Seismically retrofit my cat
October 24, 2015 10:04 AM Subscribe
Currently healthy cat, past issues, what were they, and should I get a second opinion?
This is Gustav. He is 9 years old, an indoor cat / only child, and massive. He’s been with me since 2008 and I don’t want to think about where I’d be without him.
In August, we experienced a small earthquake, but it was shallow and we live about a mile from the epicenter. It felt like a semi had slammed into the apartment building. Gusti flipped out and was walking like an iguana for more than an hour after the event. The next day, I woke up without his snuggles, and subsequently experienced the horror of opening a can of cat food and there be no cat. I found him crouched near the entryway with white goo coming out of his eyes. He seemed to be able to walk, but mostly wanted to crouch and hide under the table. I called every emergency vet in the area at 7 in the morning, and got an appointment with his regular vet at 9, going with that on the recommendation of the emergency clinic.
The vet told me that Gustav had suffered a shock and that might have caused a herpes flare-up. She drew blood, gave fluids, and sent him home with some anti-inflammatories. The blood tests showed heightened levels of cortisol, but nothing else. Luckily, my roommate was off that day and could keep an eye on him. I took the next day off. After about a week and a half, he seemed to make a full recovery.
A month later, Gustav went through another spell of complete food disinterest and not being his usual pushy self. I took him to the vet, feeling silly because the main cause of worry was that he was not being obnoxious, and she diagnosed a stuck hairball. So more fluids, out it came, and things got better. I’m now trying to be more mindful of making sure he’s well-lubricated in there by mixing his canned food with water, giving him anti-hairball treats, and little bits of coconut oil. He’s crazy for anything coconut. So far, so good. However, I’m still worried that there is some reoccurring malaise that underlies these episodes. Something connected to the terrifying eye-goo episode.
Gustav is normally an easygoing cat; he’s done cross-country and transatlantic flights, moved into new living environments, dealt with new roommates, and all other normal cat stressors with aplomb. I attribute this to his swaggering mancat confidence and his adhesiveness. He can do anything when his person is with him. That said, this earthquake, though small, was surprisingly nasty. It freaked me out and I’ve been through much worse.
Current health issues include his weight (he’s 19 pounds and maintains it like magic, because he only eats a can of food a day; all vets I’ve taken him to say that he could stand to lose a pound or two), his teeth (have tried everything to no avail), and this weird sort of dry heaving that he’s had his entire life. The vet says it’s asthma and nothing to be concerned about. I don’t want to give him steroid shots, because then I’d worry about his kidneys. I don’t know if this is a valid fear. I grew up with a dog and often feel like all these things wouldn’t be so mysterious if Gustav were a dog.
With all that background info, the question is: what happened? Can earthquakes / herpes / hairballs really do that to cats? And does the vet’s explanation make sense, or should I try for a second opinion? Should I have sprung for a full-body X-ray at some point in this process?
This is Gustav. He is 9 years old, an indoor cat / only child, and massive. He’s been with me since 2008 and I don’t want to think about where I’d be without him.
In August, we experienced a small earthquake, but it was shallow and we live about a mile from the epicenter. It felt like a semi had slammed into the apartment building. Gusti flipped out and was walking like an iguana for more than an hour after the event. The next day, I woke up without his snuggles, and subsequently experienced the horror of opening a can of cat food and there be no cat. I found him crouched near the entryway with white goo coming out of his eyes. He seemed to be able to walk, but mostly wanted to crouch and hide under the table. I called every emergency vet in the area at 7 in the morning, and got an appointment with his regular vet at 9, going with that on the recommendation of the emergency clinic.
The vet told me that Gustav had suffered a shock and that might have caused a herpes flare-up. She drew blood, gave fluids, and sent him home with some anti-inflammatories. The blood tests showed heightened levels of cortisol, but nothing else. Luckily, my roommate was off that day and could keep an eye on him. I took the next day off. After about a week and a half, he seemed to make a full recovery.
A month later, Gustav went through another spell of complete food disinterest and not being his usual pushy self. I took him to the vet, feeling silly because the main cause of worry was that he was not being obnoxious, and she diagnosed a stuck hairball. So more fluids, out it came, and things got better. I’m now trying to be more mindful of making sure he’s well-lubricated in there by mixing his canned food with water, giving him anti-hairball treats, and little bits of coconut oil. He’s crazy for anything coconut. So far, so good. However, I’m still worried that there is some reoccurring malaise that underlies these episodes. Something connected to the terrifying eye-goo episode.
Gustav is normally an easygoing cat; he’s done cross-country and transatlantic flights, moved into new living environments, dealt with new roommates, and all other normal cat stressors with aplomb. I attribute this to his swaggering mancat confidence and his adhesiveness. He can do anything when his person is with him. That said, this earthquake, though small, was surprisingly nasty. It freaked me out and I’ve been through much worse.
Current health issues include his weight (he’s 19 pounds and maintains it like magic, because he only eats a can of food a day; all vets I’ve taken him to say that he could stand to lose a pound or two), his teeth (have tried everything to no avail), and this weird sort of dry heaving that he’s had his entire life. The vet says it’s asthma and nothing to be concerned about. I don’t want to give him steroid shots, because then I’d worry about his kidneys. I don’t know if this is a valid fear. I grew up with a dog and often feel like all these things wouldn’t be so mysterious if Gustav were a dog.
With all that background info, the question is: what happened? Can earthquakes / herpes / hairballs really do that to cats? And does the vet’s explanation make sense, or should I try for a second opinion? Should I have sprung for a full-body X-ray at some point in this process?
One of my cats hacked up an enormous hairball and ate almost nothing for two days afterward; I brought him into the vet and by the time I got him there he was fine, and she said that hacking up the hairball likely just nauseated him for a day or two. So that's certainly plausible for the one incident.
I'm not sure why you're connecting that incident to the herpes flare-up, though. You might want to consider a bit whether your own anxiety is causing you to catastrophize a bit here.
posted by jaguar at 12:46 PM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure why you're connecting that incident to the herpes flare-up, though. You might want to consider a bit whether your own anxiety is causing you to catastrophize a bit here.
posted by jaguar at 12:46 PM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: [He is absolutely GORGEOUS! I want to kiss his furry tummy!]
Ahem...moving on:
These sound to me like independent issues, and very reasonable/believable explanations for the set of symptoms presenting at each episode. E.g., he IS a very fluffy boy, so having a hairball seems like a reasonable thing to happen to him every once in a while. And lo, a hairball DID present itself, giving empirical support to the vet's diagnosis.
Obviously, just keep a somewhat closer eye on him and see if anything else unusual presents itself in the next month or two (but hairballs aren't unusual). If not, and he is eating, drinking, retaining his weight, doesn't have diarrhea, isn't vomiting on the regular, and is otherwise being a cat, then I would feel fairly safe in assuming that his general health is ok.
posted by Halo in reverse at 1:22 PM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ahem...moving on:
These sound to me like independent issues, and very reasonable/believable explanations for the set of symptoms presenting at each episode. E.g., he IS a very fluffy boy, so having a hairball seems like a reasonable thing to happen to him every once in a while. And lo, a hairball DID present itself, giving empirical support to the vet's diagnosis.
Obviously, just keep a somewhat closer eye on him and see if anything else unusual presents itself in the next month or two (but hairballs aren't unusual). If not, and he is eating, drinking, retaining his weight, doesn't have diarrhea, isn't vomiting on the regular, and is otherwise being a cat, then I would feel fairly safe in assuming that his general health is ok.
posted by Halo in reverse at 1:22 PM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Never feel embarrassed or hesitant about taking kitties to the vet for "not being their usual self." Cats are creatures of strong habit, and very cautious to show weakness, so behavioral change is often the only sign they give us of illness. So much so that veterinarians use the term ANR ("acting not right") as a genuine diagnostic criterion.
posted by matildaben at 1:46 PM on October 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by matildaben at 1:46 PM on October 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
Herpes can flare up pretty bad because of stress, you should be giving them a little bit of Lysine on a regular basis to keep it at bay- especially the respiratory symptoms it can cause.
You can get capsules (not tablets) pretty cheaply or buy it in bulk on Amazon.
If Feliway works well for your cat, I would get some to use for the next tremors or earthquake. There is a spray version as well as the classic diffuser.
posted by TenaciousB at 3:13 PM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
You can get capsules (not tablets) pretty cheaply or buy it in bulk on Amazon.
If Feliway works well for your cat, I would get some to use for the next tremors or earthquake. There is a spray version as well as the classic diffuser.
posted by TenaciousB at 3:13 PM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you all so much! Very glad to know that the herpes explanation is indeed the most plausible, and I'll keep an eye on the fluffball with that in mind.
posted by knuspermanatee at 12:24 PM on October 26, 2015
posted by knuspermanatee at 12:24 PM on October 26, 2015
I have cold sores (aka HSV-1 [herpes simplex virus, type 1]), which are not debilitating or anything, but act somewhat like the other herpes infections. Flare ups are typically very sudden. Perfectly fine to I'm-not-ok-with-this-at-ALL in 6-8 hours. Gets worse for a day or two, and then slowly but steady gets better taking about a week/week and a half to heal completely. Eventually back to perfectly fine. So your kitty's symptoms follow pretty closely along the timeline for a human herpes flare up.
The bad news is that the virus can remain in your [his] system for life and flare ups can happen (with and without triggers such as stress). There's no fully effective treatment to cure this or even to prevent flare ups. Lysine is supposed to maybe help (but was a laxative for me, be sure to introduce it slowly and keep an eye on his potty habits). For cats, there is a vaccine which is not fully effective but giving him regular boosters could reduce his flare ups (again, maybe). And he has you to take care of him and treat his symptoms when he does have a flare up.
posted by anaelith at 5:15 AM on October 28, 2015
The bad news is that the virus can remain in your [his] system for life and flare ups can happen (with and without triggers such as stress). There's no fully effective treatment to cure this or even to prevent flare ups. Lysine is supposed to maybe help (but was a laxative for me, be sure to introduce it slowly and keep an eye on his potty habits). For cats, there is a vaccine which is not fully effective but giving him regular boosters could reduce his flare ups (again, maybe). And he has you to take care of him and treat his symptoms when he does have a flare up.
posted by anaelith at 5:15 AM on October 28, 2015
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If so, all this could be explained in terms of the earthquake: the earthquake frightened him and caused a burst of adrenalin and cortisol which acted as an immunosuppressant, allowing a herpes breakout (hence the white goo); and the accompanying anxiety caused so much licking and grooming that he got a big hairball.
posted by jamjam at 11:07 AM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]