I am looking for any breeders out there or cat owner experts who may have some knowledge or advice on what I am dealing with. I will try and simplify what has been going on for over 2 months now. I am desperate to help this poor guy just dont know what to do next.
History: we purchased a 13 wk kitten on 12/1/10 (Lenny), two weeks later 12/16/10 we brought home his littermate brother (Squiggy). He was the left over of the group, all others found homes. He was very small, but appeared healthy otherwise.
12/22...first check up, good, but we reported to vet he had a strange cough...nothing I ever experienced before. we were going to keep an eye on it since it was something to not ignore. No other signs of illness.
January he starts slowing down, sleeping alot, and cough is more prominent and productive.
1st round of Clavamox: w/in 48 hrs, cough is gone but double ear infection, runny nose and eyes all green. Figured the "illness" was coming out and by Day 4 all have cleared. End of the week he is coughing again, nose starts running while still on meds.
We get to 9th day and move him to ezythromyacin (sp) for 5 days.
No improvement, slowly declining.
Vet runs xrays, cbc, 2nd stool sample and decides its bronchial pneumonia, possible lungworm and secondary infection. He is treated for lungworm, and back on clavamox for 15 days. within 2 days he is perfect. By the 7 day mark, its coming back still on meds.
Probably at the 10th day, we suspended all tx and scheduled a trans-tracheal wash but had to wait 10 days for the meds to get out of his system.
Wash showed no specific strains of bacteria, fungal or parasite but positive for a deep lung infection of unkn origin.
3/1/11: Placed on Baytril for 10 days to wipe out whatever we are dealing with and then planned to follow up with a course of anti-viral meds.
He was great from 3/2 until 3/5 and the cough is back and he is back to not moving.
Squiggy spent 2 wks with a younger litter before he came home. Two other kittens in that litter have developed similar symptoms and pneumonia. Both litters have the same father and they are 2 wks apart (not that it matters, but I dont know what is useful info anymore). We have another senior female in the house, a dog and Lenny who have not been affected by this illness. Squiggy continues to eat and has all along, no tummy issues, no eye issues outside of the first time on Clavamox, and no fever except maybe one day on the Ezythromyacin (103 deg). He is considerably smaller than his brother, but who wouldnt be considering all he has had to deal with!
Here is a link to video I took of him within the last 24 hours. I figure if you hear the noises he makes maybe it will make more sense. And, I have been doing this for my vet so she sees what is going on at home vs. being stressed in her exam room.
My video Link:
This was recorded at 3 am, there are three others too from yesterday and last night...
I am not looking for free vet care, I am just so worried that if we cant fix this soon, he isnt going to make it. Are we missing some link or breed health issue or something? This is just unbelieveable that he gets well fast and really sick while still on these meds. Thanks for reading my post and I am welcome to any suggestions you may have that I can bring up at the vet tomorrow morning.
History: we purchased a 13 wk kitten on 12/1/10 (Lenny), two weeks later 12/16/10 we brought home his littermate brother (Squiggy). He was the left over of the group, all others found homes. He was very small, but appeared healthy otherwise.
12/22...first check up, good, but we reported to vet he had a strange cough...nothing I ever experienced before. we were going to keep an eye on it since it was something to not ignore. No other signs of illness.
January he starts slowing down, sleeping alot, and cough is more prominent and productive.
1st round of Clavamox: w/in 48 hrs, cough is gone but double ear infection, runny nose and eyes all green. Figured the "illness" was coming out and by Day 4 all have cleared. End of the week he is coughing again, nose starts running while still on meds.
We get to 9th day and move him to ezythromyacin (sp) for 5 days.
No improvement, slowly declining.
Vet runs xrays, cbc, 2nd stool sample and decides its bronchial pneumonia, possible lungworm and secondary infection. He is treated for lungworm, and back on clavamox for 15 days. within 2 days he is perfect. By the 7 day mark, its coming back still on meds.
Probably at the 10th day, we suspended all tx and scheduled a trans-tracheal wash but had to wait 10 days for the meds to get out of his system.
Wash showed no specific strains of bacteria, fungal or parasite but positive for a deep lung infection of unkn origin.
3/1/11: Placed on Baytril for 10 days to wipe out whatever we are dealing with and then planned to follow up with a course of anti-viral meds.
He was great from 3/2 until 3/5 and the cough is back and he is back to not moving.
Squiggy spent 2 wks with a younger litter before he came home. Two other kittens in that litter have developed similar symptoms and pneumonia. Both litters have the same father and they are 2 wks apart (not that it matters, but I dont know what is useful info anymore). We have another senior female in the house, a dog and Lenny who have not been affected by this illness. Squiggy continues to eat and has all along, no tummy issues, no eye issues outside of the first time on Clavamox, and no fever except maybe one day on the Ezythromyacin (103 deg). He is considerably smaller than his brother, but who wouldnt be considering all he has had to deal with!
Here is a link to video I took of him within the last 24 hours. I figure if you hear the noises he makes maybe it will make more sense. And, I have been doing this for my vet so she sees what is going on at home vs. being stressed in her exam room.
My video Link:
This was recorded at 3 am, there are three others too from yesterday and last night...
I am not looking for free vet care, I am just so worried that if we cant fix this soon, he isnt going to make it. Are we missing some link or breed health issue or something? This is just unbelieveable that he gets well fast and really sick while still on these meds. Thanks for reading my post and I am welcome to any suggestions you may have that I can bring up at the vet tomorrow morning.