Tuxedo cat - terrible cold, won't eat

Hi,

I have a tuxedo cat that I and a friend rescued from being stuck in an apartment last week. He was stuck in the abandoned unit for several days, sick and with out food or water.

The vet gave him fluids and gave us clavamox, eye medication, some smelly food, and neo-senephrin, to give him. Which we are. The problem is with the food.

He has such a hard time breathing that giving him food I think is making him worse. We had to liguify it and put it in an eye dropper but I think it may be going down the wrong hole because he sounds pnemonic after getting it and doubles his breathing rate for over an hour.

We took him to the vet Fri and Sat morning and he got fluids both time. And Sat the vet told us she expected him to be eating on his own today. I have to work so I can't take him to the vet today but tomorrow he can be taken again by someone else.

I'm afraid 1. he will suffocate - his breathing is that restricted and for at least 4 days now it's all he could do to hold his head up and try to breathe. and 2. that he is starving to death.

Oh, oddly he is uriniating a few times a day - on the floor and he does get up and move the lenght of the room to get away from us force feeding him (very little gets in).

He has no appetitie.

Does anybody have better ideas on how to get him breathing and eating?

Any ideas appreciated.

Or at least call the vet and tell them what's going on - ask them for instruction if you can't possibly bring him in. Please.

I don't know what to do about the breathing. But my cat almost died on clavamox b/c he got so anorexic. His appetite came back after we discontinued it. Vets forget to tell you that little tidbit. I had to read about it on the internet.

I hope your kitty gets better. :hug:

The 1st vet diagnosed it. The 2nd didn't think it was sufficient.

When ever I have taken in a new feline rescue I find it's fairly normal for them to not eat much if at all or use the litter box for the first 48 hours at least. Sick, starved or relatively healthy, a newly admitted rescued cat can take awhile before a normal feeding routine begins. Some cats start up quickly but I have had most take a few days and then slowly start. I try to avoid additional trips to the vet clinic beyond the first work up and then keep the Vet informed over the phone. Recommend giving sq fluids at home, its easy to do. I get the best results feeding the emaciated cat Hills feline a/d along with a thin soup made with Gerber Chicken baby food. It's hard to do sometimes but its best to get the patient comfortable it a warm quiet small room or shielded enclosure with food/water/litter box and as little human intrusion as possible. For the badly congested cat I highly recommend running a vaporizer in the isolation room. Recently I've had good results using a nebulizer and homemade chamber for the seriously ill and congested cat. Also I'm very careful when Clavamox is prescribed, Ive had several cats take ill form it and go off their food just from the reaction to the antibiotic. If I have a definite infection present along with a URI I have better results with Rx Baytril or other. Actually I would not give a weak cat Clavamox ever again. Seems to me though that if your Vet thought this cat would benefit from an antibiotic that she/he would have adim it by injection (yes/no?).

From what you say I wonder if this cat now has a fever. It would be very important for you to know as soon as possible if his temp is high. You should be taking his temp yourself and reporting back to your Vet if his temp is over 102.
Also the odd breathing/coughing? could very well be from forcing the liquid food orally. You need to have your Vet advise or show you how to do it.

Hoping you have good luck with this cat!

the vet. I keep going back there - with the cat. Today I'm at work though. I'll lose my job if I dont' show up for this giant well known slave driver. Today my friend is picking up fluids from my vet, so we can give them to the cat. The vet gave him fluids friday and saturday.

This is verge of death illness- too hard for him to breathe and he's been hanging on for 4 days since I found him and who knows how long before that. His head is in the air wheezing for breathe 24/7 and he's not getting much.

The information about clavamox is super important, thank you for that.

My friend is checking with another vet to see if we can get intravaneous feeding today. My vet doesn't have that.

When a cat has a respiratory infection and can't smell anything, he can't taste anything, either. He literally doesn't identify his food as food. Refusing food can even keep up after the infection itself has started to wane. Be persistent.

The vet gave Tuxedo a 10% chance of making it 4-6 hours. He made it and they said he was looking a little better last night. He's not out of the woods yet.

I'm upset because the other vet had a smile on her face and told us just to give him the antibiotics-clavamox, eye drops and neo-sephrin, and try to put food in his mouth.

The new vet put him on 3 more anti-biotics and said clavamox barely begins to address his symptoms. His body temp was too low and he could have died from that, and his insides were dying- excreting stuff into his blood.

The new vet didn't see much hope.

I can't call the place till later this morning but I'm really tense to find out if he made it through the night.

This was a beautiful strong cat only 2 weeks ago.He was locked in an apt for days though. Thank goodness we went looking for him and broke the law by entering that place to find him. I don't like the idea of him dying alone.

If he's not dead this morning, he may make it. We don't know. Poor Tuxie...

With so much love coming his way, he just has to.

That stuff your first vet gave you is the medicine my vet gives my cats when their sinuses get stuffed up in the spring and fall. They're Persians, so they have little noses. The Clavamox has worked, but Tuxie is so much worse off.

Good luck.

I called an I was told Rich was at the vet - my friend who had originally saved tux, and Rich had agreed to put Tux down. Tux is only 3 years old.

He is probably put down now.

I'm not okay with it and I doubt I'll be able to look at rich again. Tux was fighting for his life and they undermined him.

The vet wouldn't give the phone to rich and me being an hour away in another city didn't help either.

I would have like to have gotten to the vet and taken tux back to the one who thought he had a chance.

People amaze me. Apathetic people especially.

...and for you, too.

:hug:

:cry: :hug:

I'm not okay with it.

I feel they murdered the cat.

With a chance of survival my opinion is they should have taken it. I'm getting that "friend" out of my life now. I don't trust him visiting any more animals at the vet. He wasn't even supposed to be there today.

If my "friend" ever did that, he would be out of my life, too. What a sad situation! :cry:

I wish I could think of something comforting to say. I can't. What kind of world do we live in? :cry:

I had a similar thing happen to a 6 year old cat years ago. One vet acted like her breathing and dehydration problem was no big deal and the next day she was dead.

:hug:

To have such loss coupled with such anger and frustration. My heart goes out to you. May your little Tux rest in peace beyond the Bridge.

You tried. You did the best you could.

:cry: :hug:

I don't blame you for feeling betrayed-I would too. The URI Tux had may have been nothing more than a severe URI, or it may have been Panleukapenia, in which case there would have been nothing anyone could do for him. I know what you are going through right now; I just lost yet another foster kitten-my little smoke Zephyr- this time to FIP, on Friday. It was absolutely heartbreaking, but I'm glad that he knew he was loved during the few weeks that he was here with me. I'm sure Tux knew that you cared for him too. :hug:

I'm sorry to hear about Smoke Zephyr.

I know things have been really tough on you losing the kittens to diseases.

There's no words for the loss of a loved pet. Too tragic. A few more of my cats are sneezing. Blacky has an all out cold. I hope this losing animals stops for both of us.

Especially since you were willing to fight for him.

Ok, clavamox...causes stomach upsets and inappetance in almost every cat I've ever seen or heard of. My vet prescribes a quarter to a half tablet of tagamet or pepcid (depending on the size of the cat) to go along with clavamox to stall that side effect. In fact, most antibiotics will cause inappetance in cats, which is definitely not a good thing for a sick cat. We have to be vigilant about this because we have 2 diabetics and, no matter what else is going on, they HAVE to eat.

Another thing I've found that helps stimulate the appetite is to sprinkle a little oregano on the food. Close enough to catnip to make it more interesting. And if the cat is very sick, strained meat baby food is the highest nutrition you can get into them. Mix it to a slurry with chicken stock and syringe it in. Even a little will give them some support...more than plain cat food will do.

I wish I'd have known it while tuxedo was alive.

I'm sure I can use it for the rest of my cats because they nearly all have colds now. If it gets worse all may be in the same boat as tux.

to hear about Zephyr. :cry:

You do a wonderful thing taking in foster kitties and I am so sorry you have to deal with things like this. You are a better person than I. I don't think I could bear it.

to hear this. Tux was still a baby. :cry:

I would not be OK with what happened either.

:cry:

RIP Tux.

And condolences and :hug: to you superconnected. :(

i'm so sorry :hug:

Poor Tuxie, bless his heart.

...I knew when I opened your post, that something bad had happened. Just damn.

I'm so sorry.

A friend would not do that, not act without your consent. It does sound like it was pretty bad and its possible he wouldnt have survived... but still... always have to ask is this for me/my convenience or is it truly in the animal's best interest.

What a lousy thing to happen. I am so sorry.

RIP Tux :cry:

first got him about a year ago, he was very, very, very ill with an upper respiratory system (he had mucous and blood coming out of his nose, but he hadn't progressed to the point of no appetite - he ate anything that wasn't nailed down).

He pulled thru, but I don't think he was as sick as your boy.

I feel for you, and I'm sorry about what your 'friend' Rich did. I hope your heart heals OK.