Cat flu

[rebeccajo 14]

Yes both indoors

Good. That should rule out feline leukemia.

Are you taking the poor little ####### back to the vet today?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Not today. We have to work today, but vet said to call on tomorrow if he doesn't improve.

[ccndyeth 0]

seriously, if the cat is real lethargic you might want a vet.

I went to the vet today.

Same as a doc, get a second opinion. Gotta watch out though, they will try to take you to the cleaners. You live in a big city so the chance of getting some tool box vet is very high. Talk to freinds.

Yeah, I suggest get a second opinion my dog died because the doctor diagnose it as a flu too, prescribe antibiotics then he got better for several days and my poor dog just collapsed.

We went to other vet and was diagnose as distemper, and the antibiotics the first doctor gave us only made it worst.

Good luck to your cat!!

Edited September 2, 2009 by ccndyeth

[Kathryn41 3,207]

I'm glad to hear that your cat ate something. Keep trying to feed him a little and often - every 2 hours if you can manage it. He needs to get enough calories in him to prevent hepatic lipidosis. He needs both liquids and food so just keep pushing them to him as much as he will take as often as he will take it. Yeah, if he is snuffly with an URI then his nose will be clogged and he is unlikely to smell the food and if he can't smell it he won't eat it - just one of those things with cats. Did the vet give a name to the type of URI your cat has? Different diseases have different progressions. Or did the vet think it was a nasal infection? The fact that there is no fever is interesting as well. If it is pneumonitis (feline chlamydiosis) it has a bacterial origin and can tag along with a viral respiratory infection. Antibiotics are often used along with eye drops because the eyes are often also infected. If it is not pneumonitis, it is more likely the cause is viral. The majority of respiratory conditions in cats is viral. The two main viral groups are calicivirus and rhinotracheitis. Both of these can be prevented with vaccinations, btw. One of the added difficulties with calicivirus is that there can be small sores inside the mouth that make eating painful. Secondary bacterial infections are often common with calicivirus so being on antibiotics should help to prevent that.

You should try to isolate your cats from each other, and practice good hygiene - washing hands, not sharing food or water dishes between the animals, changing clothes, etc. because if it is viral it can be passed through a variety of contact points and is quite contagious. Washing with a solution of bleach in water helps kill the virus.

Regarding the swollen lip - I have never heard of an enzyme problem in cats that can cause something like this. Did the vet give you a name of the diagnosis? One thing I wonder is that some cats are allergic to plastic and can develop swollen chins and 'lips' due to that. The other things I would think of would be some sort of tooth problem or an abcess/infection inside the mouth. There is another condition called Rodent ulcer that can be common in cats which is treated with antibiotics and cortisone. Did it respond to medication? Did the vet think that the two conditions are related?

Basic treatment you can do at home is to try and keep the nostrils clear by wiping them with a moist cotton ball or soft clean cloth to remove any crud from around the nostrils. Definitely trying a 'steam' treatment will help - use a vaporizer in a small room, etc. If the nose looks like it is starting to get dry and cracking you can gently rub a drop of baby oil on it.

Definitely keep in touch with your vet and good luck.

{Rogue}, your later comments were unhelpful and inappropriate. Please do not say anything if you cannot add anything of value.

Edited September 2, 2009 by Kathryn41

[sara..... 371]

hmmm i just had a thought with the swollen lip is it possible he got tangled up with a bee?

sara

[Kathryn41 3,207]

an insect sting is definitely another possibility.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Unfortunately my wife found Oscar dead on the bathroom floor this morning. He deteriorated really quickly over little over 24 hours after I first found him.

Had to put him in a box and took him back to the vet, which was very hard. They're going to call us back to hopefully give us some idea of what killed him.

Can't understand why a healthy cat would drop dead within the space of 36 hours. Worried about our other cat, but she seems fine so far.

Oscar was a great cat, we're really going to miss him.

[Malrothien 6]

OMG Pike, I am terribly sorry.

[Jenn! 918]

Oh, I'm so sorry!

I'm no expert, but that doesn't sound like it was a cold to me! o you trust this vet to tell you why he really died?

RIP Oscar!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I kinda felt that he was too sick too quickly for it to be a cold, but neither of us has too much experience with sick animals to really know and we hadn't needed to go to any vets on this side of the country before this. He was sick for little over 24 hours after I found him on Monday.

Thought perhaps he had ingested some poison in the house, but there's nothing in there that he had access to. Perhaps it was a reaction to his antibiotics, I heard that they can be allergic to penicillin.

Too late now of course...

[LoriLawless 1]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I recently lost a cat that I had for 8 years. She had been attacked by something and she deteriorated very quickly, I had to make the decision to put her down.

I'm so sorry for your loss

[sara..... 371]

im sorry

sara

[LaL 418]

aww nooo 3 years is too young to have a kitty taken away. I'm so sorry.

[Kathryn41 3,207]

I am so sorry! That is very very quick and very unusual. I hope your vet is able to identify what happened. (F)

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Its especially hard as Oscar was the favorite, the outgoing cat who liked to be held.

We loved him a lot.