Sick cat with baffling symptoms

August 18, 2016 11:09 AM

Thelma, our lovely, fat, rescue cat is sick. Vets can't diagnose and don't seem to have many concrete ideas. Maybe you've seen something similar?

Thelma, of unknown age, is a rescue cat we've had for less than a year. At one point, she had sneezes which the vet successfully treated with a regimen of antibiotics. She had them again (sneeze upon sneeze upon sneeze) but they morphed into this continual hiccup/spasm/pirate sneer that is forcing her to keep her mouth open to breathe. Took her to vet on Monday who thought her movements were actually epileptic seizures but wanted to wait to get blood tests back before doing more. After vet visit, Thelma went downhill and started not eating (very significant for Thelma) and hiding in closet. Poor kitty. I took her back to same clinic on Tuesday and she was seen by a different vet. Vet said it didn't look like epilepsy but more neurological or perhaps even a clogged nasal cavity and ordered more blood tests. So far, blood tests are all normal so next step is to make appointment with neurologist. Still, vets are not inspiring confidence and I just thought maybe someone else had seen something like it or had some suggestions I could bring with me to my next appointment.

posted by youdontmakefriendswithsalad to Pets & Animals (7 answers total)

Best answer: I'm going through something a little similar - Kitty is getting recurring nasal infections/stuffy nose. This is what they did for her that might be helpful for your kitty too:
- under anesthesia they scoped out her nose to see if there was anything in there that was causing it like a tumor or a foreign object.
- they took samples to biopsy and culture to see if there was some identifiable disease going on
- after that they flushed out her nasal cavity with saline to hopefully physically remove whatever icky stuff her immune system is responding to
- because she had stopped eating because she couldn't smell anything they inserted a feeding tube into her throat so I could get some food in her belly.

All they found in there was bacteria, but the vet thinks that's another symptom and the root problem is just chronic inflammation. I dunno.

For your kitty it might just be something in there, that's where I would start.
posted by bleep at 11:41 AM on August 18, 2016

Best answer: Aw, Thelma's a beauty. So sorry that she's not doing well, that you're both having to deal with this. I know how much it sucks when there aren't any clear answers and your cat is continuing to suffer.

Is Thelma on a monthly topical anti-parasitic/flea medication, by any chance? ...Like the kind where you apply the liquid to the skin on the back of her neck? The look of her in the video -- those twitchy movements -- reminds me of a cat I cared for who had a horrible reaction to one of those monthly topical flea medications, and it took a long time to figure out that was the cause of his rather unusual set of problems.

I'm no vet and can't diagnose, but I have other thoughts on her symptoms, including the upper respiratory ones, based on our own coterie of rescue cats that live in the house with us, and the colony of ferals/strays nearby that we care for, but I wanted to get your response to that question, if possible, before I inadvertently spend time barking up the for-sure-wrong tree...
posted by blisskite triplicate at 4:53 PM on August 18, 2016

Best answer: I'm surprised they didn't go straight to clogged nasal passage or some sort of virus/blockage/illness in that area. Is there a reason they went neurological first? Did they investigate the area already?
posted by Toddles at 5:35 PM on August 18, 2016

Best answer: I recently cat-sat for a cat recovering from surgery on her upper palate. She had a hole in her upper palate (very uncommon in cats apparently) and it was making her sneeze like crazy. It was also making the occasional random thing (grass, food, etc) come out of her nose. Eventually, on top of the sneezing fits and nose-grass, Kitty wasn't eating well. The vet stitched the hole and after a couple of weeks, she was back to normal.

Maybe ask your vet to double check for upper palate issues? The vet did mention that holes in the upper palate were uncommon in cats, so perhaps it wasn't noticed? The symptoms sure sound similar. Good luck Thelma and keeper.
posted by Katine at 6:14 PM on August 18, 2016

Best answer: Aww poor kitty. It's so hard when you don't know how to make them feel better. I don't have any specific experience with this. If it's upper respiratory maybe you can try an l-lysine powder. I don't believe it can hurt. Could it also be some kind of food allergy? Have you recently switched foods or maybe the formula has changed. Have they done x-rays? Good luck!
posted by mokeydraws at 8:04 PM on August 18, 2016

Best answer: Another vote here for asking the vet to x-ray her nasal passages and palate, if they haven't already. Our cat was a little over a year old when we discovered that her constant sneezing and deep cough was due to feline herpes, which compromised her immune system and resulted in a respiratory infection. Besides that she had a terrible MRSA infection in her nasal passages. The MRSA infection was so bad that when the surgeon was pulling her teeth (long story, separate diagnosis of stomatitis) she accidentally pushed through and created a hole in her palate. As bad as this infection was, no one noticed it - and she'd been to three vets! It's uncommon, but it happens. After a strong round or two of antibiotics, the MRSA cleared up and so did the wheeze and deep cough. We still hear her cough once in a blue moon, but it's nothing like it used to be.

The surgeon and vet both agree that our cat is basically the 1% in terms of diagnosis (we lost count) and severity, so please take our experience with a grain of salt.

Good luck with your cat! She looks so sweet!
posted by onecircleaday at 10:33 PM on August 18, 2016

Best answer: According to my daughter in the veterinary field, it may be worthwhile to take her to an emergency veterinary hospital where they've seen it all and can better diagnose. She worked for regular vets for years before moving to a big hospital and said the difference in care is night and day, particularly with regard to diagnostic ability. She notes they have a lot of different specialists all under one roof so if one person can't figure out the problem, they immediately pull in someone who can help.

All of this results in far less owner and pet stress because you can usually get answers in one visit.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 6:45 AM on August 19, 2016 [3 favorites]