4/18 Alfred - respiratory issues, good thoughts welcome

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KJ & Alfred

KJ & Alfred

Member Since 2013
Well, Alfred seems to be doing fine with no insulin for the past 13 days. But the sneezing, watery eye and runny nose have gotten worse. We tried a 10 day course of antibiotics and my friend said he seemed to get somewhat better but it didn't go away completely. In the past 24 hours, it's gotten far worse. His breathing is noisy and the sneezing has become more frequent and "bigger". It's almost a cross between a normal sneeze and trying to cough something up. It doesn't seem good. Here is the post I originally made about the weird bump on the bridge of his nose.

previous post about bump

The links shared about cryptococcosis freaked me out. The first vet said the only test for it required taking a sample from the bump but he has to be sedated to do it. We waited since I was going out of town. I was really hoping the antibiotics did the trick. So, if you have any spare good thoughts for Alfred, we'd appreciate it.

Fingers crossed.
 
Aw... Poor Alfred. Did the bump go away? So that it's all an internal problem now?
Does your vet have any ideas ?


I don't remember.. are you out in the boonies are near a major city where they might be a feline specialist to see?

I have no answers but I'd sure want to explore options.... and if the vet thinks the symptoms fit ...

Is there any way Alfred could have poked himself internally....
barbq skewer? broom straws? deviated septum? (guess you need a ct scan to see that )

Prayers for Alfred ....
 
Saying Prayers and Sending Vines for Alfred's breathing to get easier and for his sneezes to get less frequent and smaller.
 
Thanks for the replies. The bump hasn't gone down but I realized looking back at old photos he has always had it, it just seems a bit more pronounced now. And of course the other symptoms just developed recently and have gotten worse. No input from vet yet. I'm in Anchorage ( making my way home) and sitting in my car waiting at the emergency vet. They wouldn't let me wait inside in case it's a highly contagious infection. I've been waiting nearly two hours. :-(

I'll be sure to share what they say. Appreciate the thoughts.
 
Emergency Vets always seem to make you wait a long time :roll: . I hope what ever it is, it's something easy to clear up and get him feeling his normal self again real soon.
 
I promise to update. They've taken back to isolation b/c his breathing got really scary in the car... Big long gasps and breathing through his mouth. I'm just sick with worry and anxiety here in the waiting room. They said we're next for the vet.
 
Poor baby. Sending up prayers for Alfred and for you. (This might sound dumb, but since I don't know Alfred's full history--could it be feline herpes virus? It is latent in many cats and when it flares up causes respiratory infections, runny eyes, etc. Easily managed with l-lysine tablets ground up and mixed into food. Surely your vet would have mentioned that, but in case he/she didn't I thought I should. One of my cats has it, and it makes him really miserable when it flares.) In any case, I'm hoping for a quick diagnosis and effective treatment! cat_pet_icon
 
Back from the vet -

He decided to try a different antibiotic and gave Alfred an injection. He did mention herpes, he said one of his cats has it actually, but said the diagnosis and testing can be difficult and/or often inaccurate. It was one of the several things he suggested we do down the line (including sending some of Alfred's mucus to be cultured) IF this antibiotic doesn't help in the next week.

I had already planned to talk to another vet tomorrow about Alfred (I have an appointment for my epileptic cat, Clyde) so I'll share what this vet said and see what she says. She's a real cat person and the vet I trust the most in this state, so we'll see what her opinion is.

He also said, that it was unfortunate that Alfred and Clyde had been together since this can be so contagious, but that damage is done and he just said to keep a close eye on Clyde. So far, no symptoms. He didn't respond at all to my suggestions about the cryptococcosis, but I will ask the other vet tomorrow.

Thank you all for the prayers and good thoughts. It was a rough afternoon, but hopefully he will start improving and we can go back to focusing on the AWESOME part about Alfred being off the juice for the past 13 days. ;-)
 
It honestly can't hurt if you want to give Alfred L-lysine. I linked the brand I use. It acts as an immune system booster. (You add 1/8 teaspoon to your kitty's food twice a day.) If you think Alfred is congested, I've kept Gabby in the bathroom when I shower. I turn the shower on ahead of when I'm going to get in and get the room steamy. It seems to help to break things up a bit.

I hope the AB helps and your regular vet has some additional ideas.
 
I'm sorry to hear Alfred is not well. If he has herpes, the antibiotic will not do anything for the herpes but it might address any secondary bacterial infection.

My Tobey has herpes and he often sounded very sniffly nosed but nothing else like you describe. I started giving him Standard Process Allerplex and he's doing so much better. My vet said it should help with herpes symptoms. You might want to discuss it with the vet you like.

Sending healing vines!
 
My cats are all from shelter, so they've got herpes. Yes, running nose, red watery eyes sometimes better sometimes worse. Ive been giving the, L-lysine as immune booster. Sometimes, my vet will prescribe AB for clearing an nose infection but it's not a cure.
When their nose conjestion got worse, I used the baby's rubber nasal vacumn (Gerber?) to suck out the discharge to clear their nostril .
Keep the cat inside steaming bathroom helps a bit.
Does Alfred have any discharge from nose or eyes?
 
I hope this new course of antibiotics helps Alfred quickly. Sending healing vines your way for the little guy and hoping he gets better soon.
 
Yes, he has been having watery clear discharge from his eye (just one eye). In fact the eye discharge has been more frequent than the nose. He is also sneezing a lot. I will pick up some L-Lysine today and start the steams. The vet suggested I bring him into a steamy bathroom for 10 minutes twice a day. Boy, am I glad we finally have running water at our house!!! Taking the cat to the local laundromat/showerhouse in town might not have gone over that well.

Thanks again for the good thoughts and suggestions.
 
Sure hope Alfred is doing better today. It sounds just like herpes to me. If so, the l-lysine will help, but it takes time. Definitely not an instant cure. Keep us posted! Sending lots of love and healing vines. cat_pet_icon
Phyllis >^..^<
 
Just stopping by to send some breathe easy vines to dear Alfred. You're doing a great job with him - I'm sure he appreciates it! cat_pet_icon
 
Hi guys,
I hope that Alfred will respond to the various treatments suggested. Rusty has chronic lung congestion and sneezing. We started him on Standard Process Allerplex over a month ago (on Marje's suggestion) and his breathing has improved noticeably. It's a holistic remedy for humans with allergies, but it works on animals, too. Here's a link to a description of it. You can buy it from holistic health professionals as well as online at Amazon.
https://www.standardprocess.com/Sta...brary/Product-Detail-Sheets/allerplex0975.pdf

Breathe better, Alfred!

Ella & Rusty
 
Thanks to all of you who have posted the well wishes and suggestions. The second vet I saw today said to give him a week to show signs that this antibiotic is doing the trick. I will definitely look into the other suggestions as well.

You guys are awesome.
 
You could also look into Lysine treats if Alfred doesn't like it in his food. I've used treats with some success and also have broken up pills and put small chunks in half a Pill Pocket or another soft treat. Alfred is diabetic but you can still give him a small treat two or three times a day if necessary.

What he has sounds like what all my four surviving cats got after Salem was hospitalized with his final illness and brought an infection home. Clavamox and Lysine seemed to help but they were all quite sick on and off for about six weeks. Boric acid eye drops twice a day seemed very helpful for the one kitty who got a badly runny, painful eye.
 
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