Pneumonia, parasites, enlarged heart - ooh my!

[bmspruitt]

I shared yesterday about my AnnaBelle having a cough and some weird stuff going on in her xray.

She has been DXed with pneumonia.  All she has is a cough!  No fever, eats and plays well but pneumonia.  This morning she was given that long-acting antibiotic injection and changed her pill antibiotic as the Clavamox made her sick.  The suggested cause is parasitic and to a lesser suggestion, allergy.  Her heart is uniformally enlarged, but only slightly.  It might just be she has a larger than normal heart, could be congenital, but regardless, the lungs are the issues.  She goes back in 11 days for a follow up x-ray.

So my questions/rants...

#1 Pneumonia? With only a cough?  Experiences? Thoughts?

#2 They are talking lungworms.  She came from a seemingly responsible breeder, had never been outside, etc.  She isn't outside drinking puddles, eating slugs, catching birds, etc.  The only way I can see her contracting lungworms is from licking the floor - something she will occasionally do.  Thoughts?

 

[quiet]

Hi;

I would go to a specialist with her. See if you can find one in your area or a university teaching hospital. Usually a coughing in cats is asthma. Not all the time but often it is the cause. Allot of times a vet will think a cat has an enlarged heart when they really don't. Did she have her heart ultrasounded? Or just the radiograph? It is fairly easy to see fluid in the lungs also easy to see the inflammation from asthma. Was she on IV fluids recently?

 

[bmspruitt]

The heart issue isn't a big deal at the time.  AnnaBelle had the typical two view radiographs done.  The radiologist specialist says could be normal, could be something.  Once the lungs are figured out, ultrasounds will be discussed.  I have several veterinary cardiologist within decent driving distance, so getting her to one isn't an issue.  She is still only 8 months, so a lot of growing to do yet.

In regards to her lungs, initially, asthma was discussed.  My Siamese had asthma and AnnaBelle is reacting very much like she did.  The radiologist reports says:

There is a diffused mild bronchial lung pattern.  There is a mild alveolar lung pattern in the ventral aspect of the right middle lung lobe.  The cardiac silhouette appears mildly enlarged in a generalized fashion.  No other significant abnormalities are seen.  The pulmonary blood vessels are not distended and there is no evidence of pleural effusion or thoracic lymphadenopathy.  The abdomen is unremarkable.

1.  Pulmonary changes are most consistent with pneumonia in the right middle lung lobe.  The possibility of a concurrent parasitic or less likely allergic airway disease cannot be ruled out but considered less likely.

2.  Mild cardiomegaly could be a normal variation as there is no report of a heart murmur although a compensated congenital cardiac anomaly should be considered as a differential diagnosis.