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

[tkocianic]

Hi everybody,

Looking for some good advice.

I have a kitty, 13 years old and otherwise in good health, who is having trouble breathing through her nose (vet thinks it's polyps). She can mouth breathe, but sounds raspy. I don't think she is really eating or drinking and I think maybe she is having trouble because she can't eat/drink and breathe at the same time.

Vet has given injections of a steroid and a long acting antibiotic and she is on Sub-Q fluids for dehydration and B12 to stimulate appetite. This has been a seasonal issue for her for years, but now it is more severe, constant, and the steroids don't seem to be working (it used to be that she got her shots every 3-6months when she sounded snuffley and was 100% fine and had no breathing troubles in between).

Anyone know of a specialist in Ohio. My vet says the only surgical option is to open her skull, but it sounds from this old post like there might be some other way to remove the polyps.

Does anybody have any bright ideas at all of anything else we can do?

[Medusa]

Hi everybody,

Looking for some good advice.

I have a kitty, 13 years old and otherwise in good health, who is having trouble breathing through her nose (vet thinks it's polyps). She can mouth breathe, but sounds raspy. I don't think she is really eating or drinking and I think maybe she is having trouble because she can't eat/drink and breathe at the same time.

Vet has given injections of a steroid and a long acting antibiotic and she is on Sub-Q fluids for dehydration and B12 to stimulate appetite. This has been a seasonal issue for her for years, but now it is more severe, constant, and the steroids don't seem to be working (it used to be that she got her shots every 3-6months when she sounded snuffley and was 100% fine and had no breathing troubles in between).

Anyone know of a specialist in Ohio. My vet says the only surgical option is to open her skull, but it sounds from this old post like there might be some other way to remove the polyps.

Does anybody have any bright ideas at all of anything else we can do?

I'm not sure why this is posted here. I'd suggest moving it by starting your own thread so that more people see it. That said...

My cat Yoda has had a polyp removed twice. Both started in her ear; the first one grew down into her throat and the other grew down into her ear canal. The first one my vet was able to laser out. For the second one, he had to open her up a bit. The problem w/polyps is that unless you get the "head", ie., the root, it will grow back and even then, there's no guarantee that another one won't develop. Yoda has had 5 five years between polyps so I opt for surgery.

In what part of Ohio are you located? I live in Ohio as well and my vet is the absolute best. I told him that I forbid him to retire. Many vets have neither the experience nor the surgical instruments to do such surgery but my vet does. So if it isn't too far for you to go, you can PM me and I'll be happy to pass on his name, address and phone number and answer any questions you may have. I'd at least see him for a second opinion. Whatever the case, that polyp MUST come out b/c it will only continue to grow and, God forbid, if it grows upward into her brain, then there won't be too much you can do for her. Time is of the essence b/c they grow quickly.

I hope I didn't frighten you but I want to stress how important it is for you to move as quickly as possible on this. I do hope you'll PM me. And above all, keep the faythe.