Martica and Fred
Member Since 2010
Hi
I have 3 cats waiting for dentals and one of those also might have a spay hernia that might have to be reoperated on. And my 4rth, Henry, has some problems and I just spent 450 on him for bleeding from his anus and rectal prolapse. So before I do a whole round of vet visits and testing and add to the thousands in vet bills already awaiting me, I thought I'd throw his symptoms out here and see if anyone can recognize what this might be.
1. I've had Henry since he was a kitten. He is a brown tiger kitty. He was a stray/rescue and I got him at 4 months. He's been on canned low carb, high protein no grain for about 2 years, and some raw (Felines Pride and Nature's Variety mixed with canned) for about 7 months. He has always been healthy and happy as far as I can tell. He's now a little over 2 years old.
2. He's always been lean, however in recent months--not sure how long....6? I noticed that he got fat. But the fatness seemed kind of weird. He's not fat all over I don't think but his torso is really fat...but something always struck me weird about it. I really notice it when he does upright sitting, everything spreads...but when my Fred and Artichoke were obese kitties--prior to Fred's diabetes, they were more well rounded fat...so MAYBE there is something odd about Henry's fatness...I'm wondering if this is something that I'm noticing that is WRONG, not just normal fat. At least visit he weighed 13 lbs...but honestly his torso looks much fatter/wider than that.
When I took him to the vet (next point below) I mentioned that I thought there was something weird about his fatness. She felt around and said she thought he was normal and it was just fat...I dunno...
3. About a month ago, Henry had anal prolapse and bleeding from his anus. I wrote about it here on an earlier thread. The first day I saw it I rushed him to the vet. She pushed it back in and gave me a stool softener. It was back the next day so I took him in and she put a few stitches in to keep it in, general anesthesia, etc. And stool softener for a couple of weeks.
We did a parasite test--she said nothing. And so concluded that it must be constipation. I decided that it could be the raw. Even though he wasn't getting all raw, getting half and half...I'd read...on Dr Lisa's site?...that there can be too much calcium in it. Actually the reason I got it is because my DKA shelter rescue kitty (Shane, now Sebastian) had chronic diarrhea and the raw has cured it.
So since Henry's op I have been trying not to give him any raw, just canned. He might be getting a bit. I had noticed that he wasn't crazy about it actually. So far the anus looks ok, I'm not noticing constipation or dry stools (however I also don't catch him in the litter box very often.)
4. But in the fast few weeks I've noticed some coughing /wretching/dry hacking sort of, that ends in swallowing and also his stomach heaves. These things may come together or separately. His lower belly moves and it seems to happen a lot. I know something is wrong I just have no clue what it is. On the one hand it sounds like he has asthma but then there is the stomach 'convulsion', it's sort of subtle...
And it seems to be aggravated if I I pet him too hard in some areas, and he's not crazy about me rubbing his belly--he never has been. I can't tell if it's tender but he moves to a different position alot when he comes up to me to cuddle/purring/wanting to be petted--seems like he might be uncomfortable and doesn't want me poking around too much
he is still playing and purring, etc. On the other hand, he seems normal, energetic.
But I know something is wrong.
Part of me is wondering if it might be asthma from World's Best Cat Litter (damn, I would HATE having to give that up, that stuff is great.) But the stomach heaving then makes me think, maybe not.
I'm wondering if this is related to the constipation/bleeding/rectal prolapse?
Would love some ideas--of what to look out for, perhaps what to try...perhaps what it might be...I hate to put him thru a bunch of tests. It's not clear that he is in any pain...so part of me wants to just wait it out...but then he does have this cough/weird breathing in moments and it worries me about ignoring it.
Not sure what to do. Any ideas/comments appreciated...
I have 3 cats waiting for dentals and one of those also might have a spay hernia that might have to be reoperated on. And my 4rth, Henry, has some problems and I just spent 450 on him for bleeding from his anus and rectal prolapse. So before I do a whole round of vet visits and testing and add to the thousands in vet bills already awaiting me, I thought I'd throw his symptoms out here and see if anyone can recognize what this might be.
1. I've had Henry since he was a kitten. He is a brown tiger kitty. He was a stray/rescue and I got him at 4 months. He's been on canned low carb, high protein no grain for about 2 years, and some raw (Felines Pride and Nature's Variety mixed with canned) for about 7 months. He has always been healthy and happy as far as I can tell. He's now a little over 2 years old.
2. He's always been lean, however in recent months--not sure how long....6? I noticed that he got fat. But the fatness seemed kind of weird. He's not fat all over I don't think but his torso is really fat...but something always struck me weird about it. I really notice it when he does upright sitting, everything spreads...but when my Fred and Artichoke were obese kitties--prior to Fred's diabetes, they were more well rounded fat...so MAYBE there is something odd about Henry's fatness...I'm wondering if this is something that I'm noticing that is WRONG, not just normal fat. At least visit he weighed 13 lbs...but honestly his torso looks much fatter/wider than that.
When I took him to the vet (next point below) I mentioned that I thought there was something weird about his fatness. She felt around and said she thought he was normal and it was just fat...I dunno...
3. About a month ago, Henry had anal prolapse and bleeding from his anus. I wrote about it here on an earlier thread. The first day I saw it I rushed him to the vet. She pushed it back in and gave me a stool softener. It was back the next day so I took him in and she put a few stitches in to keep it in, general anesthesia, etc. And stool softener for a couple of weeks.
We did a parasite test--she said nothing. And so concluded that it must be constipation. I decided that it could be the raw. Even though he wasn't getting all raw, getting half and half...I'd read...on Dr Lisa's site?...that there can be too much calcium in it. Actually the reason I got it is because my DKA shelter rescue kitty (Shane, now Sebastian) had chronic diarrhea and the raw has cured it.
So since Henry's op I have been trying not to give him any raw, just canned. He might be getting a bit. I had noticed that he wasn't crazy about it actually. So far the anus looks ok, I'm not noticing constipation or dry stools (however I also don't catch him in the litter box very often.)
4. But in the fast few weeks I've noticed some coughing /wretching/dry hacking sort of, that ends in swallowing and also his stomach heaves. These things may come together or separately. His lower belly moves and it seems to happen a lot. I know something is wrong I just have no clue what it is. On the one hand it sounds like he has asthma but then there is the stomach 'convulsion', it's sort of subtle...
And it seems to be aggravated if I I pet him too hard in some areas, and he's not crazy about me rubbing his belly--he never has been. I can't tell if it's tender but he moves to a different position alot when he comes up to me to cuddle/purring/wanting to be petted--seems like he might be uncomfortable and doesn't want me poking around too much
he is still playing and purring, etc. On the other hand, he seems normal, energetic.
But I know something is wrong.
Part of me is wondering if it might be asthma from World's Best Cat Litter (damn, I would HATE having to give that up, that stuff is great.) But the stomach heaving then makes me think, maybe not.
I'm wondering if this is related to the constipation/bleeding/rectal prolapse?
Would love some ideas--of what to look out for, perhaps what to try...perhaps what it might be...I hate to put him thru a bunch of tests. It's not clear that he is in any pain...so part of me wants to just wait it out...but then he does have this cough/weird breathing in moments and it worries me about ignoring it.
Not sure what to do. Any ideas/comments appreciated...
I think it might be more than that because of the stomach moving thing...
