The Sick Pet thread

[BuffyGirl]

Often times before you go to the vet, or if the vet is already closed, etc, you need a place to come to for advice, and help. I have a sick boy right now, and it's quite rough.

Bailey has never been sick since I rescued him as a teeny kitten at 5 weeks. When we adopted a shelter cat a year ago (who is the sweetest baby boy) he brought home upper respiratory illness and got his two brothers sick. First time in a long time my oldest, Phoenix was sick, and first time ever that Bailey was sick.

This year when the weather changed, I got sick, and then my Riley (the shelter rescue baby) got sick. We had and gave him clavamox and he got better in 6 days. Perfect health. No eye problems. Just sneezing.

Once he was all better, Bailey got sick. He was sick in the morning and right away he got an appointment for the vet. We had no meds left, so we needed to take him in. The vet prescribed him lysine and some otc allergy meds. I wasn't of course too thrilled about the otc meds. I knew he had uri so I felt a bit down on that.

He started to get progressively worse as the day went on, and then Thursday was Thanksgiving. Couldn't take him in. He was not only sneezing really, really hard but he seemed like it was really hard to breathe. I called the vet friday at 7am and she prescribed eye drops and clavamox liquid (never used liquid before) and so I gave it to him when I got back from picking it up.

His eyes are still not great, but it's his breathing I'm worried about. It hasn't eased up, or anything. It has only been 1 full day (and then this morning) of medication. So he hasn't been on it long. But I MUST know if any of you have had the breathing issues just like his and what happened.

I can easily take some video of it, put it on youtube and link it here if it would help everyone understand what he's suffering though. But it just sounds like his nose is stuff up with runny (sorry for this) snot. Not dried or crusty. And he does this breathing thing like he's trying to push it out but doesn't understand how to. Ugh, I'm so upset for him. He's my sweet boy.

And yes, wet stuff is spraying out when he's doing this breathing thing..

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8O_po_pw6M[/ame]

That is the link to the video. Turning the volume up is a good idea.

We are heading out when Jenn gets home to grab him a warm steam humidifier.

 

[xjamiex]

Aw, really sorry to hear Bailey isn't doing so hot right now

It's cute that all your other cats have come to spend time with him.

All the best to you and your cats, I'm sure he will start feeling better really soon

 

[BuffyGirl]

Thanks so much Jamie. It's going around the entire lot of em. Phoenix has just started sneezing heavily. So now all 3 of em are just sick together. Though, Riley is better, I have a feeling it may flare up again since the other two are sick. Bailey's really struggling this afternoon to breathe. So I can't wait to get him the humidifier.

I just crushed some otc meds into Phoenix's food. The vet had given it to us and so, I hope it at least helps him sleep until we see the vet.

If anyone else has any other pets who are sick. Please feel free to talk about it here. It's great getting ideas and help from others.

There is a homemade saline you can make for a pet with a stuff/runny nose. So if you're going through it, here you go:

Baby sized nose dropper, or animal nose dropper.

1/2 cup room temp water
1/8 tsp salt

and an optional all natural additive is goldenseal extract.

Mix and put it in the dropper. Then of course put the dropper up their nose and squeeze. Don't worry, it's safe. Either their stuff will come out the front of their nose, or it will go back in and down their throat. Again, perfectly safe.

 

[The Craw]

I can't stress this enough, but the food you feed your cats is a huge factor in controling it's overall health. You should think about switching to a better food in the future if you haven't already. Cat foods nowadays have way to many fillers that do more harm than good to your cat. Learn how to read the ingredients. The ingredients on the back of the bag are more important than the ones they "advertise" on the front of the bag.

 

[BuffyGirl]

I can't stress this enough, but the food you feed your cats is a huge factor in controling it's overall health. You should think about switching to a better food in the future if you haven't already. Cat foods nowadays have way to many fillers that do more harm than good to your cat. Learn how to read the ingredients. The ingredients on the back of the bag are more important than the ones they "advertise" on the front of the bag.

My cats food cost 35 bucks for a pretty small bag. That's just for their dry. And $2 a can for their wet. They eat grain free Wellness Core. We believe in the healthiest diet we can give our boys. No bi products either.

We have been looking into making their food for them. At their next vet appointment we will be getting all of the info and ingredients needed by the vet.

 

[The Craw]

Hmm. That's strange that the Wellness product isn't keeping them healthy. That's what i feed my cat and it cleared up all her problems she had when i got her. Fixed her UTI problems and cleared her eyes up. I've heard stories that Wellness has brought cats back from death's door. Well, I hope your guys get better. Are they indoor only cats or do they go outside??

 

[BuffyGirl]

Hmm. That's strange that the Wellness product isn't keeping them healthy. That's what i feed my cat and it cleared up all her problems she had when i got her. Fixed her UTI problems and cleared her eyes up. I've heard stories that Wellness has brought cats back from death's door. Well, I hope your guys get better. Are they indoor only cats or do they go outside??

I am 100% against outdoors. Too dangerous. Indoors they are. But they do go out on our balcony which is 3rd floor and covered. Vet has said this is okay. And good for them to be out on it because cats need to be outside, due to their nature.

We just switched them to wellness not too long ago. They were eating Blue, and we switched from that to Simply Nourish. Then from there we went to WC. Bailey doesn't love it so I'm introducing it slowly to him by mixing it with the last bit of SN they have. Let's hope that over time they get better, and stay better.

The Lysine should start to help keep them from getting sick in the future as well. It's an everyday thing.

 

[xjamiex]

Sounds like you are taking really good care of them Buffy, I'm sure they will be back to perfect health in no time... at least it gives you an excuse to lounge around the house and cuddle with all your kitties today!

 

[Eli26]

Ahhh Should have never entered this thread. I can't take sick animals or sick people. So sad. I hope your putties get well.

 

[BuffyGirl]

Sounds like you are taking really good care of them Buffy, I'm sure they will be back to perfect health in no time... at least it gives you an excuse to lounge around the house and cuddle with all your kitties today!

I hope they are back to normal soon, too.

Ahhh Should have never entered this thread. I can't take sick animals or sick people. So sad. I hope your putties get well.

Thank you Eli, means a lot.

 

[Voorhees27]

Poor little guy Man does he ever remind me of Rocky too. I really hope he gets better, i'm a HUGE fan of cats.

As for food I used to feed Rocky a can of white tuna every morning. He didn't even like the wet stuff. Man I miss that little guy.

 

[The Ween]

I hope your kitties get better! I'll talk to a friend of mine who's a vet tech and see if she has any ideas.

My dog has a bad leg and skin problems. He'll be 10 in Feb. He's happy but he just can't do much. I worry all the time about him.

 

[xjamiex]

I hope your kitties get better! I'll talk to a friend of mine who's a vet tech and see if she has any ideas.

My dog has a bad leg and skin problems. He'll be 10 in Feb. He's happy but he just can't do much. I worry all the time about him.

My golden retriever is 11 and a half now and he has hip problems and really bad skin, I'm always babying him and worrying too. But he still acts like he is a puppy

 

[BuffyGirl]

That is okay to baby your pets. I don't see why you shouldn't. They bring joy to our lives and they live such short ones.

Bailey is still eating normal, and drinking. But the breathing at times is just terrible and I don't get why it's still so bad. I will keep everyone posted.

Ween, thanks. That helps a lot. I'm about to look up the difference between L Lysine and F Lysine. I hear people mention L but my vet gave me F so I want to know if L is better, etc.

Again @ween & Jamie, what can you do for the skin? I mean, what is out there for pets that will help them? This is why this thread is good. We can learn so much!

And also, The hip and legs...do they get any kind of cosequin or what have you? Phoenix is 10 and a bit slow these days and he's on it 2x a day.

 

[Darth Madden]

We have a cat who has had terminal kidney failure for 6 years now. At one point his creatinine and BUN levels (they basically measure toxins in the blood to show how well the kidneys are working) were so high the emergency vets machine couldn't read them. We give him sub q fluids every other night and some medicine that keeps his organs from calcifying and you would never know he is sick by looking at him so if anyone needs advice about kidney failure... I am an expert now.


I've never experienced breathing problems like that but just remember Buffy sometimes those little guys can be a lot stronger than you think and can get through a lot no matter how bad it looks at times. One vet actually told us to put our cat down and 4 years later he is going strong so just give him every opportunity you can and don't lose the faith. I know it can cost a lot (our 10 day ER vet bill was astronomical) but they understand you are helping them and will pay you back when they get better.

 

[BuffyGirl]

Darth, if it cost me 1,000,000 bucks, he'd still be getting whatever he needs. He's family. If I had a kid that was sick, I wouldn't say eh, costs too much. Put him/her down. And I wouldn't with our kitty boys.

I am so glad your little one is doing well. Just feel bad that he has to go through all of that to keep him going. But as long as he's not suffering in any way, then I think it's great.

Right now I have the two sickies locked in their room (which doubles as the den) with the warm mist humidifier going. It's one of those vicks vapor humidifiers. I am getting cross info from people on whether or not I can actually use the vicks stuff in it to cleanse the air around them. One person said yes, one said no. Vet is closed so I can't ask and well, I don't want to take chances.

I tried to read up on it but there are too many idiots out there who don't know what they are talking about. Some people write that you can use vicks vapor rub on your cat. Put a little on their nose or chin they say. Please, if anyone here ever thinks to do that, don't. Because they lick their nose and they wipe their chin with their paws and lick that. It's not healthy for them.

I really dislike people sometimes.

 

[Boba Ben]

Sorry to hear about your cat, Buffy. I have a persian cat and she sometimes coughs a little bit since her face is so smashed in, but it subsides rather quickly after it starts.

 

[The Ween]

That is okay to baby your pets. I don't see why you shouldn't. They bring joy to our lives and they live such short ones.

Bailey is still eating normal, and drinking. But the breathing at times is just terrible and I don't get why it's still so bad. I will keep everyone posted.

Ween, thanks. That helps a lot. I'm about to look up the difference between L Lysine and F Lysine. I hear people mention L but my vet gave me F so I want to know if L is better, etc.

Again @ween & Jamie, what can you do for the skin? I mean, what is out there for pets that will help them? This is why this thread is good. We can learn so much!

And also, The hip and legs...do they get any kind of cosequin or what have you? Phoenix is 10 and a bit slow these days and he's on it 2x a day.

There isn't a lot I can do for the skin. My other Sheltie had it too and it just comes and goes. I think with this one it's because he lays around so much. My vet thought it was a staff infection and put him on antibiotics but it didn't help much. I went through this with my other Sheltie years ago. I knew the antibiotics weren't going to work. I changed food for the first one and that worked, but on this one it doesn't. He's had problems on and off all his life. It's one thing or another. Shelties are prone to skin problems because of their coats being in 3 layers. He only has it on his belly and it's a lot better than it was.

My dog's elbow joint is pretty much shot. The vet thinks it was bad since he was a pup and it just wore wrong. He's on Rimdryl for pain and he's also taking cosequin, mainly to keep his other joints strong. The only thing they can do for him is to have surgery to fuse that joint so he can't move it. That's a last resort thing. I'm not sure if I want to put him through that at his age and he does get around pretty good, he just can't be on his feet for a long period of time. He can still go up stairs okay and can go outside. He just can't chase his ball anymore. He does on occasion run after a cat that wonders through, but then he pays for it.

Are you taking your cats back to the vet tomorrow?

 

[BuffyGirl]

There isn't a lot I can do for the skin. My other Sheltie had it too and it just comes and goes. I think with this one it's because he lays around so much. My vet thought it was a staff infection and put him on antibiotics but it didn't help much. I went through this with my other Sheltie years ago. I knew the antibiotics weren't going to work. I changed food for the first one and that worked, but on this one it doesn't. He's had problems on and off all his life. It's one thing or another. Shelties are prone to skin problems because of their coats being in 3 layers. He only has it on his belly and it's a lot better than it was.

My dog's elbow joint is pretty much shot. The vet thinks it was bad since he was a pup and it just wore wrong. He's on Rimdryl for pain and he's also taking cosequin, mainly to keep his other joints strong. The only thing they can do for him is to have surgery to fuse that joint so he can't move it. That's a last resort thing. I'm not sure if I want to put him through that at his age and he does get around pretty good, he just can't be on his feet for a long period of time. He can still go up stairs okay and can go outside. He just can't chase his ball anymore. He does on occasion run after a cat that wonders through, but then he pays for it.

Are you taking your cats back to the vet tomorrow?

It seems like you're doing all the right things for your babies. What do you feed him?

Nope. No vet tomorrow. The vet wont be able to do much for him right now. Unless I want her to run unnecessary tests. They have a uri virus right now, are on meds that will help them keep any other infections away. So we truly just have to wait for the virus to pass, as we as humans do when we get the flu. There's no meds that can take it away, just help you through it.

Bailey and Phoenix did so super good for a while when they were sleeping in their room. I had the humidifier going and they just slept. No sneezes, no bad breathing. It was wonderful. That humidifier is a dream for them (and me). Once I turned it off to give it a break, and then opened their doors more to let fresh air mix with the air in the room, Bailey started to breathe funny again. But he's alright now.

I'll keep the thread posted.

 

[EVILFACE]

Poor cat. Looks like my mister.

2 of our cats are in great health but the third one is just oldm 19ish I think. She is skinny, frail, blind in one eye, we think parth deaf, she has a hyper thyroid and then has a shaking bit that lasts for a couple seconds. We have thought about having her put to sleep but it doesn't seem like she is in any pain.