Good morning Traci,
We've taken a minor set back from Thursday night. Nothing related to the lungs I'm happy to say though. I watched him carefully friday and found, which I suspected, he has terrible runs. It lacks waste and has mucus and blood streaking. His gas is up and rumbling going on in his belly. Also the nose secretions are up and thicker again but cough is still dry.
I grabbed a sample for the vet and spoke with them yesterday and this is the plan for the weekend if at all possible pending Monday's appointment.
He has come too far to stop the anti-viral at this point and risk a possible set back. If at all possible, we are going to continue for the remainder, however he did not receive his dosing last night, we put it off and moved this morning. I am watching his movements, eating, hydration, behavior. Should more blood appear or he loses the ability to make it to the box I am told to stop the meds. Coupled with the obvious, not eating, etc.
The doctor advised he (my vet is out) doesnt want to Rx more meds to him with everything going on...but is available to see him on emergency until this afternoon (sat). He doesnt want to confuse symptoms even more for Mondays appointment if we can hold off.
He does believe this is inflammation, probably related to the medication, and will explore more should symptoms persist.
Difficult to have another thing that makes him continue to be uncomfortable, especially after having a mostly happy boy for 3 days. I really hope we find something to go on from Mondays appt. Thanks for all your help this week....i truly appreciate it.
My best, Lisa
Kitten with chronic illness
Re: Kitten with chronic illness
It's possible the diarrhea is unrelated to the respiratory problems, such as stress, of dietary indiscretion. It could also be a GI tract infection (bacterial).
Did you actually take the stool sample to the vet for testing? Otherwise, you can't keep it longer than around 12 hours or so, or it will affect the test results.
I finally had some time today to look at Weruva. In my professional and honest opinion, I would cease feeding it, forever. It contains menadione, which is a synthetic version of vitamin K (AKA K3) and there is a great deal of controversy using this as an ingredient in pet foods. This pet food company is using it under the guise of "necessary supplementation" due to an abundance of percentage of fish used in their cat foods. If I recall, the FDA has banned the use of menadione in supplements, it makes sense not to choose any cat foods with menadione. Furthermore, promoting a cat food with high percentages of fish, combined with this synthetic agent is asking for toxicity when fed long term. Fish should NEVER be fed to cats long term - it can cause pansteatitis, deficiencies of other nutrients, and some sources of fish are contaminated with mercury. The addition of menadione is simply exacerbating the issue.
I also find it suspicious this company was formed by young people with no veterinary or clinical background, and does not utilize any veterinary oversight and guidance in which to properly formulate their pet foods (this is common with many "natural" pet food manufacturers). Lastly, perhaps the most important, the manufacturing is based in Thailand. Do you really want your pet food manufacturerd in Thailand where there is a lot of opportunity for missed regulations?
I don't know if Blue Buffalo still uses it, but they too used (possibly still do), menadione in some of their products.
You asked me for my opinion earlier and I preferred to be reserved but after looking at the Weruva, I feel I must caution you, and I would most certainly tell your vet(s) you've been feeding this. Whether it has anything to do with your kitten's problems now, remains to be determined, but it certainly is not helping in the long term.
Please be advised, "natural" or "holistic" pet foods are not necessarily better than any other commercial pet food. I won't get into it further here, but I do suggest you discuss this with your vet.
In the interim, I assume your vet told you to withhold food for several hours, yet provide water, and introduce small amounts of a food - he could also have prescribed for you a probiotic, or additional fiber source, but the stool sample should ideally be tested first for detection of anything obvious.
Did you actually take the stool sample to the vet for testing? Otherwise, you can't keep it longer than around 12 hours or so, or it will affect the test results.
I finally had some time today to look at Weruva. In my professional and honest opinion, I would cease feeding it, forever. It contains menadione, which is a synthetic version of vitamin K (AKA K3) and there is a great deal of controversy using this as an ingredient in pet foods. This pet food company is using it under the guise of "necessary supplementation" due to an abundance of percentage of fish used in their cat foods. If I recall, the FDA has banned the use of menadione in supplements, it makes sense not to choose any cat foods with menadione. Furthermore, promoting a cat food with high percentages of fish, combined with this synthetic agent is asking for toxicity when fed long term. Fish should NEVER be fed to cats long term - it can cause pansteatitis, deficiencies of other nutrients, and some sources of fish are contaminated with mercury. The addition of menadione is simply exacerbating the issue.
I also find it suspicious this company was formed by young people with no veterinary or clinical background, and does not utilize any veterinary oversight and guidance in which to properly formulate their pet foods (this is common with many "natural" pet food manufacturers). Lastly, perhaps the most important, the manufacturing is based in Thailand. Do you really want your pet food manufacturerd in Thailand where there is a lot of opportunity for missed regulations?
I don't know if Blue Buffalo still uses it, but they too used (possibly still do), menadione in some of their products.
You asked me for my opinion earlier and I preferred to be reserved but after looking at the Weruva, I feel I must caution you, and I would most certainly tell your vet(s) you've been feeding this. Whether it has anything to do with your kitten's problems now, remains to be determined, but it certainly is not helping in the long term.
Please be advised, "natural" or "holistic" pet foods are not necessarily better than any other commercial pet food. I won't get into it further here, but I do suggest you discuss this with your vet.
In the interim, I assume your vet told you to withhold food for several hours, yet provide water, and introduce small amounts of a food - he could also have prescribed for you a probiotic, or additional fiber source, but the stool sample should ideally be tested first for detection of anything obvious.
..........Traci
Re: Kitten with chronic illness
Thank you! I will research to Blue also. I was in such a pinch to ditch the Wellness, I was frantic to find something they could move on to without transition. We tried out Merrick too, but found it had way to much gelatin in it for me. The Weruva I was unsure of, but they did like it. It was given only 2-3x a week. I had a problem with the location of the plant. They dont seem to care for the Natural Balance LID chicken but tolerate and always eat the Blue. All of them have carrageen which I am also not happy about. I will keep up the search, and really do care about what I feed these guys. Of course, like everyone else, we have a budget and a family to feed also. It seems all food comes with flaws, animal and human alike.
As for the sample, no he didnt test it because he did think it was linked to the medicine. I was to bring in a new one if it persisted after he finishes the meds. No they didnt want me to withhold food, in fact wanted me to make sure he continued to eat. My instructions were to bring him in immediately if he refused a meal. ??? And no probiotic yet. They wanted to withhold anything new to him, pending his appointment Monday, unless of course of an emergency.
He was had about 3 more episodes since yesterday afternoon. Seems to be maintaining and still eating well. Spirits are not so good but curled up in my lap right now resting. We will see what happens when he wakes up.
I cant wait until Monday! 3:00 cannot come fast enough!
Lisa
As for the sample, no he didnt test it because he did think it was linked to the medicine. I was to bring in a new one if it persisted after he finishes the meds. No they didnt want me to withhold food, in fact wanted me to make sure he continued to eat. My instructions were to bring him in immediately if he refused a meal. ??? And no probiotic yet. They wanted to withhold anything new to him, pending his appointment Monday, unless of course of an emergency.
He was had about 3 more episodes since yesterday afternoon. Seems to be maintaining and still eating well. Spirits are not so good but curled up in my lap right now resting. We will see what happens when he wakes up.
I cant wait until Monday! 3:00 cannot come fast enough!
Lisa
Re: Kitten with chronic illness
I assume the vet was talking about the famciclovir, but I don't understand why he seems to be so fixated on this. For one thing, this medication is relatively new in the use for cats, and not well-studied. To be honest, I don't know it is helping or not. That's just my opinion, I would hope your vet has some compelling reason to be using it.
Is there ANY evidence of formed stool? Otherwise, his advice is rather strange. By either withholding food for a few hours or introducing a bland diet, this is helpful to sort of clear out the GI tract in order to reprocess re-introduced food. Note, food shouldn't be withheld for longer than a certain time frame, I just wanted to point out, this is a common approach to cats with sudden, continual diarrhea. The mucous and blood could still be stress-related, but usually it does not persist past 24 hours.
I too can't wait until tomorrow's vet visit. Hopefully, the new specialist is more experienced. Is he/she board-certified? Internal med?
Is there ANY evidence of formed stool? Otherwise, his advice is rather strange. By either withholding food for a few hours or introducing a bland diet, this is helpful to sort of clear out the GI tract in order to reprocess re-introduced food. Note, food shouldn't be withheld for longer than a certain time frame, I just wanted to point out, this is a common approach to cats with sudden, continual diarrhea. The mucous and blood could still be stress-related, but usually it does not persist past 24 hours.
I too can't wait until tomorrow's vet visit. Hopefully, the new specialist is more experienced. Is he/she board-certified? Internal med?
..........Traci
Re: Kitten with chronic illness
This was the course of tx set out by the 2nd specialist they brought in...1. prenisolone 10 days w/1st 3 days baytril to clear the lungs & follow up with the Fam.. and doxy to shut down any viral and secondary upper and lowers issues. This Pneumonia has been present since 1/13, coughing even before then. Confirmed diag. 2/3 when we did the initial xray. Since And yes, he was referring to the Fam. He is not on any other meds at this time. I think they fear a setback on the pneumonia. No, we do not think the anti-viral is working as expected and that is why it was decided to go to a new outside opinion of my choosing.
As for the new doc...She is the owner/operator of a feline vet full hospital. I do not believe she is board certified, but not entirely sure. They are hard to come by here and one I know of in my area is not highly recommended.
Her credentials are DVM, fully certified, members of the American Association of Feline Practitioners and The Cornell Feline Health Center, follow the latest AVMA and AAFP recommendations. accreditation by the American Animal Hospital Association.
He is still sleeping! Poor honey. I'll try and upload a picture so at least you have a visual of who your talking about. Thanks for all your support, I really appreciate it. --Lisa
As for the new doc...She is the owner/operator of a feline vet full hospital. I do not believe she is board certified, but not entirely sure. They are hard to come by here and one I know of in my area is not highly recommended.
Her credentials are DVM, fully certified, members of the American Association of Feline Practitioners and The Cornell Feline Health Center, follow the latest AVMA and AAFP recommendations. accreditation by the American Animal Hospital Association.
He is still sleeping! Poor honey. I'll try and upload a picture so at least you have a visual of who your talking about. Thanks for all your support, I really appreciate it. --Lisa
Re: Kitten with chronic illness
Maybe the feline vet won't be so adverse to consulting her peers on your behalf!
If I may ask, please take down notes of what we've been discussing here, to discuss with your new vet, to at least get an idea if she's experienced, her opinion on testing I mentioned, diagnostics etc.
I also want to mention aspergillosis, which is another fungal disease that is often not looked for specifically but can cause nearly all the symptoms your kitten is affected with. This seems to be an emerging pathogen in cats. There are several different species of this fungal disease, and I would reccommend both culturing as well as blood testing for this - sometimes a rhinoscopy is necessary to obtain a sample for testing.
If I may ask, please take down notes of what we've been discussing here, to discuss with your new vet, to at least get an idea if she's experienced, her opinion on testing I mentioned, diagnostics etc.
I also want to mention aspergillosis, which is another fungal disease that is often not looked for specifically but can cause nearly all the symptoms your kitten is affected with. This seems to be an emerging pathogen in cats. There are several different species of this fungal disease, and I would reccommend both culturing as well as blood testing for this - sometimes a rhinoscopy is necessary to obtain a sample for testing.
..........Traci
Re: Kitten with chronic illness
Oh trust me, i have notes! Months of them added to all this new info. I am not so sure the 1 hour we set up is going to be enough! LOL. Will do on the fungal issue too. Thats a term I have no knowledge of.
I attempted the picture upload, but apparently not qualified to do so. Could be a MAC vs. PC issue or pure incompetence on my part. I'll keep trying and surely will be back in touch as soon as I have some information.
Lisa
I attempted the picture upload, but apparently not qualified to do so. Could be a MAC vs. PC issue or pure incompetence on my part. I'll keep trying and surely will be back in touch as soon as I have some information.
Lisa
Re: Kitten with chronic illness
Try here for how to post photos, this also depends on your photo hosting provider:
http://www.cathelp-online.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2
If you need further help, just ask, we'll try to help!
http://www.cathelp-online.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2
If you need further help, just ask, we'll try to help!
..........Traci
http://s1189.photobucket.com/albums/z421/ociboys/
I, for the life of me could not link a picture here. Sorry.
Here is a link to the boys. The solid colored guy is the sick one.
I, for the life of me could not link a picture here. Sorry.
Here is a link to the boys. The solid colored guy is the sick one.
Re: Kitten with chronic illness
Oh gosh, they are so sweet! I just love their coloring!
Names?
Names?
..........Traci