Need help asap! My cat is sick...

**DethEna** · 08-13-2010, 01:58 PM

Hi! My name is Lana & i have a 2.5 y.o. cornish rex cat. I got him from breeder & he sneezed & coughed since the day one. It gets better or worse from time to time, but he feels really bad lately. He used to be very energetic cat. Now he acts more like an old kittie. Sits on the window all day with his eyes closed. I got a new cornish rex kitten recently from the same breeder. He was very interested in her at first, they played together a lot. Now he doesn't know how to get rid of her. Not because he doesn't want to play but because he is really sick & weak. First he had watery eyes & i started to notice that probably like 3-4 month ago before i got new kitten but it wasn't bad, just like 1-2 times a week. Now He's got this yellow discharge coming from his eyes, sneezes all over like 30-40 times a day (it's yellow, sometimes even kind of reddish in color, i think there might be blood in it), he is shaking sometimes & seems dehydrated to me. He eats & drinks though. It's been like that for about a month now. He never had eye discharge before. This morning this yellow discharge was just streaming from his eyes dripping down. Its watery so it doesn't clog his eyes. Eyes are pink. When i first got him 2 years ago i started to worry about him sneezing & coughing so my vet did x-rays on his chest, some tests but didn't find anything suspicious. He said next step would be biopsy to check for cancer. I didn't do this test though. Back then we tried different antibiotics treating URI i guess. He would feel little better but sneezing always came back eventually. He also caught ones i a while. We did allergy shot ones which seemed to help back then & took care of most sneezing for like 2 weeks. This time i took him to different vet who gave him antibiotics again. After finishing the course Tima felt the same way. Became little more active though. I also treated him with eyes Ointment that vet gave me. Vet suggested to do x-rays & blood work again but i'm afraid it won't show anything as it didn't before.

On monday he gave him allergy shot (steroid) cuz we thought that might be an issue again. Tima got little more active the next day but now he's all back to the same condition...It really hurts for me to see him suffer like that but no one seem to be able to help me figure out what is wrong with Tima & how can i ease his pain...he gets worse day by day. He is an indoor cat but new kitten seems to be in a perfect health. They are in constant contact.

Please help me cure him, or if you can suggest some kind of test that can help finding the cause of problem i would really appreciate it! He's got skinnier & his fur is not shiny as it used to be. He looks very sick now. I can e-mail you some pictures if you need them, just let me know! I did some on-line research & i'm totally confused now. Cat herpes, URI, asthma, allergy...all has same symptoms i can see...i don't even know what kind of tests needs to be done...Please help! Thank you in advance!!!
Lana

**Karen** · 08-13-2010, 02:04 PM

Can you get him tested to see what his allergies are? Then you could work on eliminating the source, rather than just treating the symptoms. It does sound like allergies to me, but that's probably because I am an "allergic person" myself.

I'm guessing your vet would have checked for FIV, etc., but did they?

Have you spoken to the breeder you got him from, to see if any other the other kittens have this?

**DethEna** · 08-13-2010, 02:12 PM

i'm not sure if he was ever tested for FIV, would check on that. I think he might have allergy but after giving him anti-allergy shot this monday i don't think that's the cause of his condition right now. His eyes are not just watery but there is also a yellow discharge. Plus this shot never seemed to help this time. i think it is more serious then that. I will have him tested for allergies but at this point he gets worse every day so it's kind of urgent for me to find out what makes him suffer right now. Plus he is still in the same house, same environment, i don't use any chemicals, same litter, same food....everything is the same as it was since day one i got him...thank you for your reply!

**Catty1** · 08-13-2010, 02:22 PM

Can you take him to another vet for a second opinion???

**DethEna** · 08-13-2010, 02:26 PM

i did, i had 2 vets check him, give him same antibiotics, same allergy shots...They both said they can't here anything wrong with his lungs...he is having breathing problems but its because of his sneezing...i don't know what to do anymore...i've spent a lot of money already, i will get money for treatment but i don't want to keep trying without any guarantee....

**pomtzu** · 08-13-2010, 02:31 PM

I really don't have any words of wisdom for you, other than to suggest strongly that you find another vet as soon as possible.

Hoping you can find someone that can come up with a solution to your kitty's problems.

Keep us posted please.

**DethEna** · 08-13-2010, 02:34 PM

you all are probably right, i need to find another vet. Can anybody suggest me one in Orange County area? I don't trust on-line reviews anymore cuz those 2 were highly recommended... I would take him to LA too but i don't think whole 1hr trip will be good for him now...thank you all for your concerns & advises!

**Karen** · 08-13-2010, 02:40 PM

As a human with allergies, I can vouch for the fact that left alone, allergies can lead to things like eye infections and sinus infection - both of which may be what he has now, and ear infections in my case. They need antibiotics, the allergy meds won't touch them.

We do have several Los Angeles area Pet Talk folks who are cat people, let me send a PM to couple and see if they have a recommendation for a good vet for you.