My kitten 17 weeks old kitten was wheezing pretty severely so we took her to the vet. She had a history of upper respiratory infections since we got her at 6 weeks. She got better so we took her to get spayed recently. Since she got spayed she started wheezing when she would run. This wheezing got progressively worse to the point where she was wheezing while doing nothing but laying down. We took her to the kitty ER and they ran all of these tests. They found nothing strange in her x-rays. They think the tube that went down her throat during the spay irritated inflamed tissue in her throat from URI causing the wheezing. They gave her antibiotic injections that night and put her on clavamox. Since she has been on clavamox her wheezing has decreased to 1-2 minutes of wheezing every hour rather than the non stop wheezing when we took her to the ER. Now she has diahhrea-my husband calls it soft serve because it is not watery but soft. She is eating lots of canned food, drinks water, and plays plays plays.
The Dr. said to take her off the clavamox- but I am scared if I do the intense non stop wheezing will come back. She has not had her full ten days only three on the Clavamox.
Should I take her off?
Update:The vets have ruled out asthma. They said that a slight bit of pnemonia is showing up in her upper right lung from the chest xray. She is eating, drinking and all that she wants to do is run around. The wheezing has turned more into a series of deep coughs sounding like they are coming from her chest. The series coughs last about five seconds and occur about once an hour-mostly when she is running around and when she is purring. But she has done the long coughing thing while resting too. The sound is somewhere between hacking up a hairball and a series of deep coughs. Would the soft stool be considered diahhrea or is diahhrea more watery?
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I would take her off, (it's a bit short sighted to go see a vet then disregard his professional advice based on years of learning) but keep a very close eye, it will give you a cause, or take you a step closer to it. Keeping an animal on antibiotics without stopping renders it ineffective. Has she been testedfor heartworm? Have they looked at asthma? Could she have been allergic and reacting to something (wheezing is a common symptom of that)? your vet would be able to tell you - but I would say take her off them for now, you can always begin it again should she start up again.
Keep her on the wet food, it would make digestion easier for her.
Wheezing in cats means there may be congestion in the lungs or sinuses. Congestion can be brought on by allergies or infection caused by bacteria, virus, or fungus. Has she got any discharge, nasally? Another possibility is heart disease.
Have a chest xray done. Is everything else normal, ie eating, energy levels? Any chance she could be trying to hack up a hairball? Give her a hairball remedy, just to be sure of that.
One thing as well, are you using conventional litter? Try and change it to one with no dust at all, and see if it improves?
Any chance there might be fungus somewhere in your home? Have you had the same litterpan for a year or more? If so, it's worth changeing, since that could be the cause, if not just an aggravating factor.
Best of luck, hope I helped!
I'd keep her on the Clavamox until you can get her back to the vet on Monday for a different antibiotic. As long as she's eating canned food and drinking she's not dehydrated. The diarrhea is a common side effect of the Clavomox, but the vet will just prescribe a different antibiotic for her. It's important that she continue on an antibiotic, especially with her history of chronic URI's. Many times they become resistant to Clavomox. The vet then may prescribe things like Baytril, Zenequin, or even Zythromzax (all compounded for a kitten's small size of course). The xrays should have ruled out asthma, and pneumonia, so those probably aren't the issue.
It won't hurt to listen to your vet. If yo really feel that you can't trust your vet. Call another vet and explain your situation and see if they agree or disagree. The wheezing is something I've seen before after intubation, but not as severe as you describe. If you haven't heard the cat purr yet then it might just be that. A cat that suffers from dysphonia is most certainly going to sound strange when it purrs. Also, a cat's breathing becomes more rapid whilst it purrs. The inhale and exhale occur in just over a second like this; inhale/exhale 1, inhale/exhale 2 and so on. It'll take a few weeks at most for the dysphonia to disappear. If it continues to persist after a couple of weeks, then make an appointment to see the vet the following week. With the history of infections it's possible one has formed in the esophagus or lungs. Keeps an eye out for lethargy, diarrhea and dehydration.
Im a veterinary technician, so maybe this can help!! Dont take her off the clavamox!!! The wheezing will get worse if you do, but try to give her a mixture of dry and wet food or just dry food. The clavamox is harsh on any animals stomach , so the side effects are normal. dry food should help her "soft serve" my husband is laughing(we have been through this so many times with our cat) good luck
My kitten did that..when she got shots and was spayed/fixed, she had a tube in her throat, and she had to stay in my room...man, she kept me up all night w. her wheezing noises! it only lasted for maybe---1 week tops, and she grown up 3 years of craziness! she's sooo hyper! 1 AM, she flies around the basement like crazy!! its so funny when she skids on the floor...
I don't know about the rest....but good luck! i'm sure ur kitty will be fine...ok, u don't know me, but i've had 12 years of experience w/ cats (all my life) but---give her a kiss for me? lol........