Vos is Sick

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02-01-2005, 06:50 AM
NKBurlington

Vos is Sick

Vos is sick! He has pneumonia plus two cracked ribs.

When I came home from work yesterday, he didn't come to the door to greet me as he usually does. I looked around for him but could not find him. I thought maybe I locked him in a cupboard or something by mistake but when I went downstairs, he was sitting on his chair. Fine. I petted him and went upstairs to start dinner. He still didn't come up so I went back down to see him. He was very "sad". He didn't really move much and he didn't talk to me. He wasn't purring or interested in me in the least. I knew something was wrong. I thought maybe he missed D. When D came home I told him Vos was in a funk. D went down to see him and even HE couldn't get him to come around. Now, when D goes to see Vos, Vos is usually very happy because D is his favourite person.

I called my mother to get the name/number of the after hours animal clinic. We took him over there and two hours and $350 later, we found out that not only does he have pneumonia, but two cracked ribs. She said the injury looks to be between 5 - 7 days old. Who knows how he injured himself. He loves to climb and jump and get into everything. Obviously it's not too serious because it didn't slow him down. The Dr. said they would heal themselves in a couple of weeks and not to worry.

He did however have 'cloudy' lungs. She showed us the X-rays and sure enough, there were shadows on his lungs. Compared to a healthy cat's lungs, you could really see the difference. She gave him a shot of something and sent us home with some medicine. We have to give him two vials full twice a day for 7 - 10 days. He seems a bit better today but the Dr. said we should see a marked improvement within 24hrs. IF not, we have to take him to the vet for an I.V. drip. As long as he eating and drinking and not getting any worse, he should be ok, according to the Dr.

Cats! First they steal your heart then they break it.
02-01-2005, 07:38 AM
Grace

Poor Vos. Sending lots of wishes and prayers for improving health. He's such a handsome boy.
02-01-2005, 07:47 AM
catnapper

Wow... I'd be terrified to see my cat acting like that. Good thing you got him to a vet right away. Prayers coming that he heals purrfectly.
02-01-2005, 08:11 AM
Maya & Inka's mommy

Hugs to poor Vos!!

ps. How did you choose his name? In Dutch, "Vos" means "Fox".
02-01-2005, 08:18 AM
NKBurlington

Quote:

Originally posted by Maya & Inka's mommy
Hugs to poor Vos!!

ps. How did you choose his name? In Dutch, "Vos" means "Fox".

We adopted Vos from my husband's brother who named him. My husband's family on his mother's side is Dutch.
02-01-2005, 08:19 AM
catmandu

Poor Vos,the Cats,acroos The Bay,are praying,for thier Ontario Friend,to heal,and get better.A Found Cat MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW To Vos! Get Better Soon.
02-01-2005, 08:26 AM
NKBurlington

The strange thing about this is that he was his normal trouble making self when I left for work so his illness must have come on quite quickly.

I don't know much about kitty pneumonia or how he could have gotten it but he is one sick kitty.

When I dropped off the X-rays to my regular Vet's office this morning, she suggested we bring him in this afternoon for a re check so my husband is going to leave work early and take him in for a quick check up.

I hope he'll be OK! I think we caught it in time.

Thank God we knew there was something wrong with him. Even though we've only had him for a month, we knew he was not himself.
02-01-2005, 08:37 AM
QueenScoopalot

Pneumonia can hit kitties hard, and fast! Glad you got Vos into the vets ASAP. I sure hope he feels better by the end of today, and we hear he's doing better. ;) I wonder if the broken ribs brought on the pneumonia? :confused: Gentle kisses to Vos.:)
02-01-2005, 08:40 AM
NKBurlington

Quote:

Originally posted by QueenScoopalot
I wonder if the broken ribs brought on the pneumonia? :confused: Gentle kisses to Vos.:)

Perhaps. The Dr. did mention that but said it was unlikely. I'm no Dr. so I don't know.
02-01-2005, 08:42 AM
kimlovescats

So glad that Vos has some medicine to help him get feeling better soon! Did the vet say whether the pneumonia was at all related to the cracked ribs? Gosh, you just have to wonder how in the world he injured himself so badly!!! Poor baby! :(
02-01-2005, 09:37 AM
Tubby & Peanut's Mom

Oh no!! Poor Vos!!! I'm so glad you noticed right away that he wasn't feeling well and I'm also glad you're taking him back to his regular vet. How scary for you - poor little guy. :(

I sure hope all the meds kick in quick and he's feeling better soon - but not too good so he stays relatively calm so the ribs heal!!

Since he's new to the household...do you think it's possible that this might have happened in a cat tussle as he as getting to know the others and they were getting to know him? I guess I'm just scared that something like this could happen to Peanut now that Jack is trying to "play" with her. :confused:
02-01-2005, 10:19 AM
jazzcat

Poor Vos and how scary. I sure hope you see a drastic improvement in 24 hours and that your vet says he's on the mend this afternoon.
02-01-2005, 10:19 AM
NKBurlington

Quote:

Originally posted by Tubby & Peanut's Mom
Since he's new to the household...do you think it's possible that this might have happened in a cat tussle as he as getting to know the others and they were getting to know him? I guess I'm just scared that something like this could happen to Peanut now that Jack is trying to "play" with her. :confused:

No, we don't think so. Although Vos and Ritchi/Sammi are not the best of friends, they don't hate eachother either. The most we've seen out of them is a few "high fives" (as we call them) between them and some hissing. They do not out and out fight. Vos is far too gentle for that. He's just one big love muffin.

Thank you all for your thoughts. I truly hope he will be oK. I think we caught it in time.
02-01-2005, 10:29 AM
NKBurlington

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Poor Vos. I'm thinking of you today my love muffin :(
02-01-2005, 10:32 AM
catlover4ever

Vos will be in my thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery. What a beautiful picture of him that you posted.
02-01-2005, 06:13 PM
QueenScoopalot

Vos is so beautiful. :) I've used Zithromax with quite good luck treating kitties with pneumonia. I had a very memorable litter some years back, seven kittens born to a nine year old cat I rescued from an irresponsible person. :rolleyes: Naturally it was a weekend do pets have a secret thing they do? Wait it out till it's the weekend? but one of the kittens was having very labored breathing, and I knew it was pneumonia...been there, done that through years of rescueing. I luckily had Zithromax on hand to give the gasping kitten, and gave him a small amount of sub-q fluids as well. Supportive treatment got him enough over the hurdle that he was almost 100% by Sunday....enough to be bouncing off the walls with his littermates. What is your vet prescribing? Hope dear Vos makes a complete recovery. ;)
02-01-2005, 06:29 PM
CalliesMom

:( Poor Vos! I hope you feel better sweetheart. It's no fun not to feel well.
02-02-2005, 12:54 AM
krazyaboutkatz

I'm so sorry to hear about Vos.:( Prayers and positive thoughts are being sent your way for a speedy and full recovery. Vos sure is a gorgeous cat. Please take care.:)
02-02-2005, 06:57 AM
NKBurlington

D took Vos to our vet and he said that no, he probably doesn't have pnemonia and no, he doesn't have cracked ribs.

He said the discolouration in his lungs is normal for a cat his age (5-6 years old) and the ribs are fine. It must have just been the angle of the X-ray. He checked his breathing and he didn't think it was laboured. I swear, if we took him to another Dr., we'd get another answer.

However, he is not eating and this is a very bad thing. He wants to eat. He goes to the bowl but he just sniffs it and walks away. We haven't changed his food. There must be SOME reason he's not eating. D is going to call the Dr. this morning to let him know what's going on (D said he'd take care of everything as far as Vos is concerned. I had a bit of a breakdown last night because I was so worried about him and D said he'd handle it).

Vos is up and about though. He's not just sitting on his chair in the basement. He's right here beside me actually.
02-02-2005, 09:21 AM
Tubby & Peanut's Mom

Good news that he's up and about....but confusing news about the ribs and pneumonia.:confused:

It could be that he just had a slight upper respitory infection because it sounds like he was acting like Peanut was acting the other night, and I'm pretty sure that's what it was. She took her last antibiotic today and she's 100% back to normal, so hopefully that's all it is for Vos.

As for his not eating, if it is an URI, it could be that he can't smell as good as he should be able to. Cats have very sensitive noses and need to smell what they eat. It's possible he can't smell the dry food and that's why he isn't eating it. Try something nice and smelly like tuna (in water, not oil), or baby food (Tubby preferred beef with beef gravy, or I've heard Veal is another good choice). And the vet suggested to me that if just the tuna or baby food isn't smelly enough, try popping it in the microwave for a second. Heated food is more smelly than cold food - and let me tell you, tuna heated in the microwave stinks to high heaven! And it must have spattered because now everytime I turn on the microwave it smells like tuna.....and I used to like tuna! :rolleyes: ;) :D

Anyway, you do need to get him to eat. If he won't do it on his own, you need to force it down. If they don't eat for a few days it starts affecting their organs - like their liver - and then you're talking serious complications.

Good luck and please keep us updated.

{{{hugs}}}to you. I know it's easy to say don't worry, but it does sound like just a slight URI or something and the antibiotics should do the trick. :)