Worried about my cat

Elly (while blinking of course) says she hopes Athena feels better quickly. Glad to hear it's improved today!

Elly's adorable, margo!

Update: My husband called Petplan so he could claim reimbursement for Athena's bloodwork. They asked what it was for and saw that respiratory illnesses were excluded on her policy due to exposure to cat flu. When my husband told them she had been exposed at the cattery in 2013, they said the exclusions should have been removed by now as they are only up to 12 months after cat flu. So she should get coverage for her chest x-rays after all. We are keeping her with the same vet for now and took her for bloodwork to check her heart last night. He still wants her tested for lungworm too, but after that she can get het x-rays, which they'll have to put her under for.

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Glad for the update! Keep us posted.  Really glad your insurance is covering it!

Very glad your insurance is covering it! Elly was a rescue and had health issues when I moved so no insurance for her, and over here it makes a big difference! Pets get better insurance than people.

Here's hoping they find the cause soon and it's manageable. Please let us know how she's doing.

Athena is feeling much better. She still hasn't had the x-rays, but they did more bloodwork in order to check her heart, and she was also tested for lungworm. Her heart is fine, and she tested negative for lungworm. Her coughing and wheezing was getting worse, so we ended up giving her some prednisolone which the vet ok'd. Since then she has been much better. The vet said that means it likely is asthma. He said we can just wait and see until the next time she isn't feeling well, we can still get x-rays to rule out anything else or he can order her an inhaler with a funnel type thing. We still haven't been reimbursed for her original bloodwork, although we did get a new insurance certificate that has pre-existing conditions related to cat flu/respiratory illness taken off. So after we're reimbursed for tests maybe we'll get the x-rays.

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Athena is feeling much better. She still hasn't had the x-rays, but they did more bloodwork in order to check her heart, and she was also tested for lungworm. Her heart is fine, and she tested negative for lungworm. Her coughing and wheezing was getting worse, so we ended up giving her some prednisolone which the vet ok'd. Since then she has been much better. The vet said that means it likely is asthma. He said we can just wait and see until the next time she isn't feeling well, we can still get x-rays to rule out anything else or he can order her an inhaler with a funnel type thing. We still haven't been reimbursed for her original bloodwork, although we did get a new insurance certificate that has pre-existing conditions related to cat flu/respiratory illness taken off. So after we're reimbursed for tests maybe we'll get the x-rays.

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Woohooo!  Yippee for a happy healthy kitty!

So glad she is doing better! My kitty is on a low dose of steroid for probably the rest of her life due to IBD, she suddenly lost half her body weight last year. But with the steroid she is completely herself, and gained it all back (with expensive food). I hope you get the reimbursement and are able to get xrays if needed.

Woohooo!  Yippee for a happy healthy kitty!

Yes, I'm quite relieved.

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So glad she is doing better! My kitty is on a low dose of steroid for probably the rest of her life due to IBD, she suddenly lost half her body weight last year. But with the steroid she is completely herself, and gained it all back (with expensive food). I hope you get the reimbursement and are able to get xrays if needed.

Thank you! We only gave her half of a 5mg tablet and haven't given her any more in the past 5 days because she's been doing so well. That's a shame your cat has IBD, but I'm glad the steroids have been helpful to her too.

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So this past May, Athena's asthma seemed to be flaring up again. However, we couldn't get her to take her inhaler (and you can't force a cat to take one; they get upset and have even more trouble breathing), and she wasn't eating which meant she wasn't getting her steroid either. She also kept fighting sleep, as she needed to be awake to breathe. Of course we were very worried and kept taking her to the normal vet and the emergency vet. Then we got a call from the emergency vet saying they couldn't stabilize her off the oxygen and couldn't discharge her. They asked if we wanted to "call it a day." They thought she was too weak for any tests to figure out if something aside from asthma was going on. Of course we were very upset and asked for some more time to decide. They checked her into the veterinary surgeons' that shared the office with the emergency vets. One of the surgeons took a look at her and thought it was likely her larynx collapsing. So we agreed to bloodwork, a CT scan, endoscopy, etc. It turned out to be a large mass below her trachea that was obstructing her breathing! He removed it and wasn't sure she'd make it through the night, but she did. When I went to pick her up, he showed me the CT scan and said he couldn't believe she survived with how obstructed her airway was.

I then took her home. I'd been instructed to give her soft foods only and to keep the food and litter near her. Well, the sweet kitty wanted to go back to normal right away. Even though I'd moved her bowl near her in the bedroom, she still led me into the kitchen the next morning. She was breathing well and acting like everything was completely normal other than being unable to eat any of the meat in her food. We had a really good couple of months with her but unfortunately the cancer seemed to be coming back a few weeks ago (her throat was making odd noises, she had an awful cought that sounded like she was choking, and she started struggling to breathe again). We had her put to sleep on the 9th. It's been really hard. 

So this past May, Athena's asthma seemed to be flaring up again. However, we couldn't get her to take her inhaler (and you can't force a cat to take one; they get upset and have even more trouble breathing), and she wasn't eating which meant she wasn't getting her steroid either. She also kept fighting sleep, as she needed to be awake to breathe. Of course we were very worried and kept taking her to the normal vet and the emergency vet. Then we got a call from the emergency vet saying they couldn't stabilize her off the oxygen and couldn't discharge her. They asked if we wanted to "call it a day." They thought she was too weak for any tests to figure out if something aside from asthma was going on. Of course we were very upset and asked for some more time to decide. They checked her into the veterinary surgeons' that shared the office with the emergency vets. One of the surgeons took a look at her and thought it was likely her larynx collapsing. So we agreed to bloodwork, a CT scan, endoscopy, etc. It turned out to be a large mass below her trachea that was obstructing her breathing! He removed it and wasn't sure she'd make it through the night, but she did. When I went to pick her up, he showed me the CT scan and said he couldn't believe she survived with how obstructed her airway was.

I then took her home. I'd been instructed to give her soft foods only and to keep the food and litter near her. Well, the sweet kitty wanted to go back to normal right away. Even though I'd moved her bowl near her in the bedroom, she still led me into the kitchen the next morning. She was breathing well and acting like everything was completely normal other than being unable to eat any of the meat in her food. We had a really good couple of months with her but unfortunately the cancer seemed to be coming back a few weeks ago (her throat was making odd noises, she had an awful cought that sounded like she was choking, and she started struggling to breathe again). We had her put to sleep on the 9th. It's been really hard. 

I'm so very sorry. 

I'm so very sorry.

Thank you. It's been a difficult month. We have already been looking at other cats online. Not because she's replaceable; she certainly isn't. We just love cats, and it's weird having none around.

Oh I am so very sorry.

I found I was ready 2 months after my boy passed last summer but welcomed two crazy boys after 3 months.

Sadly they both really adore my husband. 

Thanks, KFDancer. I'm sorry about your boy. We will probably wait a bit before getting another, as we haven't really gotten the chance to travel anywhere since I moved here. It will be easier to travel without having to worry about a cat sitter. Every time I look online (at videos and cat shelter websites), I really want one though.