Tiger's Home! 'The butter incident!'

[Emeraldgreen]

Tiger received his antibiotic injection (Convenia) a few days ago, the one that is equivalent to 14 days oral antibiotics, for the possible nasal infection he might have in conjuction with the squamous cell carcinoma. He is quite a bit worse sounding since the injection. Does anyone happen to know if nasal infections get worse before they get better while treating with antibiotics?
I'm calling the vet in the morning. They did say that it might be a bacterial infection and if he is no better by 3-5 days that they could treat him with Baytril.
I think I might ask them if Metacam might help with inflammation. He sounds terrible.

[Catlady711]

I'm not familiar with that particular antibiotic injection so I don't know how it normally reacts in pets. I looked it up and meant to ask the big boss about it but forgot.

Only things I can think of is a culture/sensitivity test on the nasal passage to see if bacterial infection or not and which antibiotic would work best.

Not being familiar with that antibiotic I'd wonder if it's so long lasting is it ok to switch over to Baytril just a few days after injection? Maybe it's fine, like I said I'm not familiar with that one. Now Baytril I know, I used to have to give Dusty injections with that when she'd get a respiratory infection.

Sorry I'm not much help to you.

[Emeraldgreen]

Thanks Catlady711, I was hoping you'd respond! I was also concerned about giving Baytril in conjuction with the Convenia but the vet said it would be okay. She said that the Baytril was a daily injection though. I know you are a vet assistant and probably were able to take it home with you to give the shots yourself. I wonder if they would allow me to? It would sure make life easier because we have to catch a ferry to get to the vet and it's expensive and time consuming. He's worth it though so if we have to go that route I will.
Did you ever notice if your Dusty's resp. infections ever got a bit worse upon starting treatment with Baytril and then got better? I'm trying to figure out what's happening inside his nasal passages if the antibiotics really are working. Maybe if the mucous (yuck!) was drying up or whatever, it would make it sound alot worse and snuffly? Hard to know.

[Freedom]

Prayers from RI for Tiger to find a med that helps him feel better and breathe easier!

[Catlady711]

Thanks Catlady711, I was hoping you'd respond! I was also concerned about giving Baytril in conjuction with the Convenia but the vet said it would be okay. She said that the Baytril was a daily injection though. I know you are a vet assistant and probably were able to take it home with you to give the shots yourself. I wonder if they would allow me to? It would sure make life easier because we have to catch a ferry to get to the vet and it's expensive and time consuming. He's worth it though so if we have to go that route I will.
Did you ever notice if your Dusty's resp. infections ever got a bit worse upon starting treatment with Baytril and then got better? I'm trying to figure out what's happening inside his nasal passages if the antibiotics really are working. Maybe if the mucous (yuck!) was drying up or whatever, it would make it sound alot worse and snuffly? Hard to know.

I shouldn't be one to question your vets advice, he's the one with the degree. It's just I know some meds don't mix and since that one is unfamiliar to me it was my first thought.

Yup Baytril is a daily injection given IM (intramuscular) which means giving it in a muscle not just under the skin.

I never noticed Dusty getting worse before getting better. In fact, quite the opposite, she usually started getting better by the next morning. But her's was always a bacterial infection though.

I was able to do Dusty's injections myself but that could be because of where I work. Normally I'm not allowed to give injections to the patients because I'm not a tech. but since it was my own cat that probably made a difference.

We have had clients we've shown how to do fluids under the skin and insulin injections and the like, but I don't recall we've ever had a client doing their own antibiotic injections, could just be those particular people couldn't give injections anyways, not everyone can do/watch it. My mom couldn't even hold Dusty for me when I'd have to inject her, my hubby always had to help so I'd have to wait till he got home from work to do them.

Looking up more info on the Conveinia I see it's a antimicrobial which works differently than Baytril which is a Quinolone for bacterial infections. According to the Conveinia website it only states to avoid pennicillin dirivitives and anti-inflamatory meds, while the Baytril site says "No incompatibilities with other drugs are known at this time."

Since that came directly from the manufacturers websites and product inserts I'd say your vet is definately correct in that it's probably fine to switch over to Baytril.

Like I said, I shouldn't question other people's vets, it's just as a pet owner myself, I have the same worries everyone else has, and only enough knowledge to worry myself even more. LOL

Keep us posted.

[Emeraldgreen]

Just back from the vet a few hours ago. I brought Tiger in again and spoke with them about the possibility of giving the Baytril injections myself but as you said Catlady711, they are intra muscular, which I just found out today and that's a bit much for me to take on and I don't think the vet was prepared to offer that to me as an option anyway. I don't mind giving sub-q fluids but putting a needle deep into the muscle is something I'll leave to the vet staff.
The vet gave him a Baytril shot while we were there and she is going to see if she can get Baytril tablets compounded for me into a suspension tomorrow for me to give him each day.
After reading your post though, I'm kinda freaked out because they gave me a bottle of Metacam to give him and you mentioned the Convenia website states that it shouldn't be mixed with an anti-inflammatory. This clinic hasn't really used Convenia much or maybe not at all before Tiger. They had to get it in from another clinic and I don't know how familiar they are with it. Yikes. I'll go and check out the site too and then when my vet calls me in the a.m. I'll talk with her about it. I've only given him one dose of the Metacam, about an hour ago. I know Metacam is really supposed to be for dogs but that in some cases can be prescribed for cats on a short term basis. He does have a bit of a kidney issue that was picked up on some blood work done in December so I know the Metacam won't help that situation but since we're dealing with palliative care, it's hopefully going to do more good than harm and help him breathe a bit better. It's so hard to choose what routes to take. But I definitely want to look into the issue of the Convenia/anti-inflammatory thing. Worse case, I can hold off on the Metacam until the Convenia is out of his body. I think the Convenia site said that it is equivalent to 14 days of oral antibiotics but actually stays in the cat's body for 6.9 days. Today was day 3 so waiting 4 more days is probably the safest way to go.
Thanks for your thoughts on all this, it is much appreciated.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I sure hope that you'll be able to find something that will help Tiger breathe easier. Do you have any holistic vets in your area? If so I'd recommend that you take him to one because they can help treat him with natural herbal medicine. I'm going to start a thread about my Sky and he's been very congested lately and makes some noises when he breathes.

He saw my holistic vet today and she said that he has some inflammation and this is why he makes noises when he breathes. I'm going to start giving him these tomorrow. I give him one pill 2 times a day and I should see improvement in 7-10 days. He goes back for a recheck on March 30th.

She said that he won't have to take these forever and she'll probably switch him to another herbal medicine later on. I asked her what caused this and since he had some bad reactions to his FVRCP shot in the past, she said it could have been due to this. He doesn't get them any more. Good luck. I'll continue to keep Tiger in my thoughts and prayers.

[Emeraldgreen]

Thanks Krazyaboutkatz, I will look into that, not only for Tiger but for 2 other cats I have that have breathing issues. I have a big guy named George who makes wheezy sounds and I've taken him to a half dozen vets and not one vet can tell me what is wrong with him. We have had a complete catscan done on his body and head, xrays and rhinoscopy. When they did the rhinoscopy they took a biopsy of his nasal tissue and sent it off to a lab. The results came back as "the nasal tissue is inflammed but there is no infection". The catscan results were sent from B.C. to the Colorado University where doctors said nothing unusual could be detected. We also had blood samples sent off to California to the Veterinary Allergy Reference Laboratory to see what he might be allergic to and the results came back saying that he is allergic to wheat, turkey, rice, pork and dairy. That has made finding a food he can eat incredibly challenging. I even consulted a pet psychic (Dr. Monica Deidrich) and her reading said that he 'told her' when he sleeps at night his head hurts alot, like a migraine and he wakes up throughout the night having difficulty breathing. She felt that it had to do with artificial preservatives in food so any food we buy is preserved naturally. So, the search for the cure continues but I will certainly try these natural approaches for him to see if they help with the inflammation.
My other cat Jimmy was diagnosed with asthma years ago and I give him prednisone every other day (2.5mg). The weird thing with him is that I took him to the vet a few months ago because he just wasn't looking that great and they did xrays (something that the first vet who diagnosed Jimmy with asthma never did) and this vet said it was strange because there was no evidence of asthma in the xrays. He wheezes just like George does. I want to take Jimmy to a holistic vet but right now all of our financial resources are going to Tiger. For now, we keep him on the pred because he also has IBD and it helps with that as well. We are in the process of listing our home though and soon more funds will be available and it will be my mission to get both Jimmy and George their healthiest. I think an holistic approach could help Tiger and both the other two boys. Thank you for the suggestion.

[Emeraldgreen]

I spoke with my vet a few days ago and she has called a prescription in to the pharmacy for a drug called Piroxicam. It has anti-inflammatory properties like Metacam but it also has been helpful in shrinking cancerous tumors by inhibiting an enzyme that tumors produce. The pharmacist is putting it into a chicken suspension on Monday for me to pick up.
Tiger is off the Metacam and only ever received that one dose days ago.
He is now on an antibiotic that is equivalent to the brand name Baytril and I give him 1ml of suspension two times a day. It's supposed to help him if he has a bacterial infection going on in his nasal passages.
So far he is only getting worse but I'm hopeful that the Piroxicam will prove helpful.
Just wanted to give an update.

[Catlady711]

Thanx for keeping us posted. I sure hope the new meds work really well for Tiger.

[Catty1]

Prayers for Tiger!

That stupid cancer...keeps coming back. I hope this new drug tells it where to go and how to get there!

Hugs and scritchies for dear Tiger.

[Emeraldgreen]

Thanks guys.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I sure hope that this new medicine will do the trick. I'll continue to keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

[Medusa]

The Fur Posse and I have been praying for Tiger and you and we sure hope that things turn around and stay that way.

[moosmom]

Does Baytril HAVE to be given by injection? I've given my cats Baytril by liquid and pill.