Sam was due for her annual vet check-up and shots last month. I have also noticed that she has been coughing more than normal (she has always coughed since I have had her, and the vet has always said that it was allergies) so I decided I should take her in. I took her in a couple of weeks ago, and the vet said that her cough was probably due to asthma. She said that the normal course of treatment was an inhaler, but that the medicine was costly. I was thinking to myself, 1) there is NO WAY Sam would ever allow me to put a mask on her face for the inhaler and 2) that's a lot of money. The other suggestion the vet had was to put her on prednisone. I shot that idea down immediately given how much I HATE prednisone. The final suggestion was that I could have an x-ray done of her lungs to try to diagnose it that way.
Tonight I took her for x-rays - they said she sat perfectly still for the x-ray - amazing - and there were some small areas of concern on her lungs. The vet said it looks like an infection, but that cat's with asthma are more prone to infection. Sam also has bad teeth and gum disease (teeth cleaning is next on her list to have done) so the vet said that could also be contributing to her cough. The plan is to put her on an antibiotic for 5 days and see how she does and then we will go from there.
Most people probably think I am crazy for doing this much for a cat, but I love her and she is worth it - even though she hisses at me half the time :)
This picture was taken a couple of months ago when I was traveling back and forth to Atlanta - she loves sitting on suitcases.
4 comments:
She is worth it--hopefully the antibiotics will do the trick.
I miss her sleeping at my feet and giving me back massages and rubbing my feet. She has a love hate relationship with everyone.:)
So how much is "a lot" or "too much" for a pet? I wish I knew the answer to that question. We almost lost our dog DJ recently... We had to put him in the animal hospital...we came to your mom's grad party after dropping him off there. He was diagnosed with "pancreatitis" and ended up spending six DAYS in ICU at the animal hospital. He didn't eat a bite for over a week and was on a constant IV to keep him hydrated. Amazingly, Lazarus, er, I mean DJ pulled through and he's doing well in the pancreatitis area. Now, his whole diet has changed (and therefore that of his sister) and we're walking on eggshells in that area so his pancreas doesn't flare up again. Because we had to change his meds, his allergies are now a problem and he's scratching himself silly. The credit card bills are now due from the hospital experience and let's just say I probably could have afforded to fly our entire family to visit you in New York and back -- TWICE -- for the amount of money that we spent. Heavy sigh...
I hope your cat gets better...
I heard about DJ - my mom was keeping me updated and then I emailed Jocelyn last week. Glad to hear he is doing somewhat better - I remember how bad his stomach got a few years ago from the allergies so hopefully you can get that under control. I would have done the same thing you did though - i.e. the whole ICU thing and doing whatever would be possible to help them.
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