Jimmy's not well

I'm concerned about my cat Jimmy and I will be taking him to the vet after Easter but I'm wondering if anybody has any thoughts about what might be happening with him.
I have been focusing all of my energy on Tiger to get him through this and though all the cats are getting affection from me etc.., I have somehow not noticed the state of Jim's health. He has lost weight and today he is breathing very rapidly. A brief history of Jim is:
He was found wandering the streets at about the age of 6-7 and was horribly thin with the worst case of diarhhea that the vet clinic had ever seen. He spent a month or so in the isolation room at the animal hospital and he was given methamazole which finally got things under control. He was then put on prednisilone and it was thought that he had IBD. He lived at the hospital for about a year as the clinic cat and then I adopted him. I noticed that he was wheezing and the vet thought it was asthma and told me that the pred should help with that. They never did do an xray. He did quite well for years and held his weight but always had 'soft' stools. He started looking a bit ragged and thin last year and I brought him to my local vet and they did xrays and said they saw no evidence of asthma. After that visit, he began putting weight on again but now he is losing it again.
He has had too much wet food I'm sure. Everytime I'm trying to get Tiger to eat, there's Jim and he wants some and I've been giving it to him just to keep everybody happy. I think it is part of the reason he isn't well right now and as of today, I won't give him any more wet food and hope that it helps him get a bit better.
But, his breathing is so rapid today, it's freaking me out. He got his prednisilone dose today but it's not helping.
Does anyone know of another disease that my vet could look for after Easter that isn't asthma that could cause rapid breathing with some wheezing? I hate that this is happening to him. Jim is so special to me and I feel horrible that I've been putting all my attention on Tiger. :(

Edit: sorry, I made a mistake on the name of the drug given to Jimmy back in 2002, the correct name is Metronidazole, not Methamazole. I looked in his records and realized I had the name wrong!

I found this link and it has been a concern of mine in the past and I'm thinking there could be a connection. So, on Tuesday, I'm going to find an alternative kitty litter.
Does anyone know of a safe way to get the natural flora going in a cat's stomach? Yogurt? Enzymes?
Also, I have decided to take Jimmy to a holistic vet in town. He doesn't seem to have found much relief from regular vets in the past and I'm hoping a vet who practices holistic healing might be able to offer some new approaches to getting him healed.

I really can't help with what could be wrong, but I wish you the best.

As for the beneficial bacteria you can get pills at a store that carries vitamins (or other places) called acidophilus lactobacilus (lactose free....no milk)

Also, a pet store might have Benebac, the beneficial bacteria in a tube.

The vet might be able to give you Forti-flora, also a form of this.

If he hasn't had blood tests for Awhile, get a Senior CBC as the symptoms "could" be overactive thyroid. He is the right age for it to develop.

Yogurt should help with the good bacteria and you can buy lactaid milk or another lactose removed milk and give him some of that. It is the same as the "cat milk" they sell in pet stores but much less expensive.

Prayers for Jimmy!

Oh no. First all the problems with Tiger, and now Jimmy has problems. Poor kitties.

I hope they both get to feeling better very soon and quit worrying their meowmie so much.

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=139808

However the past two days he's been breathing very fast and his heartbeat has been extremely fast (you can feel it by putting your hand on his side)
So I took him back to the vets, the head nurse examined him, and said he should see the surgeon.
So the surgeon saw him, he examined him, looked in his eyes to see if the pupils dilated which they didn't. Now I'm assuming after having his thyroid problem that he has hypertension (high blood pressure) which can be caused by having a thyroid problem.

Post #34: http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...7&page=3&pp=15

I am not trying to scare you, but IF some of these other symptoms apply, please get Jimmy to the vet ASAP. Don't want Tiger to lose his best bud!

I'm so sorry to hear that Jimmy is doing so poorly.:( I'm glad that you've decided to take him to a holistic vet and hopefully this new vet will be able to make him feel better. He may need an acupunture treatment which has really helped my Starr.

Starr's still on some herbal supplements for his colitis/IBD/food allergy problems and he's taking Primal Defense which is a probiotic formula by Garden Of Life and he's also taking GI-Encap by Thorne Research and Feline Geriatric Basic Nutrients by Thorne Veterinary. They come in a powder form so I can just mix them up in his wet food. He also has to be on a grain free diet.

From the symptoms that you've described my first thought was that he could have hyperthyroidism because of the wheezing and weightloss. I sure hope that whatever it is that it's not serious and is easily treatable. Please continue to keep us updated about him. I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts on this. I think a blood test is definitely in order. On March 21st 2007 when I brought him in because he was losing weight, just like he is now, they did xrays and general panel blood test with a thyroid add on to the test. Everything came back normal but things may have changed so we'll do it again.
I just went and looked up hyperthyroidism and read up on methamazole and I realized that was the name of the drug I thought they had given Jimmy when they first found him wandering the streets but I made a mistake, after looking through his records I see that it was Metronidazole. I went back and edited my first post to change that at the bottom so as not to confuse things.
I'm wondering though if I should go back to the vet that has seen him so they can compare current blood tests and xrays with the ones from last year. If I get a diagnosis, then maybe I can switch to holistic treatment.

I think it would be a very good idea to get another set of tests done by the same vet. Then, if you go the holistic route, the h-vet will have factual information to go by.

{{{{hugs}}}}

Goodness, after all you've been through w/Tiger, now this. I don't have anything to offer in the way of info, just encouragment and prayer. I'm looking forward to a good update.

After a big discussion (argument) with hubby who thinks that I'm running wild with taking animals to the vet, here is the plan for Jim:
Jim is off wet food, except for a small bit every other day for his prednisilone. He hasn't had any wet food since yesterday and he is doing quite well today and is very playful.
I'm also not going to take him outside when the neighbours are burning wood and debris as they were yesterday. I think the smoke in the air is what prompted his rapid breathing, which is what I noticed as soon as I brought him from their outdoor enclosure. As soon as I opened the cage door when we got back inside, he walked a foot and then laid down breathing rapidly. Today he is back to normal with regard to breathing so it may have been the smoke.
I have also been looking into two other things that I think will help him. I've ordered Transfer Factor for Tiger and it is supposed to help build up the immune system and can help cats with IBD. So, I'm going to give it to both of them. The only thing is, it is in capsule form and I have to mix it in with wet food, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
The other thing is Slippery Elm, which is supposed to be helpful for IBD. You mix the powder with water on the stove and then mix a measured amount of the cooled mixture in with food.
My two main concerns right now are his breathing and his weight loss. His breathing is regular today which I'm so grateful for. If I can get his digestion healthier, I think I can get him back on track.
All this being said, if he is not improving within one week. We're going to the vet. That is something my husband and I have agreed on.
I'll keep you posted. :)

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Originally Posted by Emeraldgreen

I just went and looked up hyperthyroidism and read up on methamazole and I realized that was the name of the drug I thought they had given Jimmy when they first found him wandering the streets but I made a mistake, after looking through his records I see that it was Metronidazole. I went back and edited my first post to change that at the bottom so as not to confuse things.

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Those two are VERY easy to mix up. The biggest difference between them that is noticable is the mg size. At work we have HUGE hot pink sticky notes by each bottle with the TH and TRO underlined in each name so they don't accidentally get mixed up. I can very easly see how you would mistake the two.

Oh gosh, I hope Jimmy will be ok!

My mom just took in their one cat, Lucey, to the vet because of rapid breathing. They did bloodwork and found out that she has a thyroid condition. She was getting thinner too. I hope that you can talk your husband into at least getting a blood panel done for Jimmy, as that will give a better idea about what is wrong.

Big hugs going out to you and your kitties. Hope all will get better.

How is Jimmy doing??

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Originally Posted by jenn_librarian

How is Jimmy doing??

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Thanks for asking about Jim! He is doing pretty well. The very rapid breathing that he was doing hasn't happened since that day and I think it must have been the wood smoke outside. But, he does have breathing issues and if it's not asthma, it's something and I want to get to the bottom of it so I can treat it properly.
I went and bought a big bag of Good News kitty litter which is an equivalent to Yesterdays News pellets. We haven't opened it yet though because we had 2 showings today because we're selling our house and my husband was concerned that the new litter might not be as effective (re: the smell) as the usual scoopable kind. So, we agreed that first thing tomorrow, we're switching them over. The lady at the petstore told me to mix the scoopable and the pellets together for a few days and slowly switch them over because the two litters are so different and it freaks them out if you just switch from one to the other. The reason I'm trying the new pellets is because I read about the dust from the scoopable getting into the lungs and lining the lungs and getting into the digestive track causing problems. I want to switch them not only for them but for us too since we clean the boxes a couple of times a day. I can only imagine how much of that crap we've breathed in. :eek:
I've taken Jimmy off wet food for the most part and he seems to feel better. His coat looks better and he's making less trips to the box. But....I want to start him on the Transfer Factor (that I ordered for Tiger) too when it gets here and I'm going to have to mix it in with wet food. My hope is that the TF doesn't have much of a taste and then maybe I can mix a capsule into a small amount of wet food for Jimmy each morning.

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Originally Posted by Emeraldgreen

I read about the dust from the scoopable getting into the lungs and lining the lungs and getting into the digestive track causing problems. I can only imagine how much of that crap we've breathed in. :eek:

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I've actually bought some of the masks that you can put over your mouth and nose to use while cleaning litter boxes. I've been freaked out by the amount of crap that I breathe in while cleaning boxes. I mean, it sounds gross, but have you ever noticed the dust in your nostrils after cleaning, or the gray crap that is tissues as well. I try to use the least dusty scoopable litter possible, but there is still dust.

I've tried pine litter and the newspaper litters, but my guys hated them. I have been mixing in the Dr. Elsley's Senior cat litter, which is crystal like, and it's been working pretty well also.

I'm glad to hear that Jimmy is doing better and I hope that the new litter will help.:) I've now switched to nonscented litter and I've been using Dr. Elsey's Ultra Precious Cat Multi Cat Scoopable Litter in my uncovered boxes and Premium Choice Extra Strength with Baking Soda Crystals Scoopable Litter in my 2 covered boxes. They're both virtually dust free and when I blow my nose after I scoop there's no dust in my nose or grey stuff left in my kleenex. I've noticed a huge difference and they both control the odor and my cats love them.:)