3/18 Sushi - Fluid in Chest; possible cancer, FIP, etc.

Hi all!
Thank you all for your insight and input on yesterday's post: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=115596.

Sushi's breathing was quite labored throughout the night last night. He was open-mouth breathing on and off most of the night, and at times breathing so hard I could hear him. I dropped him off at the vet first thing this morning. They put him in oxygen, and sedated him and did x rays around noon. The results were not what I expected. Apparently he has a bunch of fluid in his chest, allowing him to use only about 25% of his lung capacity. They tried tapping the fluid, but only got about 1/3 of it out, because Sushi stopped breathing 3 times during the procedure. He doesn't have a history of doing well with anesthesia. They got 60 ml out of one side and 30 ml out of the other. The vet said the fluid was milky, which wasn't a good sign. There are a variety of things it could be:

• Cancer
• Feline Infectious Peritonitis
• A side effect of pancreatitis
• A bacterial or fungal infection

Anyone have any experience or knowledge of these or a kitty in a similar situation?

And I was told that his situation is possibly terminal. It could be only a matter of days.
I went to visit him and his breathing is still quite labored. There's no way he can make it as is.

We are just waiting to hear back from the lab on what they find in the fluid.

In the mean time, I would love to come up with some solution that would allow the vet to drain the rest of the fluid out of Sushi's chest!

Needless to say it's been quite a tough day :cry: :cry:

When there is a large quantity of fluid, draining a lot of it quickly may alter the chemical balances in the body so drastically that the cat won't survive. Inserting a shunt to drain the fluid could do that, as could repeated tapping.

My civvie Farrall had fluid in her chest. They tapped her chest several times and the fluid built up as quickly as they withdrew it. It was obvious it was a losing battle and I didn't want her to suffocate to death so I helped her across the Rainbow Bridge.

Thanks for your reply! Though I hate to hear that you've had a similar experience, it comforts me to know I'm not the only one. I fear my situation with Sushi will end up the same way... :cry: :cry:

Maybe diuretics will help reduce the fluid accumulation and what they find will be treatable.

They really need to watch the electrolytes.

Thanks for that info! The vet did say she put him on some diuretics.

They need to keep a close eye on his kidney levels if they are giving Lasix or another diuretic.

Sending many prayers and healing vines.

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope what they find is treatable. Big hugs!