Update: Pixie Has Pneumonia, And I Want/need To Cry

[Furballsmom]

Awwww
Thank you so much for the update!!

 

[silkenpaw]

Great news! I hope he continues to get better!

 

[stephanietx]

I am so very glad to read this update!! Woot! Go Pixie, go!!

 

[Pixie_kitttie]

Hi, I just started reading your thread and I'm very sorry to hear about your baby. I don't work with animals but I am a nurse, and pneumonia takes a lot out of people, so don't over worry about your baby sleeping a lot, it is normal. The body is fighting a big infection, sleeping is very good for him. I hope he gets back on his paws quickly! For humans it can take a couple of months before they're back to 100% normal. Keep us updated, I'm interested to see him improving

My kitty is also named Pixie! Sending youi healing vibes

 

[Pixelated Cat]

Pixie_kitttie Thank you for your post, reading that you are a nurse and that it is normal for him to sleep a lot right now is reassuring. He is doing a little better everyday. In fact, he is up playing as I type this. I know he will get tired in a few minutes, but just seeing him play makes me so happy! Your kitty is so beautiful! Pixie is an awesome name for a cat! If you don't mind me asking, what kind of cat is your Pixie? Gorgeous cat!

 

[Pixelated Cat]

Furballsmom , stephanietx , silkenpaw , Pixie_kitttie
Update on Pixie: It's Sunday morning, and he is up and around! He played for half an hour, and is now resting on his window perch watching his cat tv. He still gets tired easily, and breathes heavily for a few minutes after running around. After breakfast he demanded petting and cuddling which is more like him. Earlier this week he developed diarrhea from one of the antibiotics he was on. It was so bad that he was having accidents and wasn't able to make it to his litter box. I called Dr. Mac and she immediately had us stop giving him the Veraflox antibiotic and gave us a probiotic to sprinkle on his food. He still has antibiotics in his system due to the Convenia shot he received during the last visit with Dr. Mac. She told us to watch him carefully and if he goes backwards that he will have to start taking the Veraflox again, but she thinks he will be fine due to the Convenia being in his system. The diarrhea has resolved with the probiotics, and he loves the probiotics on his food. His results for the CBC blood test came back within normal ranges. Pixie is FIV positive so Dr. Mac and I were concerned for his white blood cell counts. We were worried that perhaps his white blood cells were low in numbers, indicating his immune system may have trouble fighting off the pneumonia, thus the FIV affecting his immune status. The good news is that everything, including the white blood cell counts, are where they need to be. Dr. Mac says he is still only a carrier of the virus, and that it hasn't affected his immune system. Later this week Pixie has another follow-up appointment to have another set of chest x-rays done and Dr. Mac will listen to his breathing. Thank you for all of your support, I will give another update soon

 

[stephanietx]

Oh yay!! I'm so happy for this update! Sounds like your baby is on the mend.

 

[Pixie_kitttie]

I'm so glad Pixie is feeling a bit better Please update us when he gets his xrays!

 

[silkenpaw]

So glad to hear Pixie is going in the right direction. FIV kitties can live normal lives, it’s nothing like HIV. Sending Pixie lots of get better vibes and comforting vibes to you.

 

[Pixelated Cat]

Furballsmom , stephanietx , silkenpaw , Pixie_kitttie
Pixie went for his follow-upabout x-rays this morning. The good news is that he is not any worse, but there isn't much of a difference in this morning's x-rays compared to the ones taken two weeks ago. The right side of the chest shows a bit of improvement, but there isn't much of a difference in his left side at all. His airways are still pretty swollen, and Dr. Mac thinks he may have fluid in his chest. She is sending his x-rays to the radiologist to see if they think there is fluid in there. He is still pretty sick, and Dr. Mac gave him another antibiotic shot (Convenia). He isn't having any coughing fits, but is still struggling to breathe, especially at night, and it gets worse when the prednisone wears off. Dr. Mac prescribed more prednisone which he takes every other day (every 48 hours) and an l-lysine supplement. He hasn't had a fever, and still eats really good. He actually has gained some weight, he is now 16 pounds. Dr. Mac says it's a good sign that he is eating and gaining weight, and he is a very large, muscular cat. The avatar pic of him was when he weighed about 12 pounds...when we rescued him from the streets he weighed about 9 pounds. He is using his litter box really well, so that is good. He has good days, and he has rough days. The last couple of nights were a bit rough as he was hiding under our bed last night, and I know that means he doesn't feel well. He also hasn't been grooming as much so his coat looks a little rough. I think I might get out his soft brush and gently comb him to help him out until he gets better. This morning he was really cuddly, purring loudly, holding my lap hostage, and demanding petting. He seems to do better when he has prednisone in his system....when it starts wearing off he seems to have a harder time. He has always had a bit of separation anxiety, and lately it seems like it's a little extra....he meows quite loudly if I'm not in the same room. The other night when he was taking a nap, I took the garbage out and hubby said as soon as I opened the door to go outside Pixie bolted up from sleeping and yowled at the door. When I came back in, he trotted over to me and stood on his back legs for me to pick him up. I love my hubby and I know he loves Pixie but.....he seems oblivious sometimes. The last three weeks have been hard on me, and he seems to blow it off when I see concerns with Pixie (example: I was concerned about Pixie hiding under the bed which he NEVER does, hubby kind of dismissed it). When I brought up the concern about him hiding under the bed with Dr. Mac, she confirmed hiding and the rough looking coat usually means the cat isn't feeling well. After today's appointment, I told my hubby I need his help, and that I need him to listen when I am concerned as all my concerns have meant something for Pixie and is important information for Dr. Mac. I'm sorry this update is long-winded, there is a lot going on. I will keep everyone updated on Pixie's status. Thank you all again for the love and support!

 

[Furballsmom]

No worries about a good long heart-felt post. You needed it, and so did we.
Bless your heart for hanging in there with it all!!

 

[Jem]

I'm glad to hear Pixie is at least stable, if not getting too much better. Sending lots of well wishes your way that he makes a full recovery.

If you receive word that he does have fluid in his chest, did the vet mention if they would drain it? Our cat recently had fluid drained from his lungs (CHF) and is now on a diuretic and it is working very well. I wonder if that would benefit Pixie until the pneumonia is gone? It was IMMEDIATE relief, as soon as the drainage was done, you could just tell he was so much more comfortable. I will mention though that he did cough for a bit after, but it was because things got all stirred up and his lungs went thru a lot that day. The coughing stopped in a couple of days.

Love, hope and wishes for full recovery (and that goes for you too ). Keep up the great work and trust your momma instincts.

 

[Pixelated Cat]

Jem Dr. Mac didn't mention anything about draining the fluid if the results come back stating there is fluid in his chest, but I will definitely be asking about draining his chest if there is fluid in there. I'm glad it worked for your cat. Did they have to sedate your cat for the procedure? My only concern about sedation and anesthetic in general right now is that both of them can put stress on the respiratory system, and he is already very sick.

 

[Jem]

Well unfortunately Hank did need to be sedated, but not put under anesthesia. It sounds scary but they needed to insert a needle thru his sides, into the lungs to draw/drain the fluid out. I don't think any cat would sit still for that! They drained over 300mls out of him and they still did not get it all, (the diuretic did the rest over time) his risk for complication was very high due to the state he was in at the time but he did fabulously. His respiratory system stayed stable throughout the whole thing (according to the vet)
I think anesthesia is more of a concern than a sedation. My understanding is that with sedation they are still "awake" so their organ/neurological function is not as affected as if they were put under anesthesia. I would have to look that up, but I'm pretty sure.
They also only gave him enough sedation to keep him still for a short period of time because he was only in the back in total for about an hour. Enough time for him to "calm", then drain, then they watched him for 30 mins or so, then gave him back to me, and he was back to his "pre-sedation self", still unwell as there was much more going on than just the fluid and still "I'm at the vet" anxious, but breathing so so so much better that you could see the relief in his eyes. I had no choice in the matter or he would have died, but the risk was well worth the results.
If you really are that concerned, a short term diuretic could work?? Maybe? Not sure if a diuretic is used to treat fluid build up from pneumonia, Hank's diagnosis is congestive heart failure. But fluid is fluid right? Maybe ask the vet about that too.
Sorry for long post but I hate leaving out details that could be helpful.

 

[stephanietx]

I am glad that Pixie is stable. Did the vet discuss the possibility of asthma or treating him with a nebulizer much like they do for humans? I would've asked for a different antibiotic as Convenia can stay in their system for up to 4 months. Is he sneezing or having any kind of nasal discharge? I'm wondering if a culture would help diagnose an underlying infection. My girl had a psuedomonas infection that we had to treat. That caused her pneumonia to take longer to clear up.

 

[Pixelated Cat]

stephanietx He does occasionally sneeze, and there is very little mucus when he sneezes, it is quite thin and clear. We asked Dr. Mac about a nebulizer and she says we may need to consider it in the future. For now, he is on 5mg of prednisone every other day....I don't like the fact he is on such a powerful drug and that it is a steroid, but it is working for him at the moment. I don't know what else to do for him antibiotic-wise since everything else gives him severe diarrhea to the point when it's watery, I know this is too much info but his butt becomes raw, and he can't make it to his litter boxes. I wonder if there is a way to get a culture even though he isn't sneezing very often. I talk to Dr. Mac on Tuesday so I will ask her about culturing and bring up the nebulizer again when we talk. If a culture is possible at this point I would like to know what we are dealing with. Thank you

 

[Pixelated Cat]

Jem I'm so glad it worked for your kitty and that it brought him immediate relief! How is he feelings these days? At the start of all this, the vet did a few tests, including tests for his heart, to rule other things out. His heart stuff came back great, he is just having a lot of issues with his lungs. Yes, I agree that fluid is fluid, and if she suggests draining it, I would give Dr. Mac the thumbs up to go ahead. Pixie is pretty good-natured and laid back, but I don't see him being still for it lol. As you said, there probably aren't any cats that would sit still for that.

 

[stephanietx]

Too bad about his sensitivity to meds. Big bummer! They might be able to swab his throat (for drainage) or his nose. Just something to think about.

 

[Pixie_kitttie]

I'm happy Pixie is stable, but it sucks that there's very little improvement. I agree with everyone else's suggestion of having the fluid removed, BUT it may only be a temporary solution. Ask your vet if he thinks the fluid would come back. It will give your kitty instant relief.

I've had (human) patients come back and back again to get fluid removed from lungs and abdomen.

Do they know the root cause of this fluid buildup? Maybe they can send the fluid from his lungs to see what type of infection it is.

 

[Pixelated Cat]

Pixie_kitttie
We are not 100% sure there is fluid in his chest, Dr. Mac is having the radiologist look at the x-rays to be sure. Dr. Mac is calling me tomorrow with the results, and if there is fluid in his chest, I will ask her about draining it to help him feel more comfortable, even if it is only a temporary solution, and testing the fluid. The clinic has their own in house laboratory so we would get the fluid results back quickly. We are not sure what has caused all of this, but I have been doing some research, and I have a few suspicions about the cause of all this. I spoke with a vet tech on the phone today (Dr. Mac isn't in on Mondays) and asked her a few questions. I'm going to ask Dr. Mac the same questions tomorrow when she calls me.

If you don't mind me asking, why does fluid build up in the lungs with pneumonia patients? It just sounds so uncomfortable....the worst illness I've had is bronchitis, and that stuff is hard enough to deal with. I can't imagine dealing with pneumonia and fluid build-up.