of things including potentially cancer. February of this year, Ginger died of Cancer and had very similar conditions Sandy currently has -- Thread: Had to put my 10 year old cat down... Depressed...
I had to take a gamble between either putting her to sleep or diagnosing it. Sandy was a Feral Cat when I rescued her. She was abused by people in the business park that I captured her from. She was probably 1 or 2 years old when I captured her, well beyond the socialization period. She did not take to me immediately infact there were times I thought she would never warm up to me and times I almost wanted to give up but I just kept giving her patience and kept loving her unconditionally. One night I laid down on the floor and gently spoke to her and I just began imagining her running through that business park, being chased by either other animals, or people, scurrying off into the bushes or wherever she could hide, then I imagined having her in my arms and holding her face to my chest where she could hear my heart beat while gently speaking to her and keeping her safe. It was almost like she telepathically saw what I was thinking of because she got up and walked closer to me and started rubbing against me for the first time. Slowly she started laying against me or my feet and eventually she even started letting me touch and pet her until finally she melted and allowed me to even pick her up. One day she was limping and I took her to the vet and the vet found that she had a pellet in her shoulder. She was shot by a pellet gun before I picked her up and the pellet was still inside her. I always gave her grace and made sure to show her my warmest compassion and she ultimately did the hardest thing an abused non socialized feral cat could do, she trusted me... ...and for some reason that bond meant so much to me. She went from a cat that swatted, hissed, even tried to bite when I so much as put my hand near her, to a cat that will let me use her as my pillow when I go to sleep.
She is currently in an Oxygen space. I spent $3,000 tonight just in diagnostics, this isn't even including treatment. I love her though and she put all her trust in me. I have to give that back to her. This is going to severely set me back as Ive been working two jobs up to this point to take care of debts I incurred from being laid off from my previous jobs and came pretty close to paying them all off but now, Im going to be set back again. Even with the two jobs I don't know if I will be able to financially recover from this... ...I dont know it just seems like regardless of how hard I try it doesn't make a difference.
I am so sorry that you are facing this with your baby. That is a beautiful story of how you visualized her coming to you and she understood and responded.
You are doing everything possible for her. Please let us know what the vet is able to diagnose. As for cell towers....who knows? one thing you do know is that her life has been heaven with you since you rescued her from the business park.
Okay I got her back from the vet. She is acting normal currently. The vet’s XRays identified what may either be Cancer or Fungal growth in her lungs and colon. They don’t know which yet. They are doing a Urinal Analysis and Fluid Analysis to determine what she has.
I have another problem though. Sandy is an Ex-Feeal and while I can pet her, cuddle with her and even sleep with her, I’ve never tried hand feeding her pills and am worried she might bite me if I try to but I need to give her medication.
Hiding pills is different than actually pilling a cat, so check both articles. Additionally, there are now lots of stews, bisques, and toppers used as snacks and those may work as well. There is also something called a pill popper which works for some cats.
There are a lot of those on the market. Some caution has to be used with these and if you don't feel comfortable, it may not be the best first choice. There are videos available that show how to use them.
Depending on where you go with this, some meds can be compounded into transdermal gels that are rubbed into the outer ear flap of the cat.
Please let us know what you vet tells you after he runs his tests.
To ease your fears which will ease her fears and lessen her negative reaction. Put band-aids on your first two fingers and thumbs before trying to pill her. Practice holding the pill and moving it around with your bandaged fingers before you try to get it down her. I've used this when trying to feed a cat, back before syringes were used for it. The cat can bite into the padded part of the bandage and it won't hurt. When she starts to bite and hits the plastic of the band-aid wings, she will draw her bite back a little. When I used the band-aids, I got no punctures at all.
But do practice moving the pill around in your fingers and picking it up before you try with the cat.
I try to avoid - at all costs - giving Feeby meds that require holding her or using an oral syringe, or any other method of trying to put meds directly in her mouth. So, here are the things that I have had success with both pills (crushable) and liquids -
1.) 'juice' from canned tuna and chicken, and then give her a piece of the meat as a treat afterward
2.) baby food meats (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut)
3.) lickable treats, such as Applaws, Wholehearted, Tiki Cat Stix, Inaba Churu, Vitakraft - just to name a few
4.) Tiki Cat Mousse (which is complete meal, not a treat)
Use just enough of any one of them to mix with the meds so you know for sure she eats it all. This, is of course, meds that can or should be taken with food, which thankfully many are.
The vet diagnosed it as Lung and Colon Cancer. They do not believe it will respond to chemotherapy either. I know this is asking a lot but I’m willing to do just about anything to save Sandy’s life. Are there any foods or supplements I can feed Sandy to stop cancerous cells or even completely eliminate it? I was reading into artemisinin but wasn’t sure how much to feed her and also if it will be as effective as chemo or not. I’ve seen some cases where animals recovered from cancer using it but not sure if chemotherapy is still required or not.
Mike, the cutting edge of cancer research is focused on using the immune system itself to fight the cancer, and I can help you do that without spending a fortune. I am living proof that a cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence, pronounced terminal with 18 months to live 20 years ago. God had other plans. I know you are shocked, scared, and probably pretty freaked out. If you are open to alternative suggestions for treating her, let me know and we will go from there. Also, no question that Sandy picked up your thoughts, they do it all the time. Until I hear from you, I will be praying for both you and Sandy. The power of prayer is something I believe in absolutely, so know that there is someone out there who is actively sending prayers up and loving thoughts for you two. Btw, I am not some religious nut job. I am a deeply spiritual person who is schooled in medical science and has studied alternative medicine for 20 years now. So if you want my help, it’s yours. Hang in there. You are already giving Sandy the best medicine of all, unconditional love.
This is a recent study of the use of artemisia annua from the National Institute of Health (National Library of Medicine) in dogs and cats. If you are not familiar with these articles, take your time with it.
If you are going to venture into the realm of holistic and alternative therapies, which is entirely your decision, I would try to find a vet or at least a practitioner with some experience with dosing, side effects, sourcing, etc. If there are none in your area, you might at least try for an online consultation.