Hi everyone, this is my second post about my cat Sur. I am a complete mess, financially and emotionally drained. Sur is at an internist hospital due to complete lethargy, no appetite, fever, open mouth breathing. To give a bit of a background:
1. Sur was diagnosed asthma about 6 months ago, and was put on Prednisolone (for about a month) which controlled his attacks.
2. I moved into a new apartment, he did not respond well and hid for a few weeks, coughing/asthma attacks returned... back on short term pred.
3. I got a new kitten to keep Sur company. The kitten had suspected FHV when he was rescued but had a clean bill of health
5. A week after the kitten (Noodles) and Sur met, Sur stopped eating, gagging/pawing at his mouth, off to the vet we went and he was given Clavamox, pain meds, nausea meds, and they discovered an ulcer on his tongue, suspected FHV or FCV. (October 13th) **he had a fever of +104
6. He slowly started eat eat more, less gagging, playing with Noodles after a few days, flash forward about a week, his asthma came back full force, I ordered Flovent/AeroKat inhaler and Albuterol. Vet thinks the prednisolone weakened his immune system making it hard for him to fight off the virus.
7. On 11/4 Sur stopped eating again, he was slightly open mouth breathing and I could hear him breath. He was hiding all day, would not eat and appeared lethargic. I took him to an animal hospital and he had a fever of 105.3. He was given a slew of antibiotics, fluids, pain meds and came home that night. The next day my normal vet rechecked, fever was gone and he appeared back to his normal self
8. Flash forward to yesterday 11/12. Sur has stopped eating again, open mouth breathing slightly (not panting), extremely lethargic, hiding for 48 hours. I called my vet and she recommended and internist because she was at a loss.. He had a 104.5 fever again. The internist wanted to do a bronchoscopy with a lavage and I declined due to the invasiveness and frequent complications with that procedure and animals with respiratory issues (asthma). She then recommend we hospitalize him, take more x-rays, nebulizer, IV fluids, appetite stimulant, in depth blood tests (all basic panels have been normal minus slightly elevated WBCs), and a test to check for specific virus's that could be causing this. ($2,900!!!)
Guys, I am losing hope, how could my perfectly health 2 year old big boy be this sick for this long!! I am out of money, and I cant keep taking him to the vet. Does anyone know what this could be? The internist is thinking it is asthma (X-rays do show asthma), coupled with some kind of other infection. Sur has never had any sneezing, congestion, or eye discharge. Only open mouth breathing. Can someone give me some hope?? could this be a prolonged Calcivirus? FIP? What could the new kitten have brought in?!
1. Sur was diagnosed asthma about 6 months ago, and was put on Prednisolone (for about a month) which controlled his attacks.
2. I moved into a new apartment, he did not respond well and hid for a few weeks, coughing/asthma attacks returned... back on short term pred.
3. I got a new kitten to keep Sur company. The kitten had suspected FHV when he was rescued but had a clean bill of health
5. A week after the kitten (Noodles) and Sur met, Sur stopped eating, gagging/pawing at his mouth, off to the vet we went and he was given Clavamox, pain meds, nausea meds, and they discovered an ulcer on his tongue, suspected FHV or FCV. (October 13th) **he had a fever of +104
6. He slowly started eat eat more, less gagging, playing with Noodles after a few days, flash forward about a week, his asthma came back full force, I ordered Flovent/AeroKat inhaler and Albuterol. Vet thinks the prednisolone weakened his immune system making it hard for him to fight off the virus.
7. On 11/4 Sur stopped eating again, he was slightly open mouth breathing and I could hear him breath. He was hiding all day, would not eat and appeared lethargic. I took him to an animal hospital and he had a fever of 105.3. He was given a slew of antibiotics, fluids, pain meds and came home that night. The next day my normal vet rechecked, fever was gone and he appeared back to his normal self
8. Flash forward to yesterday 11/12. Sur has stopped eating again, open mouth breathing slightly (not panting), extremely lethargic, hiding for 48 hours. I called my vet and she recommended and internist because she was at a loss.. He had a 104.5 fever again. The internist wanted to do a bronchoscopy with a lavage and I declined due to the invasiveness and frequent complications with that procedure and animals with respiratory issues (asthma). She then recommend we hospitalize him, take more x-rays, nebulizer, IV fluids, appetite stimulant, in depth blood tests (all basic panels have been normal minus slightly elevated WBCs), and a test to check for specific virus's that could be causing this. ($2,900!!!)
Guys, I am losing hope, how could my perfectly health 2 year old big boy be this sick for this long!! I am out of money, and I cant keep taking him to the vet. Does anyone know what this could be? The internist is thinking it is asthma (X-rays do show asthma), coupled with some kind of other infection. Sur has never had any sneezing, congestion, or eye discharge. Only open mouth breathing. Can someone give me some hope?? could this be a prolonged Calcivirus? FIP? What could the new kitten have brought in?!