2/21 Sid update - bad news- looks like pneumonia

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Lydia & Sid & Jake(GA)

Lydia & Sid & Jake(GA)

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So I got up at 3 and checked him and he was 306. That was good. Then I wanted to make sure he was rising. I waited and rechecked in about an hour and he was 474. The worst thing was that he was not wanting to eat and breathing super fast (65/min). He ate about 1/4 can and I gave him the prozinc. Last check at 8:00 am he was 317. He didn't pee so I couldnt check ketones- yesterday he was negative but I know that doesn't mean anything. I think the ketone's are back and he is back at the vet today. I would have taken him to the hospital but I don't like the vet on call and the last tone I was there they basically told me this was going to keep happening and i've done everything I can for him. I got the feeling they felt it was a waste of their time to treat him and I don't want him around people who think that way.
 
Re: 2/21 Sid update - bad news

So sorry to hear this, Lydia. You are working so hard for him and it just seems so difficult. And to have people who can't be supportive would be awful. You and Sid are in my thoughts today - hoping for better news.
 
Re: 2/21 Sid update - bad news

Keeping you and Sid in my thoughts and Prayers.

Please keep us updated.
 
Re: 2/21 Sid update - bad news

Nooooooo! Oh Lydia, I'm so sorry...it stinks that the hospital vet is not supportive. I'm glad you could get him in to the regular vet, I hope he can get him stabilized. Please keep us posted.
 
Re: 2/21 Sid update - bad news

I am so sorry Lydia. Sending healing thoughts and keeping you & Sid in my prayers. Hope to hear good news later.
 
Re: 2/21 Sid update - bad news

Hugs SidBaby, I'm sorry you're feeling so bad. Mama's trying so hard and so worried, I know you're trying so hard too. Lots of prayers here for all of you.

HUGS Lydia - you're in my thoughts often daily right now...
 
Re: 2/21 Sid update - bad news- looks like pneumonia!!

Turns out that Sid's urine was negative for ketones. They did a chest xray and he apparently has pneumonia.that is why he was breathing so fast. Starting him on clavamox. Also running another wbc to make sure the leukeran isn't depleting too many. I visited him at lunchtime and he ate about a 1/4 can for me.
 
Re: 2/21 Sid update - bad news

thank you for updating, lydia.
i'm glad they figured things out. i have no experience in this area. i hope the clavamox goes to work quickly!
i'm so glad you were able to get him to eat.

we're all pulling for your little guy.

hugs, positive thoughts, and prayers...
 
Re: 2/21 Sid update - bad news

Good, NO ketones! Hopefully the clavamox will knock the pneumonia out. I don't know anything about pneumonia in cats, but I think I would take that over High Ketone levels.

Glad he ate for you. I admire your dedication to Sid.

Please keep us updated!

Prayers continuing for Sid.
 
Re: 2/21 Sid update - bad news

Thank you for the update, Lydia....I've been thinking about you and Sid all day and sending positive thoughts and healing vines your way. I'm glad he is negative for ketones, that's good news. I hope he responds to the AB quickly and is on the mend soon! Eating is always a good sign....hoping the BW results are good. Fight Sid!

You are working so hard to help him, Lydia. Sending tons of vines for Sid and hugs for you. :YMHUG:
 
(((Lydia))) I am so sorry to hear that Sid now has this additional complication. I have no experience with feline pneumonia. Since both Prednisolone and Leukeran are immune suppressing drugs, I wonder if he has become more vulnerable to this sort of opportunistic infection. It is encouraging that the X-ray did not show anything worse, such as a metastatic tumour to the lung. It is also good news that he was able to eat a bit for you. Is there any discharge or other fluid that the vet can send out for culture to target the antibiotic to the type of bacteria present? Have you discontinued the Leukeran while he is suffering from an infection? I wonder about also tapering down the Pred (as I understand it, pred should not be suddenly discontinued).

Sid has fought through so much, and I know that he can fight this, too.
 
Lydia,

About 5 years ago, one of my civies had pneumonia, she was critical, spent 4 days in the hospital on IV and oxygen. I had to search through my files to find the records, I could not remember what meds were used. I don't know how useful this will be to you, but I thought I would share. She was given Baytril and Clindamycin, plus Aminophylline (bronchodilator) while she was hospitalized, she came home on Clindamycin and Aminophylline. Sorry it took so long to post this, but I didn't want to try to rely on my memory and I really had to search for it.

She is an asthma kitty, and the local vet had given her a long acting steroid shot while she had an URI. The steroid opened her up to the pneumonia.

I hope this helps....keeping you both in my thoughts.
 
Lydia,

I am so sorry to hear about Sid. It's so sad that you guys can't catch a break. The only good news might be, if the Clavamax starts working, it should lower his BG...at least I hope so. My heart is breaking for you and Sid. Please take care of yourself (we know you take great care of Sid), and try to hang in there. Sid has shown you how tough he is so far, so let's hope he keeps showing off for you. You and Sid are in my thoughts.


Laurie and Mr Tinkles said:
She was given Baytril and Clindamycin
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Note to all: Please be careful with Baytril usage in cats...or better yet, ask your vet for a different antibiotic all together. I caused one of my kitties to go blind using Baytril...the vet said I didn't...but I beg to differ. I used it for years with many, many, felines...but it only took the one, to teach me that the warnings of serious side effects can happen to you.

Edit to add quote...so you would understand the Baytril warning.
 
I am so sorry to hear about Sid, I hope he is
feeling better soon and will be able to come home to you!
Hang in there
 
Thank you for the kind thoughts and well wishes everyone! Sid is back home now. He ate a little food. So far today he has eaten about 1 can which is pretty good for a 5 pound cat - yes, he has gained some weight from about 4.4 to 5.4! :-D :-D

Thank you for all the advice about meds and testing.
I am really glad he doesn't have ketones too!! Imagine my surprise when they told me he was negative. I couldn't believe because I thought for sure that was the problem.
I feel a little guilty because over the past couple of days his breathing seemed a little more rapid and I would count it and test urine and I thought I was imagining things. Now I know I should have taken him in last week.

@Linda, they were not able to get any fluid from his lungs to test. But they sent out another wbc to check his levels. yes, I am very glad he did not have a metastatic tumor or something like that!! Also, I believe we are going to start budesonide which will be better for him than the prednisolone. It doesn't affect bg levels. I am still waiting to hear for a confirmation from the vet on this. No, we won't go immediately off the pred, but gradually reduce the dose. Actually he gets leukeran on Mondays and Thursdays. He got his dose yesterday, and I'm not sure if we are continuing it or not. The vet is supposed to be calling anytime now.

@Laurie I will ask about clindamycin though usually they use that for dental/gum issues. They did not mention a bronchodialiator either . The link that Jill shared discussed using a nebulizer or vaporizer. I have one and am going to run it for Sid where he likes to hang out. I once had a foster kitten with very bad pneumonia and running one really helped.

@Deb, I don't see how you caused blindness. That side effect of baytril typically happens in older cats when they are prescribed too high of a dose. My vet always errs on the side of less baytril for the older cats. I'm guessing your vet prescribed it so I don't see how you can blame yourself. You thought you were doing the right thing and trying to help.
 
(((Lydia)))

I'm very glad there are no ketones and that Sid is eating. The fact that he's eating is a positive sign with pneumonia -- at least that's one of the points made in the link Jill posted. I'm tickled to hear that Sid has also gained some weight.

Keep fighting, Sid. You've got one incredible bean watching your back!!
 
Woohoo! Sid is home! dancing_cat

Now that's he's back with momma, I'm sure he feels better already. Here's hoping for a quick recovery!

Also, great news on the possible change in steroids! Anything to help Sid with his BGs is great!
 
Lydia,

I am sooo relieved that Sid is back home with you. Soooo relieved. I'm hoping for major improvement with each day.

Lydia & Sid & Jake(GA) said:
I'm guessing your vet prescribed it so I don't see how you can blame yourself. You thought you were doing the right thing and trying to help.
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Yep, thought I was doing the right thing. Did it hundreds of times before...but it was wrong that one time. That's all it takes. With 20 barn cats, at that time, they certainly didn't receive the kind of care and attention that Sid receives. They still don't...even at 10. You ARE the World's Best Mama!
 
I'm so glad Sid is home...the fact that he could come home tonight is very encouraging! The vaporizer is a good idea, I did the same thing with my dog when she had pneumonia. I put her in a crate and draped a sheet over it. (Sheesh, my house sounds like a hospital ward, doesn't it? :lol: ) Sid may not need a bronchodilator, or the clindamycin, your vet is the best judge of that...just sharing info in case it's helpful.

My kitty was given a 50-50 chance of making it through the night when she was hospitalized, there was no way she could have come home...she needed intensive care, IV, oxygen. The previous day, she was seen at the local vet and they did not catch it, in fact she was seen daily for the three previous days and x-rays were negative, so please don't beat yourself up about not catching it sooner...it can come on very quickly! It was very sudden with my dog too. It sounds to me like you reacted very quickly and got him the help he needed.

Yay on the weight gain, that's wonderful news! :-D

How is his BG?
 
@Laurie - his bgs have been in the 300s tonight - I have to update his SS still. And they gave him R at the vet and we're very insistent about it because he was HI. I tried to protest but I never win with them (that's ok because I like them much more than many other vets in this area.) They want me to give him R every 6 hours because they said his bg is way too high and has to come down. I know we all here on this board discussed all that. So I'm going to continue giving the Prozinc every 8 hours as we discussed previously and I did increase the dose a bit from 0.9 to 1.0 and gave him the food as we discussed at +1 +2, etc. I just hope I can get him back on track.

@Deb - You are the best mama bean to all of your cats. Sid isn't my only cat. I have 7 others. 3 are FeLV+ and then I have 4 others who relatively young and healthy. I just had 5 die in the last 2 years including Jake who was my sugar cat for 8 years. They were all elderly except Charlie who had FeLV (his sisters and mom are still alive). So my point is that I'm devoting most of my attention to Sid right now the same as I did for the 5 cats who died recently and the other cats do not get the attention they would probably like. So we do the best we can and you are doing an amazing thing with all of your cats. I wish I had a barn so I could have that many too. Your cats all know they are loved and are grateful for all you do for them. :-D
 
Oh Lydia, I am so happy that Sid is home with you! You're such a good mommy and bless you for taking care of so many furkids. I did read Sid's profile and what an amazing boy he is. He's such a precious soul. It's not easy taking care of that many creatures, and just as hard when they get older and health issues start to surface.

Please know I will keep you both in my thoughts & prayers. I am heading out of town first thing in the morning, but I will check in... when I can. I hope you both get some good rest tonight. Hugs to precious Sid cat_pet_icon
 
It's ok that they gave R there, I'm glad he got insulin..when they are sick, you do what you have to! I'm also glad you increased the dose, I was going to say that is a good idea, as long as he's eating. Sid's situation is fluid, he isn't stable anymore...you'll need to reassess cycle by cycle for now. His numbers are likely higher from the pneumonia, you'll need to be alert for his BG dropping as the infection clears.

You might want to give some thought to getting a BK meter, like Deb mentioned a couple of days ago. I know the strips are pricey, and I don't know anything about which ones are better, so I would get some feedback about that before you buy one. It would be a good early warning system for you, since the BK show up before the ketones show up in the urine. Just a thought.
 
@Laurie I agree about the meter. I've been thinking about getting one for awhile now. I've seen a couple posts with recommendation and i will have to find those again. I'm really glad your dog and kitty both survived pneumonia. Your house must have been just like a hospital ward. I appreciate your sharing of information about meds and treatments. That is very helpful because then I can ask my vet about things I might otherwise not consider that might help Sid. I really like clindamycin and think it does wonders my only experience with it has been for inflamed gums. But if it works for pneumonia, it might be good for Sid. I tend to think clavamox is not that strong (but I could be wrong). I just hope it helps Sid start feeling better. Poor guy is just breathing so hard. The vets also mentioned giving him some lasix to help with the breathing. My only experience with that was to get Jake to pee when they needed a urine sample. Anyway, I do appreciate your advice!
 
Clavamox is a broad spectrum AB, so that is a good thing. I don't know if it will be strong enough, and I don't know if Clindamycin is better...it depends on the bacteria, and without a C&S, there's no way to pinpoint what will work. I would think the vet would prescribe an appropriate AB, but if you think he isn't improving as he should be, I wouldn't hesitate to call them....I know you won't! Did they give you a timeline to call or bring him back in if he isn't better? I haven't used lasix....I know it's a diuretic...did they say he had fluid in his lungs or chest?

The link Jill gave you has good info. The vaporizer should help, I hope the AB will help him bounce back quickly.

You could post on health and ask for other people's experience....

I think it's always really, really hard to see our babies sick, and we want to do everything we can to make them better NOW! Sometimes, it just takes time. I know you are worried about him, Lydia. The one thing I can tell you is that you are doing everything you can....and so is Sid...he's a real fighter! :YMHUG:

ETA: How is his BG looking? I know you haven't had time to fill in the SS.
 
Lydia & Sid & Jake(GA) said:
I just had 5 die in the last 2 years including Jake who was my sugar cat for 8 years.
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I also had 5 die in the last 2-years. What are the chances? Some would still be with me, if not for cancer & FIP, and some were over 18-years-old....but I kind of got a "chill" when I read how many you lost...in the same exact time span as me. Although, I suppose it would be weirder if we met at work, or inline at the supermarket.

Laurie and Mr Tinkles said:
So my point is that I'm devoting most of my attention to Sid right now the same as I did for the 5 cats who died recently and the other cats do not get the attention they would probably like. So we do the best we can and you are doing an amazing thing with all of your cats. I wish I had a barn so I could have that many too.
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See what I mean about being the best “Mama Cat” any cat (or Leo for that matter) could have? Everything you are going through, and you still make time to support others...so thank you for that. The squeaky wheel gets the grease here too. I have my guilt trips about the others not getting enough attention. And although I am the guilt trip expert, I will go with, "we do the best we can", as words of wisdom for the day. As for the barn, I wish I still had one too. The barn was demolished, the farm sold, and I moved the remaining 20 to a "regular little house". It wasn't until we were in such close quarters together, that I realized how sick some of them were. I kind of bit off more than I could chew... but am taking it day by day. It was easier to care for 36 young cats, than 10 aging cats...as I am aging too...and apparently with age, comes a lot of whining...so I will stop now. :)

I'm glad Laurie brought up the subject of the ketone meter again. I really think it will take a load off your mind, and be best for you and Sid. I'll check the "in-house pharmacy" in my office, 'cause I think I have an extra brand-new meter with strips. I’ll get back to you on that.

Lydia & Sid & Jake(GA) said:
I really like clindamycin and think it does wonders my only experience with it has been for inflamed gums. But if it works for pneumonia, it might be good for Sid.
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Laurie would know if it worked for pneumonia (edit to add: with her pet after prescribed by vet), but my only experience is with deep puss pockets (punctures and abscesses of the skin), and dental issues, as you stated. It's certainly worth looking into though.

Lydia & Sid & Jake(GA) said:
I tend to think clavamox is not that strong (but I could be wrong).
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FWIW, Clarky (FIV+) goes on Clavamox as soon as his breathing starts to sound "junky", and he starts with the rapid breathing. I've used it mostly for sinus, eyes, and UTI...with UTI in the lead. I was under the impression, from a previous vet, that Clav is easier on the system (diarrhea-wise) for long term use. However, as usual, another vet said this is not true, and there are "gentler" antibiotics from which to choose. So what the heck do I know? My best guess is, without a culture, and a specific target, Clav should be a good choice for broad-spectrum coverage. I will suggest, however, if you feel that any antibiotic is not working well, and Sid is getting worse, maybe you could ask for an IV antibiotic, and take Sid home with cath placed. I did this with one of my older guys, for I think, a 5-day course BID. It was a last ditch effort, that didn't pan out...but was certainly worth a try.

Lydia & Sid & Jake(GA) said:
Poor guy is just breathing so hard. The vets also mentioned giving him some lasix to help with the breathing. My only experience with that was to get Jake to pee when they needed a urine sample.
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Yep, it will make him pee. It sounds like they want to get rid of some fluid build-up so he can breathe better? I have experience with it for fluids in the abdomen, and also chest, on different occasions. She was also receiving abdominal taps, and years later, chest taps.

Anyway Lydia, I have shed many tears for you and Sid today, and I am hoping for the best for both of you. I'll check in on Sid's progress often, as I need to reassess where I'm heading with Marilyn...but I'll be around with fingers crossed.

Major Hugs,

Deb

Edit to add: Crap, it took me so long to write this novel...I didn't see Lauie's last post...sorry.
 
Checking in...I hope Sid is doing better today. I'm heading out, I will check in later this afternoon.

FWIW....from the Pneumonia Management link:

Antibiotic therapy
Antibiotics are given to kill the bacteria, but which antibiotics should be chosen? We need something that will penetrate into the pus and mucus (which many antibiotics cannot do). Often a “four quadrant” approach is used that covers bacteria classified as Gram negative and Gram positive as well as those classified as aerobic and anaerobic. This typically involves two antibiotics used in combination to synergize one another and covers almost every possible bacterial organism.
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It would not hurt to tell the vet that you have been reading about the "four quadrant" approach to treating pneumonia and ask about the pros and cons. Then you could get an idea of your vet's thinking about why he chose the treatment course that he did. It could be that he will tell you that since Sid is already on Metronidazole, he is already using that approach...I don't know, I would ask the vet.

I would hate to see you ask for any particular AB based on what worked for my cat...I know you didn't say that, but I'm uncomfortable with some of what I'm seeing re: Laurie says clindamycin works for pneumonia. I said that MY VET prescribed it in combination with Baytril, and it worked for us. I'm not a vet! Even if I were a vet, it would not be appropriate for me to say what course of treatment you should follow without seeing the cat! There are many choices and the treating vet is in the best position to help you make decisions. I just want to make that clear for all who are reading this thread.
 
Lydia --

Clindamycin is a potent AB (e.g, it can be used to treat MRSA in humans). One advantage to it's use is that it can treat both aerobic and anerobic bacteria as well as both gram positive (including pneumococcus) and gram negative bacterias. You might want to ask your vet about giving Sid a probiotic along with the AB. One of the notable side effects of clinidamycin is diarrhea.
 
Michelle & Prudence said:
Just checking in between airports. Hope everything is fine today. Thinking of you guys!
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Have a safe trip, Michelle! :smile:

Lydia, I'm glad Sienne posted some info for you about Clindamycin. I'm just stopping in for a minute....back on the road again, unfortunately. :YMSIGH: I'll check in later. Still sending vines and positive thoughts for you both! cat_pet_icon
 
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