| Title: | Meower Power is Valuing Differences |
| Notice: | FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY |
| Moderator: | MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO |
| Created: | Sun Feb 09 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Tue Jan 11 1994 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 5089 |
| Total number of notes: | 60366 |
If you ever see your cat breathing hard (labored breathing) get it to the vet RIGHT AWAY. Cats have amazing lungs, in terms of their capacity, and are also amazing in their ability to adapdt to anything that can lessen their breathing capacity. By the time things get bad enough that you can notice the cat breathing hard at rest, things are VERY bad! In the case of my cat Pepper, she had a immune system problem which was causing massive number of white blood cells to be created. The built up as a puss like fluid in her chest cavity, slowly reducing the space available for her lungs (like pluresy in a human). The vet said that this must have been happening over a series of months, but even six weeks before, when I took the cat in for a checkup, the vet did not notice anything wrong. We noticed nothing abnormal in the cat's behavior until labor day night, when we saw it labored breathing. We called the vet that was taking calls for our normal vet who INCORRECTLY suggested we wait till morning. That morning I saw Pepper's chest x-rays - her lungs which would normally fill the chest, were about the size of a couple golf balls. While the vet drained off fluid to help her breath easier each day, the disease continued to progress, and finally so much thick fiberous mass formed that even three chest tubes could not help - what was built up in the chest has become too thick to drain. We knew it we woke her she would begin to panic for air, and there was no possible cure, so the vet and I decided not to wake her from the surgery needed to place the drain tubes. (sorry to go into depressing details, but it helps me a little to get it out) The WARNING is this - if you see your cat having any problems breathing get it to the vet right away!!!!!!! What my cat had was incurable (we were only treating her in hope a remission, and because she continued to eat and renmain in good sprits up to the last few hours) BUT HER DISEASE WAS RARE. Other problems in breathing could be caused by something treatable, such as asthma. But I told Pepper's sad story to indicate haw bad the problem is by the time it is noticable. Also, should such a problem happen to your cat, don't feel guilty that you didn't notice anything eariler (before the labored breathing); cats simply don't show any symptoms - they slowly adapdt to the lesser amount of air their lungs are bring in. Only if you kept complete notes on the cat's activity 24hours a day might you notice the cat slowing down. In Pepper's case, I had to chase the cat around the house to catch it to take it to the vet.
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40.1 | Animals, animals!! | PIGGY::BELEVICK | Fri Jun 10 1988 12:45 | 34 | |
Hi,
Am sorry to hear about Pepper. It is a good thing you mentioned
this. So many diseases that we humans get also inflict cats. I
have been through a few bad experiences myself. I had a cat that
died violently with Feline Leukemia. Primary reason was I had avet
who was'nt good and passed off the syptoms as an allergy. This
cat had tumors all over his body, some allergy eh! Well I have
a great vet now, one who went to vet school because he loved animals
and not because he could'nt make it as a physician like most. I
also had a cat Muggsey who experienced shortness of breath when
exerting himself. It turned out to be a heart murmur, nothing that
a little digitalis every day couldn't fix. But once again on the
vet bit, the previous vet who diagnosed the other cat as having
an allergy found the murmur in Muggsey. All well and good but when
I went to the vet I have now, I found out that the dosage of digitalis
administered previously was too much and the vet was slowly killing
the cat. Muggsey was finally taking the right dosage, and was
perfectly healthy, would live another 10 years with the murmur.
Needless to say, when he died it wasn't because of his health,
ironically he was hit by a car. Fortunately we can seek help and
get it for sick animals, or at least have the option to put them
to rest if necessary, yet we can't stop the cruelty and inconsideration
that some people have toward them. That in itself is the saddest
thing of all. To all who have lost an animal they loved very, very
much, cheer up. Be happy knowing that you are a caring person who
values life, no matter what form and there still are thousands of
unwanted animals out there you can care for. I happen to be a member
of the MSPCA, mainly because I love animals, especially cats and
find that people like us can make a difference.
Bye,
Sal
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| 40.2 | Cat flu. | NRMACU::BAILEY | Fri May 04 1990 06:05 | 18 | |
We adopted a cat from the RSPCA which was incubating cat flu. He got the same symptoms as humans - running nose & eyes, sneezing, general misery, etc. - but then started having problems breathing. His airways were almost completely blocked, and he was panicking badly. We had already taken him to the vet, as a result of the earlier symptoms, and had been warned that this might happen but it was unlikely to be dangerous. The animal was so frightened that we called the vet again and got him to prescribe something to calm the cat down and free up his breathing - which worked a treat; he recovered completely - and quite rapidly - after that. The reason I have entered this note is to remind cat owners that cat flu can be fatal but can be treated - and any sign of breathing difficulties should be taken very seriously indeed. We always get our cats inoculated regularly, and having seen the effects of flu, I get very irate with people who can't be bothered and leave their animals at risk! Chris. | |||||