Uberboy! My kittee and I will be forever in your debt if you can help figure out what is going on with him. Poor thing is getting thin, I can actually see his hindquarter bones . I'll ask the vet about erythromycin. Please please ask your Mom's opinion, I'm very worried about Kittee. Thank you thank you thank you for helping!
Here's hoping for the best for your cat. There's nothing more heartbreaking than a pet who isn't doing well. I hope Kittee pulls through!
Sounds to me like a nasty case of the feline upper respiratory infection. My wife and I have made it a habit of adopting cats from our local SPCA shelter, and each has had a run in or two with this. My wife is a former Vet tech, and animal fanatic and does a pretty good job when the kitties get sick. If Mr H. is losing weight, this is probably the thing you want to concentrate most on because he will recover quicker when he is stronger. I know feeding sick kitties is difficult, but it pays to be persistent. Also, make sure you pick up a couple of bags of fluids (saline/ water mix) that you can apply directly to the cat's back if you notice any dehydration. You can tell if he is dehydrated by how quickly his skin snaps back after pulling on it. Ask your Vet if he would sell a bag or two of fluids and ask him to show you how to give it to him. We have four cats and have had many runins with sicknesses like the one you describe. One thing you can try to do is to move the food and water bowls to somewhere different, and try switching the water from tap to filtered water and vice versa. Many cats do not like filtered water and vice versa and will not drink enough. Also, try switching up the cat food, too. Cats can be sooo particular as to which food they like etc.. There are many, many healthy foods, however the ones they will eat is always best, and wet/meat- based food is best for their diet. Cats attempt to get as much water from their food as they do when they drink. The eye infections (ie- watery, gooey eyes) can last Forever! So do not fret if it seems like it is not going away. And do keep in mind that in the future he may be more prone to this type of infection than he was in the past. Main thing is that you make him be as comfortable as possible and try to get him to eat and drink as best you can. If you have to fed him Friskies can food (mcdonalds for cats) just to get him to eat than do it. If you have to put the water bowl in front of his face and have him lick water from your finger than you might have to do that as well. Also, try letting him drink water out of a new bowl like a tupperware container or something. This might help as well. Hang in there and just know that you are not alone in having a sick kitty with a cronic upper respiratory infection. It is probably the single most common sickness cats are brought to the Vet for. It can last awhile, and relapse several times before going away. If you take him in to the vet they will monitor him and try to get him to eat and drink as much as possible and give him fluids as needed. If you can replicate this experience for him at home where he is most comfortable, he will get better and stronger that much quicker. You do want to keep a careful eye on is his breathing. He will be weezy mostly until he gets better, however if he starts to cough, sounds like caughing up a hairball, and he seems to be struggling to breath. Take him in immediately. You can also bring him into the bathroom with you while you shower as the steam can help to alleviate his congestion. Hang in there and do your best to remain upbeat and attentive. Believe me, Mr. Humphreys will never forget it.
Dean, thank you for all of the well wishes, I can't stop worrying about my 4-legged child . Stealthtank, thank you for taking the time to give me your experiences and advice. I also think he has a chronic sinus infection. He's always sounded congested, ever since we adopted him 1.2 years ago (he snores and wheezes when he sleeps, always has since we've had him). FYI, I'm also currently experiencing a chronic sinus infection--this was confirmed just yesterday with another CT scan (a second one in 2 months). I wonder if kittee and I have been passing our sinus infections back and forth. I was taking antibiotics for 3 weeks and just stopped 2 weeks ago. My doctor re-prescribed another 3 weeks of antibiotics to see if it'll clear up my sinus infection. I mentioned my concerned to the vet that we might be re-infecting each other (since kittee literally sleeps right up against me!), and he said that could be a small possibility. Now kittee and I are both on antiobiotics for 3 weeks (this is both our second time around on a 3-week prescription!). Yeppers, as you suggested, right now I am totally concentrating on putting the weight back on the kittee. He gets wet food set out all day and all evening--that ends up being 3 small cans a day. I think he ends up eating 2 small cans total. His favorite food is Fancy Feast (Cod feast and Seafood feast--he's a fish kittee ), which is pretty rich in oils, and must be fattening. He refuses human food and treats of any kind! His appetite is actually very good, and he yells at me for more food when his bowl is empty (this is a good sign!). I am following him around in the mornings (before taking off for work) and all evening, trying to rehydrate him. I am using a 10ml syringe (no needles), and injecting tepid water into his mouth (has to be done a little at a time so that I don't gag him and scare him away). I usually average 80-100 ml per day. The vet tells me kittee will normally need 240ml per day (this includes water in his food). The odd thing that I've noticed, is that he has difficulty drinking from bowls and cups (I've tried different bowls/cups and left them all over the house). His tongue barely touches the surface of the water, and sometimes, he pauses and dips his paws into the bowl/cup to see if there is water there. We've stopped dry food all together. He has difficulty picking it up and holding it in his mouth. We did have the vet check him for gum and teeth infections. This was done throughly on Sat 9/25, while he was under anesthesia, and at the same time they put a scope down his throat to make sure he hadn't swallowed any foreign material and that there were no obstructions. Thank you for suggesting the saline water bags, I'll put in a call to the vet. The other oddity is that he rarely if ever, has vomited (he coughed up some grass and a fly last year). He is ENTIRELY an indoor kitty. For the past months, he's coughed up some foam--I think this happened 5 times. I did mention this to the vet. I'll try the shower-steam treatment on him and see how that goes. Funny you should mention it, I always lock him out of the bathroom when I shower, as he's a boy-kitty! I'm normally not such a prude, but it's weird having him stare at me (like he's saying, "gosh mommee, you let that wet stuff get all over you?!?") Right now he's a little perturbed with me and Hubby, for medicating and rehydrating him constantly. I know he is saying, why don't you humans just leave me alone! I am also dabbing his runny eyes with a soft cloth. He seems to like that as he keeps very still when I do it. Poor kittee. Please keep your advice, suggestions, and positive thoughts coming. We really need them!
This is entirely a long shot, but who knows... About a month ago one of our cats started acting strange, lethargic, crying all the time. The vet couldn't find anything wrong but said she was a little dehydrated (not severely). One thing she kept doing was sitting by the refrigerator and crying. The only thing she ever normally gets from the refrigerator is a little cheese sometimes, but she didn't want that. To make a long story short...one day when getting some ice out of the freezer we dropped a cube and she went right for it and started licking it. She wanted ice! I have no idea how she developed a taste for it or how she associated it with the refrigerator but she did. Since then we've been giving her ice every day and she is back to her old self.
That's kind of a cute story, Paul. I can imagine your cat pouncing on a cube of ice and it sliding away. Then she'd pounce on it again and again til she finally got it. I'd draw it out but I have a hard time drawing cute things.
Another sign that a cat is unhappy with the drinking bowl situation is if the cat starts drinking out of the bath tub after you shower or the toilet. It is amazing how cats will go without water if the drinking bowl or water bugs them.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! What an exhausting day! Got back late to find that Hubby had gone to bed, but there were FOUR packages waiting for me!!! Mark K, THANK YOU for the awesome dinos!!! They arrived safely and are presently keeping Kittee entertained! Joe it's here, but I'm only peering at the goodies through the bubble wrap, I'll wait for our meet-up to unwrap the sleeping babies-vintage dinos, Kaiju books, Butanohana goodness, Bangar monster... Then Uglydoll squishy goodness! Sun-Mins handmades are a smile-maker to be sure! Then nice green leafy tea! Excitement! Can't wait to snap a few pics! P.S. StealthTank the saline bags are really helping Kittee along. I also followed your advice about giving him Friskies! He's glued to the bowl and now spoiled spoiled spoiled! He hasn't lost anymore weight, but he is holding steady and still on his meds. I hope this means he'll start improving and putting on some more weight. Thanks to everyone again for sharing your advice to help my poor Kittee, we really appreciate it!
just got home from chillin' at friends watchin' role models and opening champagne with a saber, pretty awesome night.
i finally beat the game in under 30 hours, so i won this game trophy. lol. now the game is somewhat useless ~ killing the 200 pigeons for a trophy doesn't sound fun anymore.
Good bye Mr. Humphreys. Quite suddenly our sweet kittee passed away today. He and I would like to thank all of you for your advice and support. After intensive tests, he was found to have a heart arrhythmia and cancer. He was approximately 6.5 years old, and in our family for a very short 20 months. After losing 5.5 lbs. within the last 1.6 months, he was in congestive heart failure and his functions went into shut-down mode last night. Hubby and I will miss him very dearly, he brought so much joy and love to our household and hearts. I love you Mr. Humphreys. Mr. Humphreys ~2003 - Oct. 16, 2009
I am so sorry to hear that Mr. Humphreys has passed. My heart also goes out to you, Grace. He was indeed a wonderfully handsome little guy.
Sorry for your loss. My girlfriend and I are both saddened. He sounded like a great kitty and very much loved.
