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

**Emeraldgreen** · 07-20-2007, 10:06 PM

Thank you so much for the fresh ideas. I was starting to feel absolutely hopeless but now I have some new things to look into! I will call my vet tomorrow and ask about the Chlor Tripolon (someone else also mentioned that in a reply to my post) and give it a try providing he thinks it's okay to mix it with the 3 other drugs he's on.
I will look into the ionizing air filter tomorrow and set it up in our smaller bedroom with him in it and see if I can get any improvements. I have another cat with asthma who shares a room with him so they would both benefit from it I think.
We are finishing some repairs on this house (including the roof) and then we are moving, hopefully by October. We are going to build a small cabin that is nice and dry so we and our pets will have a healthy home. We are trying to make this one healthy too so the next people and their pets don't have to suffer.
I did just try to use a humidifier with him under a sheet but he seemed quite uncomfortable and I didn't want to force him so I stopped. I just thought that maybe his nasal passages might be stuffed on top of his throat problems and it would help but the added moisture seemed to be bothering him. It was probably a bad idea anyway.
I will also look into the possibility of a specialist. Who knows, maybe it's a sinus thing with my cat too?!? I'm desperate for a diagnosis. It's very hard grasping at straws while each day he gets worse. I've already spent 3,500 and he is worse than when I first brought him in 6 weeks ago.
I did have him tested for heartworm last week and the results came back yesterday as negative so that has been a big relief.
The vet did give me ivermectin to give to Tiger but I didn't want to give it to him until the heartworm test results came back. The vet gave me the ivermectin because he thought this all might be due to lungworm or roundworm. He also gave me a heavy duty steroid to give to him 24 hours before and 24 hours after the treatment to help him if he has a serious inflammatory respiratory response if he starts throwing up worms. I was going to try it in a few weeks if the Fluconazole (anti-fungal) wasn't having any effect but he has been doing so poorly I have to make some decisions now. Thanks again everybody. If you think of anything else, let me know!

p.s. Your help means a great deal. I just lost my 6 year old cat Charlie 6 days ago at the vet. He was having a lump removed and he died unexpectedly while recovering from the anesthesia. I was so devastated and wished I had just let him live with the lump. He was a happy and healthy guy with a lump. Anyway, I'm determined not to lose Tiger.

**Emeraldgreen** · 07-20-2007, 10:29 PM

Thanks Jenn and Medusa, I'm so glad I found this forum. You guys are giving me more to think about than 4 vets have in 6 weeks. I know they have been trying their best as well but it has been very trying.
The ear polyp thought did come up with one of the vets. They haven't been able to pick up anything on the xrays or by manually looking at the ears. He has always been very sensitive about his ears, especially in recent years and never wants them touched. They always looked very clean but when he was under for the endoscopy the vet said she pulled alot of debris out of one his ear canals from deep down. She said it looked as if the debris had been there for a long time and she was amazed at how much she found. She seemed to think that if there was a polyp, there wasn't much to be done about it, at least at their hospital. Did your pet have the polyp removed? If so, was it a very involved surgery? Was your pets prognosis good after the surgery? Any details would be very helpful. I will also look it up on the net.
Jenn, your idea of congestive heart failure is interesting. No one has suggested it so far and I had not known about it being an issue with maine coons. I didn't get him from a breeder or anything so I'm not to familiar with the breed except that I think they are wonderfully regal and beautiful. I found him living in a snowbank near Montreal living as a stray. He is a big cat and the 'boss' of the other cats.
I have a video of him having breathing difficulties on youtube that I put up there for my vets to see. Are we allowed to post links on this forum? If so, I can post the link if anyone is interested in listening to him breathing. These videos were taken last week. He is worse now though and has a 'whistling' dry sound coming out these days. It's very scary to listen to and he keeps looking at me as if he is saying "do something!!" I feel terrible.

**Medusa** · 07-20-2007, 10:35 PM

Yes, Yodie had laser surgery done on it and she came through it fine. By the time I rescued her, the polyp was quite visible, though. It was growing out of her ear and down into her throat and was literally strangling her because it was the size of a silver dollar. She was so thin because she couldn't eat and could barely swallow. The problem w/polyps is that they usually grow back but Yoda's surgery was over 2 years ago and she's checked regularly and so far the polyp hasn't grown back. My vet instinctively gave it a tug and he feels that he got the root of it. Polyps aren't always easy to detect but, as I said, in Yoda's case hers was because it had grown to such proportions. It can also grow into the sinus cavities and/or affect the sinuses to the point of causing breathing problems, too. I really hope your kitty doesn't have one but if she does, the sooner it's removed the better. Not all vets are qualified to do it. My vet is a specialist in that type of surgery; I lucked out there. If you have any further questions, please feel free to PM me.

**jennielynn1970** · 07-20-2007, 11:06 PM

So, this rumbling sound and the whistling....

Is this coming from his chest or is this coming from the head/sinus area?

My dad's one cat, who had been a stray, also had something called Lung Worm. He definitely had rumbling in his chest from that. It sounds gross to have worms in the lungs, but the vet said strays who ate rodents etc... were susceptible to it.

**kt_luvs_kitties** · 07-20-2007, 11:25 PM

First off welcome to PT!!!!

I am so sorry about your Charlie. How devastating

With Tiger.. Seems like all that I thought of has been mentioned already.

BUT if you do think it could be moisture within the house maybe making him worse, instead of renting the RV for 200 daily, how about calling local vets/boarding facilities, and seeing if they have ionic air filters within their rooms. And then you could board Tiger for a few days, and see how he has improved? Just a thought. Prayers are being said for Tiger and his meowmie. I hope you can get this straightened out! Katie and kitties

**kt_luvs_kitties** · 07-20-2007, 11:26 PM

Also I forgot to say yes, I would love too hear/see the video. It is allowed.

**Emeraldgreen** · 07-21-2007, 12:08 AM

I went upstairs to see if I could get another video of Tiger but I lost my place at the computer- my hubby jumped on and said it was 'his turn'

The video I just took didn't really turn out anyway but I'll post the links to the other 3 videos of Tiger taken over the last few weeks. One is really dark but you can hear the sounds in it quite well.
I was thinking a similar thought too Katie. I called the vet today and asked them if they would board him for a few days. They said they could for 23.00 a day but that they only have people there from 8:00-5:30 and with the weekend upon us, there would only be someone popping in on Sunday for a brief time. I think I will see about getting my own ionic filter and then maybe see about boarding him for a few days as well during the week and see if any improvement is made.
The rumbly whistling sounds seem to be coming from his throat, right under his chin area, maybe a bit lower.
I have to say though that I'm really hoping it's a polyp because a fungal infection could take up to 8 months to treat and the meds seem to be taking their toll on Tiger and on our pocket book! Congestive heart failure would be horrible and laryngeal paralysis involves a specialized surgery that can have complications afterward with aspirating food and water. If I can find a vet who knows how to look for polyps and how to treat it, that would be awesome. I will begin looking tomorrow.
In the meantime, here are the three links of my Tiger. There are some other videos posted of my cat George in my group of videos. He has been having respiratory problems too but the vets haven't been able to make a connection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCxk1Gy4jsQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJKxCT1SJ48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzDb9riUtt8