Cat very sick with a URI

Hello,

I was hoping someone would be able to give me some guidence. My girlfriends three year old cat came down with a URI 5 days ago. She had all the common symptoms and it got so bad we took her to the VET.

The Vet prescribed Amoxicillian and a pill that would help her eat. 3 days had gone by and she seems to get worse every hour. She hadn't moved, nor was she eating or drinking. She makes it very difficult for us and its almost next to impossible to feed her with a syringe.

We took the cat back the Vet and she gave us Azithromycin, and I was instructed on how to give an IV to the cat. 5th day she is still not eating. I am able to give her about 4 cc's a day of either baby food, chicken broth, or wet cat food via the syringe. She isnt drinking and last night I had to administer the IV.

The cat is so weak she can barely move, she urinated in her bed yesterday b/c she was too weak to go to the litter box. A couple of days before that she urninated on us when we had to force the food on her with a syringe.

I'm afraid this cat is going to die. The Vet said if she isn't better by today she needs to be hospitalized. I cant afford the vet bills b/c we've already spent $400 in 4 days in vet visits.

I'm concerned with the fact that she isnt improving. I also dont know if the little bit of food I am giving her is enough. Basically I am looking for any info or help with this.

The cat is about 3 years old. Inside cat, no previous history of sickness. Test were done on her and she doesnt have aids or herpes.

What can I do for this little girl. My cat means everything to my girlfriend and I have to do something to get this cat better

 

I've never heard of a cat *Dying* of a UTI? Perhaps get a second opinion?? There could be some other problem like kidney failure or something more serious than just a UTI. I'm so sorry about your kitty...I hope she gets better. :cry:

 

I'm more concerned b/c she hasn't been eating, and the little bit I give her isn't that much. So I'm not sure what a sufficient amount of food in a syringe would be.

This poor kitty looks so miserable, I went through this with my other cat three years ago and it was bad, but this one is about 10 times worse.

Last night after letting her sit in the bathroom with the steam on - She sneezed and the fluid that came out looked to be a mixture of mucas and blood. I was hoping that perhaps she maybe broke a small blood vessel sneezing which is common in adult colds.

I had 2 vets check her out as well...

 

:m23: and welcome. I'm so sorry your kitty has URI and is not doing well. You need to call the vet back and get instructions on how to feed her. Please Private Message Mary_NH. She has great experience on these things. She needs nutrients. I believe Nutracal was what she recommended before. Pedialyte and KMR would help too. 4 cc's a day is better than nothing but you need to get aggressive. Have you tried the stinkiest foods like tuna. It might perk up her appetite. Kitties are know to not eat if they can smell the food. Which reminds me, have you tried steam baths yet or humidifiers for her? I would turn on the shower on hot for 10-15 and her breathe the steam every few hours. This might clear her sinuses enough for her to eat. Did she have chest x-rays? She might have pneumonia. If she does, you can pat her back every few hours to loosen plaques. *hugs* Please keep us posted on her condition.

 

Oops, we posted at the same time. Yep, she needs more frequent steam baths and patting on her back would help if the infection went to her lungs. She may not be tolerating the antibiotics too well. Reading some posts I realize thaty cats don't eat when they are on some antibiotics. The more she sneezes, the better she'll be. Is she cold to the touch? You might need to wrap her in warm blankets and place a hot water bottle next to her. I'm sorry I can't be of more help.

 

I have no advice.............but I'm sending prayers, hugs and good vibes to your sick Baby.

 

ask the vet for Clavamox. It's stronger but can be upsetting to tummies.

Here's a good food mixture - canned AD food (from the vet) about 1/2 a can mixed with Pedialyte (for fluids), NutraCal (extra nutrients and calories), and a bit of Karo corn syrup (gives them a bit of energy).Make it really soupy so it'll go into a feeding syringe (no glass eye droppers please). Try to get at least 1/4 cup of this mixture into her a day.

Like vene suggested get your bathroom really steamy and take the kitty in there. No longer than 20 minutes. After her nose is cleared from this feed her. If you have to wrap her up in a warm towel (can toss it into the microwave for a little while to warm it up).

Feed kitty as much as you can of the mixture and try again a few hours later. But she needs to eat as it doesn't take long for fatty liver disease to set in on a sick kitty.

If at all possible I'd get some bloodwork done so some of the major diseases can be ruled out. Also with a bad URI it's common to see bloody mucus. I had a foster who'd sneeze and leave bloody snot on the walls :roll:

Good luck and please keep us posted

 

Thank you for all the responses and advice

She is very warm to touch, her temperture has been around 104.5 the last 5 days. She's a small cat at around 10.5 pounds, but she lost close to a pound in the past week.

She's been sneezing, and I've tried "Little Noses" nose drops but its very hard getting it into the cats nose. She also has the mucas around the eyes and her tongue is irritated.

She's such a small fragile cat, and the poor thing is always getting picked on by my other cats because they sense a weakness in her being that small. Shes been seperated from my other 3 kitties, but one of the cats has come down with sneezing as well.

We discontinued the use of Clavamox for Zithromax. Smells kind of like cod liver oil :x and it must taste horrible.

I hope that when I get home from work she is doing better :cry:

 

Poor kitty!

My cat Chloe had a severe URI when we brought her home from the shelter. It developed into full-blown pnenomina (sp). We had to hospitalize her a couple times and we finally nursed her to health.

She did sneeze bloody mucous. It actually became a chronic problem and she still has sneezing attacks (four years later). But, she is healthy now.

We had to give her Clavamox in the beginning. She ended up being anorexic off it. Apparently a small amount of cats stop eating after receiving Clavamox. We had to change medications. It took us a couple days to get her to eat. We had to force feed her like you're doing right now. The vet also perscribed us Nutri-cal. It's apparently packed with calories and cats tend to love it. Chloe didn't eat it, though.

As it was suggested earlier, try something really smelly and maybe that can trigger an appetite. We tried tuna and wamed canned food. We also put dabs of food on Chloe's mouth. She had to eat it because she was cleaning off her face. You can also put dabs of food on your cat's paw and when the cat washes, she'll have to ingest some food.

I really hope it all works out. It sounds like you're doing your best. Good luck.

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat I don't have any advice, but I hope she gets better soon!

 

My gf and I are at our wits end with it. She is going to have to be hospitalized today b/c she hasnt used the litterbox, eaten, or drink on her own for 6 days. We've lost our patience, b/c after 6 days I think we should see signs of improvement.

It's amazing how a simple cold can turn into 1 expensive problem. I compare a Vets office with going to a car mechanic, you can never leave without spending a couple hundred dollars.

Is it expensive to hospitalize a cat?

Thanks everyone

 

I'm so sorry. Best wishes for a full recovery. :m10:

 

I'm really sorry you have to hospitalize her. When Moe was hospitalized for a URI it cost about $60/day plus medication. She was in for almost a week (6 days). I also had to pay an emergency fee because I took her in during the night on a weekend. The price will vary by area and veterinarian.

It's good to ask for a breakdown of prices right away and discuss a payment plan. A couple of days on IV and antibiotics might be all she needs to stimulate her appetite and get her eating on her own again.

Best of luck. I truly hope she's well soon!

 

pls keep us updates i haope all goes well i reallly do best wishes to u and ur g/friend

 

When my cat was hospitalized, they gave us a quote to know what to expect to pay for her stay. It will vary by vet.

Like Halaroo said, you can work out a payment plan with the vet. I have had to do it. My plan was no interest for something like a year. So, we had managable monthly payments.

Also, here in Pittsburgh, we have low cost vets (like the Humane Society). If you are worried about money, maybe you can look into if you have low cost vets in your area. We've gone to the humane society and they have cost a fraction of what our regular vet costs.

I really hope it all works out for you.

 

I called the Vet, and she said $150 per day. They do not allow you to make payments, they said for me to apply for a credit card :roll:

This is BS, b/c they could have been a little more proactive in this situation, She should have been hospitalized from the beginning :? I feel l am being strung out.

I have an appointment with another vet and we are going to nip this in the bud today. I'll be prepared to bring my previous vet bills so they have a history of whats been done so far.

I'll let you guys know as soon as I get more info.

 

It's good that you're seeking another opinion. Your previous vet sounds a bit strange to me. And $150/day seems rather high! What city are you in?

 

I'm glad you are seeking another opinion - if this is truly a URI he should be showing signs of getting better by now

 

I'm in the United States, Coral Springs Florida.

 

I'm really sorry to hear about your cat. I'm glad to hear that you are seeking a second opinion. Best wishes....please keep us posted on her progress.