8/21 Billie PMPS 303 +5 156 emergencyish vet visit

Hello everyone!!

Yesterday's condo: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=123868

Billie has been coughing on and off today, which makes me nervous. I'm wondering a few things...

Maybe she is working on a hairball, although usually her hairballs just kind of show up without much fanfare leading up to them.

Maybe it's part of the allergic reaction to whatever caused her hives. They're still there but improving, although she has been itching more today than she has in the past few days.

Or, maybe it's something else.

I heard maybe 3 individual coughs throughout the day. Then, shortly after I vaccuumed (coincidence?) she had what I would call a coughing fit which lasted maybe 15-20 seconds. Otherwise, everything is normal. All P's are in place. This may result in a trip to the vet tomorrow...I wish they offered frequent flyer miles or something. I hope it's not asthma or something more serious.

Vines to all the cats and beans needing vines!

Re: 8/21 Billie AMPS 286 +3 237 +7 174 coughing

You might want to consider a vacuum that has a HEPA filter if Billie is having allergy problems. Getting a chest x-ray to rule out asthma may not be a bad idea if this persists.

Re: 8/21 Billie AMPS 286 +3 237 +7 174 coughing

We just had a very eventful hour. I am very thankful for our vet being open late, for Billie's vet being there tonight, and for my credit card.

Billie had another coughing fit followed by some drooling/foaming at the mouth, so we rushed to the vet. She did an exam and took x-rays...chest and lungs are all clear, thank goodness. Stomach looks good. Hydration is good. Everything else seems normal. She thinks that Billie is nauseous and was dry heaving rather than coughing, and said that the foaming/drooling can also be from nausea. She gave her a shot of Cerenia.

But, if it was just nausea, why didn't she actually throw up? The heaving did start about 5 hours after she last ate, and she didn't eat much then, so maybe she didn't have anything to throw up? She just ate a little bit with her shot. So far so good.

I am worried that there is an underlying issue that we didn't discover. Her vet didn't think we needed to do bloodwork since we did some in May and it looked great aside from the BG and high cholesterol. But now I'm thinking that I should have gotten bloodwork done tonight and thinking I should get some done soon.

On the flip side, I'm also wondering if there isn't an underlying issue, and if she could be feeling nauseous from the overall high numbers and a lot of bouncing lately. I was already thinking dose increase and I'm still thinking dose increase.

I was super freaked out when it happened because I had no idea what was going on and was terrified that she was having a seizure. So, overall, I'm very very relieved. Just wondering if there is more to examine here.

Whew!! :shock: Sienne, thanks for stopping by!

Re: 8/21 Billie PMPS 303 emergencyish vet visit

Bouncing can make a cat feel "off" but I've not typically seen a kitty become nauseated. Is Billie eating? It this is nausea, it might be helpful to rule out pancreatitis. This can be assessed with a Snap fPL or a Spec fPL. Both are blood tests -- the first can get results in the office and the latter requires the blood be sent to IDEXX or another lab.

Re: 8/21 Billie PMPS 303 emergencyish vet visit

Thanks Sienne!

I will bring up pancreatitis with the vet and schedule some bloodwork. She is going to call me tomorrow to check in, which is nice.

Billie is eating normally. Her appetite was off when we were out of town last weekend, and she did actually vomit once at the hotel (all liquid - no hairball), but as soon as we got home, her appetite was back to normal. She likes her fuds. There were no other incidents until today, although I had the underlying feeling that something was off with her.

Billie has expressed her dissatisfaction with the evening's vet adventure. DB came over and she climbed on his stomach, settled in for some kneading and purring, and gave me a very dirty look that said "I like him better than you" :lol: :roll:

Re: 8/21 Billie PMPS 303 emergencyish vet visit

Cerenia is an amazing drug. I hope it helps Billie.
Liz

Thanks Liz! She hasn't heaved since we got home and is acting like she feels good, so I think it's doing the trick.

I was going to suggest you have her tested for pancreatitis too. I'd see first if the nausea and what brought you to the vet persists. Sometimes it's a one or two day thing. If you do need to test for pancreatitis it's best to do it on at least a six hour fast although they say 12. I never fasted Max more than eight or ten. The test is the fPL and us not part of the CBC or CHEM 25. Hopefully she will feel better and no testing wil be needed.

I'd look at pancreatitis too. Would asthma show up in the xrays? The coughing fits sounds like what my daughter's cat was doing that ended up being asthma. I thought it was a hairball.

Too funny about Billie choosing DH. They do let you know what they think!

Yes, asthma will show up in x-rays. When Max was making the strange noises they x-rayed for it.

Thanks for the insight, Elise and Julie! I will see how she does through the weekend and can get some more tests done next week.

Billie's vet also ruled out asthma based on the x ray, and she seemed confident about that. I told her that the sound of Billie's hacking was similar to some of the kitty asthma videos on youtube, but she thought it was a dry heave rather than a cough.

Billie seems to be feeling great tonight - lots of purring and jumping from perch to perch, and extra soft fur. The Cerenia must be helping. And now that DB went home, she decided that I'm decent company again :smile:

Did your vet send you home with cerenia for the next few days? It only lasts 24,hours so I would get some for the weekend in case you need it. I'm glad she seems better. That's a good sign.

If Billie is pretty much back to normal over the weekend, I wouldn't get a pancreatitis test. The test is sufficiently sensitive that if you're catching an episode too early or too late, you'll get a negative result. I'd also keep in mind that kitties can get the equivalent of a stomach flu. Fingers crossed that whatever it is, it passes quickly.

May I suggest that if the other tests are neg that you have the vet do a Heartworm test. One of my Civies (9yrs old Charlie) had the same sx with neg test results and felt better with anti nausea meds as well. When she went in a week later for her annual exam my vet did a Heartworm test on her and the other 2 and hers came back positive. Come to find out that the same set of sx can also be indicative of Heartworms and they dont always show up on the xrays.