Please Help!! Cat Can't Breathe!!!

[Emeraldgreen]

Hi, just wanted to post an update about my cat Tiger. Today I went and picked up a Honeywell Ionizing Air Purifier that deals with mold spores, pollen and dust and stuff. I set it up in the room that Tiger sleeps in and within 10 minutes I couldn't believe the difference in the freshness of the air. It was such a change and I'm hoping that it will make a difference in Tiger.
I also dropped off another stool sample at my vet today that she sent off to a lab to see if they could find any evidence of any parasites or anything else. I thought she would just run a fecal at her clinic but she said that she wanted a second opinion.
I also spoke with her about chlor tripolon and she said it would be fine to give him 2-4 mg twice a day along with the prednisilone. She thought benedryl would be fine too but I had tried to give him that a few weeks ago and he wouldn't touch the food I had it crushed up in. I'm trying not to 'pill' him because of his sensitive throat and stuff. Thankfully, he ate up his wet food with the chlor tripolon with no hesitation.
My vet also suggested that I try using an asthma pump in addition to the prednisilone and then start weaning him off the pred. pills because they are more taxing on the body than the inhaler. So, I'm going to start that on Monday with a child chamber dispenser that has a mask thing.
If no improvement is made by mid week or towards the end of the week, I'm going to take him to a vet a few hours away who has endoscopy equipment small enough to look into his nasal passages and hopefully he can look into his ears somehow.
I called one of the only two vets in the whole province today who has a cat scanner and it's pretty expensive. The scan alone is 800.00 and then surgery if they find something will be above and beyond that cost. The other thing is that they are a 12 hour journey away for us and we'd have to hang around for 3-4 days once there and then head back and it's tough manage with our jobs. But who knows, maybe we'll end up there. Hope to get this solved without a scanner if possible though.
My vet mentioned that sometimes you have to wait for a polyp to grow bigger for it to start showing up and become visible. If there is one, I guess it's getting bigger each day so hopefully someone will find it if it's there. Thanks again to everybody for your help and suggestions.

[Catty1]

First- glad you aren't using Benadryl, because it is not compatible with Prednisone! (ask your friendly pharmacist )

Those filter machines are pretty amazing, aren't they? I hope Tiger starts feeling better...and your asthmatic baby too!

Jenn's cat - was it Jenn's? - had an ear polyp. I don't think she had to resort fo CT scans, though I don't know. Please ask your vet who might be able to have a look for it! They can be kind of...not good!

Of course, if the antihistamine and air restore his balance, then you will know it is sinuses and not a polyp...but try and get that eliminated from the list of possibilities ASAP.

[Emeraldgreen]

Mary said her cat Yodie had an ear polyp but I think she mentioned that it was so big that equipment wasn't needed to see it. In Tiger's case, if he does have one, xrays aren't picking it up (he's had 7 of those so far). The endoscopy that was done was just in his throat area and esophogus because they didn't have a camera that was 2.5 mm to fit into his nasal passage for rhinoscopy where polyps sometimes grow so I might be going to see a vet who will be able to do that for Tiger if the 'fresh air' experiment doesn't improve things. I don't know if they can use endoscopy equipment for the ears but my vet (the first vet we went to 6 weeks ago) said that she had gone looking for a mass or a polyp when he was under but her clinic doesn't have any endoscopy equipment so she could only see what she could see with her eyes and that's when she recommended we go to the next vet we saw who did have the equipment but as it turned out, not the smaller 2.5mm camera. This sure is a learning experience!
I definitely remembered what you had said yesterday about the Benedryl and kind of shuttered at the thought that I had tried to give it to Tiger a few weeks back but thankfully he wouldn't eat it. For some reason though both the pharmacist and the vet said there was no issue with giving benedryl with prednisone when I asked about it. But, the fact that you had said that they shouldn't be combined was enough of a worry for me to not even go that route, especially since there is the option of chlor tripolon which everyone seems to agree is safe. The dosage recommended by the pharmacist didn't match what the vet suggested which I found a bit un-nerving but I'm going with the vet's prescribed dose (2-4mg twice a day).
I just checked on him and he seems a little more comfortable than yesterday. Here's hoping that this has been a reaction to pollutants in the air. That is something we can definitely solve.
Thanks again.

[Laura's Babies]

My gosh! I just wandered over here to see if there was anything interesting. Your POOR BABY!! I can only imagine how miserable he is and how worried you are. I hope you can get to the bottom of it soon. Please keep us posted as to how he does and what you are doing. He is so handsome!

[Catty1]

I am glad to hear Tiger is more comfortable...the more comfy he is, the less 'stoic' he has to be.

It'll be interesting to hear what the antihistamine and clearer air is doing for him.

It the filter helping your asthmatic baby as well?

hugs and prayers!

[Emeraldgreen]

Hi Laura, thanks for your kind words about Tiger.
Well, I gave him half a pill of pred last night instead of his usual full 5mg dose along with 2mg of Chlor Tripolon and he slept all night in the room with the air filter. But by 7:00a.m. this morning when I went to check on him he was wheezing as he has been for the past few weeks so I gave him his full dose of pred and the wheezing quieted down but he doesn't have much energy to move more than a few feet and then lie down again. He's hungry alot as usual but the vets think that is due to the high dose of pred he is on.
My asthmatic cat Jimmy seems to be benefiting from the filter though and wouldn't come out of the room last night which is not the norm for him. He is usually the first to race out of there to tear around the rest of the house but last night when we opened the door and called and called him, he just lay in his bed staring at us and wouldn't budge. I think the fresh air felt good. He is in very good spirits today as well, more so than usual so I'm glad we got the filter.
I just wish it would make a change in Tiger but it is looking like I will have to take him to the other vet a few hours away who has the smaller endoscopy equipment. If he finds something, I'll ask him to do the surgery. I'll be putting all my hope in this vet as I don't think we can afford a 6th one after him so if anyone has time to pray for Tiger, we'd sure appreciate it. Thanks again for caring and for helping with your many suggestions.

[Medusa]

Big time prayers headed Tiger's way and yours, too. To not be able to breathe is the worst!