Pumpkin Face Older Now=more Problems.

foxxycat

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Well today we were supposed to get her dental done but the vet wouldn't preform the procedure due to wheezing. They took xrays and she has bronchitis.

She is 14, arthritis, on the following:
2.5 mg pred daily since Late September
25 mg gabapentin once a night
.10 ml of Adequan injections that is only her 3rd shot-vet said every 3 days for 6 sessions-then go from there.

She has tarter buildup so I got a toothbrush for her. She has had a few coughing episodes this summer-the latest was beginning of September and I called the vet-they said give albuterol..which helped.

She coughs on occasion but then nothing for a few days then weeks could go by and no more coughing.

She's been on 2.5 mg pred every 48 hours for 2 years now.
Blood work last month came back perfect for her age.

Tonight we meet with the vet to discuss options.

I think we may start her on one puff of flovent @12 hours for now to see if notice difference-I have been hearing plenty of wheezing for some time plus she's tired and sleeps all the time-I thought it was from bone pain but could be due to breathing...so I am super happy with the vet. Glad that he didn't preform the anesthesia today with the wheezing going on. The other thing to note is she wheezes when she's stressed out. Poor girl...I am just surprised that the pred she's been on hasn't been helping as much...
 
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foxxycat

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Thank you mrsgreenjeens mrsgreenjeens !

The x-rays do show inflammation. They want to see if pred is doing it's thing but I think flovent is the way to go. This morning she's sneezing pretty good. I gave her the adequan and she hates it. but I think it should help. The dose is on the low end too so not seeing results yet. She looks like she's not feeling well. Eyes swollen too so gave ointment-it's probably part of the sinuses draining..she looked much better after-she doesn't like it but in a minute or so her eyes looked less irritated..I suspect a bit of allergies-we have some flowers still in bloom right now plus leaves coming down so any pollen is now on the ground where she goes.

She still wants to go out every day and it's only on the deck. She sleeps in the sun all day. then pokes around the back yard sniffing at mole holes..we have a ton of them that both Honeybee and Pumps take care of. In fact two days ago Honeybee brought in a mole and laid it at Pumps feet..wonder if she's trying to feed her?

They sent us home with a sample of kibble T/D and Honeybee ate it this morning-now to see if pumps will eat it...gonna put it in her dish tonight.
 
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artiemom

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Poor baby Pumps...:vibes::alright: for her.... nothing is more miserable than being sick and having bad teeth.. poor little girl

Glad your Vet is doing a good job. Yes, rescheduling the dental was the correct thing to do..

Sending both of of :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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foxxycat

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This morning her breathe is horrendous. I emailed the vet clinic. I am waiting for her toothbrush too. I got some pet paste and they sent us home with T/D for teeth-both cats eat it but it is loaded with corn and corn meal and wheat gluten. I rather not feed these ingredients to my cats but the treats already have it-they only get a small amount a day. GRR. Why don't they make larger sized kibble=as that's all this is-1/2" size pellets..gonna mess around with dog food pellets-if we use them as a snack I don't think it will hurt them as long as they get 80% of diet from "cat" approved food. Seems the larger kibble makes them chew food and it supposed to help. I won't brush her teeth until she's feeling better. The last time she got this type of illness the vet prescribed doxycycline. And it worked like a charm. Poor girl.
 

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In fact two days ago Honeybee brought in a mole and laid it at Pumps feet..wonder if she's trying to feed her?
Awww, how sweet is that?!
I hope poor Pumps starts breathing better soon. That Flovent will probably help a lot.
 
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foxxycat

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Thank you pushylady pushylady that's what I am thinking. I think there's a bacterial infection going on from the herpes virus-it takes 3 weeks to run it's course. I still have some fluids left but so far she's ok. I can always feed her more tuna at night to get liquid in her. I always add 50% water to whatever tuna I give her-she licks the juice and leaves the meat. Honeybee eats the meat. Too funny.
 
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foxxycat

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I am also going to get our ducts cleaned out-it's been 12 years I have been in here and every year the dust is getting worse. I have air purifiers running but it's not enough. Looks like it's a 4 hour job. So I will make the call next week once I get some more clutter out of the house. And it would be nice to not have dust flying around. I hate running the furnace-it blows dust everywhere. And it is long overdue...just didn't even think about it until the vet asked maybe something in the house is causing trouble...so that's a plan..get those ducts cleaned and hopefully the asthma calms down-need to vacuum-been really bad about that as well but she sleeps in areas I can't reach with the vacuum-that's gonna get fixed next week. Hard to do these things when work many hours..drives me batty.
 
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foxxycat

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Thank you artiemom artiemom

I emailed vet asking about antibiotics-they said they gave her a shot on Tuesday..now when they rang me up-they only charged me for the xrays-so I didn't know they gave her any medication..I am happy I finally got some good treatment but wish they told me or rather did they make it up?? I so have a hard time trusting people. So looks like they gave her convenia and said to give it a few more days but if it's viral it won't help. My baby looks so miserable this morning. At least she's still eating..I know she feels miserable if she isn't eating but at least the pred is helping to stir the appetite.

She got her puffs of flovent last night- only 1 puff-she wouldn't tolerate more.
this morning 2 puffs. She lets me leave the mask on for 5 breathes at a time which I can live with...she even purred a bit..once she realized it wasn't going to hurt her. I washed the mask out really good so honeybee doesn't catch it but since they sleep on the same bed I wouldn't be surprised to see her get it too. At least she's easy to medicate for the most part. Actually both cats are really good. Even my ticky angel Floey tolerated my poking and prodding. Just won't take pills but she too tolerated the mask-I try to get them used to it-because you never know if you have to treat in the future-so I would just use the mask by itself and place on face but not on nose-just to get them used to the smell of it.

Pumps is now sleeping in her ortho beds I bought last month-Jon put his worn t shirt in her dog house where I put one of them-she was sleeping in there last ngiht-she was nice and toasty warm. This morning she lay on the cushion on the floor in my library-I put it in the same spot she lays on-figured she would want a soft place to lay on instead of a hard floor.
 
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foxxycat

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by the way the dog house is a soft fabric house-it was Floeys but then Honeybee stole it from her then Pumps started sleeping in it. I had a towel in it but figured it wasn't enough padding..its blue and good sized. It's under the dining room table-which is carpeted.
 

LotsOfFur

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I love hearing about both of your kitties! You are a very loving and excellent cat guardian they are as lucky to have you as you are to have them! :catrub:

Poor Pumps not feeling great :sickcat:
Sending vibes that she recovers quickly :vibes::vibes::vibes:

:grouphug2:
~Tina
 
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foxxycat

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Poor pumps is still sick. The vet thinks it's viral as it's not improved but not gotten worse.

She has been taking her inhaled steroids without too much fighting..she pulls away when put the mask on her face but once she realizes it doesn't hurt her she will take her full 10 breathes. Got her shot of Adequan this morning-it was supposed to be yesterday but I forgot it. She gets ointment twice a day-I know it's 3 times but I keep forgetting to give it at 9pm. I put lysine in her tuna this morning. She's still eating and drinking. gets her pred every day-which may not be helping the infection but it does seem to help her arthritis. She has started horizontally scratching on the scratching post recently-she wasn't able to do that before so something is working.

Thank you LotsOfFur LotsOfFur I love my girls and tend to over analyze everything anyways...at least I know I did the best I could..live in nurse is what I am..to humans and pets. :sickcat::sleepycat:
 
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foxxycat

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No improvements-not worse either. Remembered the ointment at 9 last night. She got all her meds this morning. Her left eye still looks swollen. If it's not improved by Wednesday I will bring her in-the thing is it's viral and not much can be done-just keep putting ointment in it and make sure she eats which she is...hope this cold vamooses soon.
 

artiemom

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Poor Pumpkin face..... at least she is not worse. That is something to be thankful for.
foxxycat foxxycat , you are doing an awesome job taking care of both Pumpkin and Honeybee.
With all the knowledge you have, you should have been a Vet.. I know..sigh..

Pumps is responding to your love.

Sometimes we just need to see the Vet for reassurance or even to re-evaluate. Even if it is a virus, there may be something more the Vet can prescribe.

((hugs)) it is so hard when our babies are sick. We feel helpless.
 
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foxxycat

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The vet called me this morning-he's going to start her on a z pack of Zithromax. I have some eye ointment in the mail-the one I am using is 2 years old. So this morning it looked a bit less swollen but they have some other stuff to try-not sure if it's different than the one I have now. she took her puffs no problem. She purred for me last night and this morning. Doesn't like taking pills.But will tolerate it. So I will swing by and pick up the items after work.
 
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foxxycat

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I gave the zithro last night and a big handful of treats-she won't eat wet. no vomiting. Gave gabapentin too. This morning I noticed the needles they sent home are humongus compared to Floey's needles-so sending an email to see if A-exchange for 18G or B-order a box online. Need a script in this state for some dumb reason.

She has one more 2x week shots next week then it goes to once a week. These they told me to do subqu. I guess some vets do it intramuscular-I don't think I could do it-don't want to hurt her. So hopefully we can get the smaller needles.

she took her meds this morning without too many issues. She hissed still for the shot-I was fast and didn't hem and haw-just matter of fact. She seemed ok 30 seconds later..I am sure it stings. I got to find out if refrigerating the vial will help stop the stinging like we do for Cerenia..in fact I still have floey's vial of Cerenia...so far haven't had to use it...hope I don't have to use it...
 

artiemom

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foxxycat foxxycat I get my needles through Thrivingpets.com. I do not need a script. I get the ultra thin Terumo needles for the sub-q's.. I am sure you can use them for other things also. The 21 gauge are good. A box of 100 are $10; and you get it within a few days.
 
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