Moved: She is such a.... Trooper

Reply to hollypetsit_cf

1) it's not the vet's fault she's sick 2) there are thousands of things it could have been 3) they didn't do "nothing". They did what they thought was the best course of action. 4) Like normal doctors (and every human being on the planet), they are quite capable of making honest mistakes. Hope Trooper gets better soon though, and they find out what's wrong soon. Sorry if I sound harsh, but you're clearly upset and blaming the vet is the easy option.

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Reply to hollypetsit_cf

I have to agree with Huge. She presented to the vets probably as a classic case of a common kitten ailment and they treated it as such. It wasn't until she worsened that they decided to dig further to find the underlying cause of her problems. Most vets have been patient-trained to not spend unneccesary monies, so they begin with the 'usual' and 'minimal' treatments first. It also seems another problem was she was seen by several different vets, who all had the same first thoughts about her condition. Perhaps if she had been seen by one vet consecutively, treatment would have escalated (bloodtests) quicker. As for the runny eyes, I have a cat who Husband brought home with a huge abcess on his neck. We had him treated and he lost his sense of smell, but also his eyes 'weep' constantly. Not streaming, but he usually has plenty of eye-boogers. At first I thought it was from being outdoors to coming into air conditioning and him trying to adjust...but it has been 3 years and hasn't changed. So, I feel it is just normal for him or is a residual effect of his original illness. Best advise I can give you regarding your vet issue...is to pick a vet and stick with them for the kitty's treatment. If you take a cat to the vet 10 times and see a different vet each time, you get each vet's 1st impression every time. If you take a cat to the vet 10 times and see the same vet, you get that vet's combined knowledge of your cat each time the cat is seen by that vet. Best of luck and hope Trooper is doing well, Heidi

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Reply to hollypetsit_cf

Wow, umm she has had the same vet every time. The only reason she has been going to the emergency vet is because her normal vet has not had time for her. Every time I call they can't get her in for a month. And yes, I do agree they did what they felt like was the best course of action, but I feel like they should have been more thorough and done more tests instead of giving me the same antibiotics every time. I have been more than willing to spend money on my animals and my vets know that. I have nothing against my vets nor was I blaming them for her being sick. I was blaming for not doing more tests, because with "human doctors" I wouldn't accept the common ailment as the answer and I would want blood tests done on me too. I can't believe the rude responses that I received from this forum. I came on here for some extra ideas on what she might have. In no way shape or form was I blaming anyone. I understand she is sick, because if you look at her you know she was born with a deformity and is not a normal cat. So instead of saying I was throwing blame, I would prefer ideas on what to do with her ailments. and if you look at my first post I never said "the vets did nothing"

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Reply to hollypetsit_cf

That's one of the things I hate about forums - there's no tone of voice to help youfigure out what the person is trying to say. And I don't think smilies help too much. Here's my take on what is going on with your Trooper - just my opinion though. Eye infections can be difficult to identify correctly as viral or bacterial as both have a similar appearance. Bacterial is easier to treat and the antibiotics won't make a viral infection worse, just not help it. The longer the infection is there, the longer it takes to cure. And it is possible to have one eye with a bacterial and one with a viral infection. The drainage from the nose (sneezing) can irritate the larynx and cause the wheezing. In fact, I'm on steroids for this right now - it feels asthmatic-like. We are having a horrible time with allergies right now. My dog is on meds for his allergies and so are most of our kids in school. Possibly some allergies. And it sounds like Trooper was probably run down when you got her. When the immune system is hit hard (and that's easy to do in a kitten), it can take months for body to fully recover and get a normal immune system. You just have to give it time and help them survive the illnesses they are prone to catching in the mean time. You are wonderful to rescue Trooper.

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Reply to hollypetsit_cf

[respectfully] Did you ask them to do a bloodtest? I'm sorry if you thought I was being rude with my reply. I was replying to the limited amount of info you provided which made me think you had taken her to see numerous vets, not the same vet(s). *sorry if I misinterpreted your post* I still think the vets were thinking it was a simple ailment that required 'treatment-option-A' when in fact she needed 'treatment-option-B'...but that wasn't discovered until a blood test was finally performed. [respectfully, again] If your vet takes a month to see a cat that is having an emergent or continuing problem, not something that can wait or is routine, you may need a different vet? The longest I've ever had to wait for an appointment is perhaps 3-5 days. If I have an emergent case (Malibu - jaundice, Mister - haematoma, eye ulcer and Reilly - leg coordination degeneration) they see me right away. However, if that is normal for your clinic and they shunt people to the ER clinic and that is the usual course of action, I guess it all depends on what you're used to and willing to accept. We can only see the ER vet after regular clinic hours; nights, weekends, holidays. Still wishing you luck with Trooper and her health. h

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Reply to hollypetsit_cf

Hollypetsit, I found out here on this board that you can use 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a cup of water to irrigate the eyes, you can do this several times a day. What I did was basically soak paper towels in the solution and wiped kitty's eyes with it sopping. If you have another person to help you, one can hold the cat and you can drizzle some of this water/salt mix into they eyes. Also, putting them in the bathroom with a steamy shower can help open up their passages. I believe these ideas were in answer to herpes virus questions about uri's in cats, but even if it is bacterial in the eyes, I would think this might help. Since she's off the meds, and still showing symptoms, these are 2 things you can try that certainly won't harm the cat. Just be careful when messing around with the eyes, of course, I am sure you know that. I hope kitty gets well soon.

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Reply to hollypetsit_cf

salt is horrible when using it in eyes. Especially table salt. Table salt has silica-type minerals added to make it free-flowing. Silica is exactly the sort of insoluble gritty stuff you don't want in your solution. I would never risk my cats eyes by making my own eye solution. Eyes are just to precious to mess up. Heidi n Q- respectfully you should read all of my post before asking more pointless questions.

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Reply to hollypetsit_cf

A few people here have used sea salt and specifically said don't use table salt. But more typically the recommendation is to use preservative free saline solution from the eye care section of the pharmacy.

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Reply to hollypetsit_cf

I recently took in a stray cat as well. He had all his shots and was neutered, but had a runny goopy eye and sneezed and couphed a lot. My other two cats got sick as well, one of them was limping and the other couldn't eat and was couphing. They are all well now, but he still has the runny eye. I bought some eye clens pads from Doctors Foster and Smith (online) and wipe his eye twice a day. This helps a lot, and occasionally I use the terramycin ointment if his eyelid looks red and sore. He likes the pads a lot so it must feel good. I'm pretty sure it's herpes, so I do give him the Lysine, it can't hurt if it's not.

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