icky nasal discharge from ancient beloved cat.

[Larksmom]

Well, I lost Amy dog about a month ago. Yellow lab type, and of the original 4 four footers I still have the brother and sister tag team of Lark and Muff. They are cats, and Lark is my heart cat. His health has rapidly been deteriorating, and I have been fearful of losing him soon after losing Amy.
In his prime, and pretty much till maybe the last 6 months or so, he has been a happy 18 pounder. I have ALWAYS fed them Friskees dry kibble, which I now know is akin to poison. Well, maybe. But after the Chinese scare, I actually started looking at the ingredients which I never did before. There did seem to be a lot of corn in all of the grocery cat food, but that is another thread.
Anyway, Lark has lost about 10 pounds or so in the last six months. He has in the last two months or so developed a nasty nasal discharge out of his right nostril only, It is GROSS! If it gets hard and turns into sort of a scab thing, I fear he can’t breathe properly. He gets this … stuff all over what used to be a magnificent ruff, and down his legs, and complains vehmently when I try to clean him up. I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel financially, and decided to take him to the vet. Now, I had sort of thought [with no facts to back this up] that as he was old and thin he SURELY had come down with diabetes, and I cannot afford to treat an 18 year old cat with that.
Anyway, I saw the younger female vet who assisted me with Amy’s passing. She and I had a long talk about what could be the problem, and I finally agreed to do the blood panel. I have been resisting this because I only thought [stupidly] that he surely had the big D and well-the upshot is that his panels were NORMAL! All fine! She doesn’t know what has caused his weight loss, and she is off today, but she left me a longish message on my cell phone. She said his thyroid is a little high but not to cause such problems.
She gave me a med called Zithromax and told me to give him .02 mil a day till its gone. She had mentioned a tumor in his head, or any numnber of things it COULD be, but I think since Muff has had it upper respiratory problems, he finally got it from her.

One more thing, I am now feediing them meow mix in a tub. They are MAD for it and now follow me around crying constantly. They are drinking more, and the litter box is a sty. They pee constantly. [Not complainin’ jes sayin’]
They have always been very compliant about food. They never complain about what I feed them, they mostly just eat it. I bought a tiny test bag of Royal Cainin and they liked it fine. Friskees kibble? fine.
Here goes, but do any of you have any ideas about what could be causing the weight loss or nasal discharge? As Lark has lost weight, Muff who had always been around 8 pounds and very trim, has actually put on a pound or two. Now she isn’t even nearly fat, but taking a much greater interest in her food.

[Simkie]

Did they vet look in his mouth? How are his teeth? I’d be HIGHLY suspicious of a rotten tooth causing his nasal discharge–especially since he’s been on a high grain food for so long. It really seems to make their teeth NASTY. If it is a bad tooth, the only option is to extract it.

If you can get them on a food that’s not grain based, that will be better for them. An all wet diet is even better.

[Larksmom]

She did look in his mouth, teeth ok

During the last year or so, Amy was on pain meds, and I had to bury them in canned food. Well Toffee ate the canned too and while Amy was wasting away, Toffee got FAT!:eek:
What I am afraid of is getting them on something that will be good for both. I always let them self feed and Lark always ate more. Now it seems as though Muff might get a little fat. Muff is still quite spry at 18 but she was always more active than Lark. Being cats, they don’t eat up every bite of food when they are fed. But boy howdy do they drink up the liquid! I think they will eat almost anything but seem delighted with this nearly liquid meow mix.
I do intend to call vet back tomorrow.
Thanks Simke

[tradewind]

Sometimes old cats develop small nasal tumors on one side only. Also his rapid weight loss could suggest a hyper thyroid which old cats also get. I really think a visit to the vet is in order. If it is a thyroid, cats have two and the offending one can often be taken out. I had this done on a 17 year old kitty, who lived to be 21. Best of luck.

[Simkie]

I can tell you that when I moved my cats to a high quality meat only (no grains at all) wet diet, my slim cat fattened up and my fat cat slimmed down. Now the whole herd is at just the right weight. I’ve recently switched brands from EVO to Before Grain.

I’ve read that Fancy Feast makes some varieties that do not have any grains (most of their options contain wheat gluten) and the flavors without the grains are good budget options for feeding the meows.

[Larksmom]

Feeding time at the zoo

I was recently in Petco looking over mostly the dog food. Trying to get the Toffster to lose some weight and find a dry kibble she will actually eat. I am holding off on another dog till mid July or August ONLY for financial reasons. I do believe in getting the new ones as soon as possible but this is supposed to be about the kittehs.
I would prefer to get cat food at grocery store, but I can be persuaded to go somewhere else.
[I did buy TOTW for the dogs a few months ago, and T seemed to like it but it had canned stuff on top so that might be a factor] but they don’t carry that at Petsmart!
I didn’t look too closely at the cat food but I guess I should. I can also ask for recommendations at the store. I think they had EVO but I don’t know about the other.
I will post a thread about Toffee soon. She is having some emotional problems now, but I don’t want to step on my own thread.

[lovey1121]

[QUOTE=Larksmom;5675975]
I was recently in Petco looking over mostly the dog food. Trying to get the Toffster to lose some weight and find a dry kibble she will actually eat. I am holding off on another dog till mid July or August ONLY for financial reasons. I do believe in getting the new ones as soon as possible but this is supposed to be about the kittehs.
I would prefer to get cat food at grocery store, but I can be persuaded to go somewhere else.
[I did buy TOTW for the dogs a few months ago, and T seemed to like it but it had canned stuff on top so that might be a factor] but they don’t carry that at Petsmart!
I didn’t look too closely at the cat food but I guess I should. I can also ask for recommendations at the store. I think they had EVO but I don’t know about the other.
I will post a thread about Toffee soon. She is having some emotional problems now, but I don’t want to step on my own thread.[/QUOTE]

Petco near me has the Before Grain(B.G.) stuff, at least for dogs, and just started carrying Innova, but not Evo. You can check online to see what Petco carries, and I’d guess PetSmart also. If I want more info on a brand they carry, I just google the brand. I’ve been feeding both Organix and Nature’s Recipe-both very good foods, and well-reviewed, though both have some grain (rice, oatmeal–no corn or wheat).

I got nuthin on the nasal discharge, unfortunately. When I read your 1st post, I thought hyperthyroidism, diabetes, or bad teeth. Maybe your vet can stick Lark on a couple week course of A/B’s?? To see if it clears? But its never good when an animal loses almost half their bodyweight…fingers crossed for Lark.

[Larksmom]

Thank you for your gracious replies

I did check Simkies thread about feeding kittehs. I also did look at the link to BG feed, and saw it is sold at Petco but apparently not at petsmart. Petco is a little closer, and I do not yet know if they sell TOTW. [I will check it out tho].
The vet did do a blood panel, and none of the usual suspects, [no on thyroid, Diabetes, kidney and liver functions are normal.]
She said there could be a tumor inhis head somewhere. She said there are numerous things it could be but wanted to rule out the most likely things, and she did give me [sell me] some zithromax which is an AB the zithr stuff looks like pink lemonaide
which I gave him today. He disliked it intensely. It would be sad to lose such a battle with an old sick cat!:eek:

[asb_own_me]

@Larksmom;5675773

. He has in the last two months or so developed a nasty nasal discharge out of his right nostril only, It is GROSS! If it gets hard and turns into sort of a scab thing, I fear he can’t breathe properly. He gets this … stuff all over what used to be a magnificent ruff, and down his legs, and complains vehmently when I try to clean him up.

Larksmom, I hate to say this.

You could be describing Toby’s symptoms. The only difference was that his was in his left nostril, and he didn’t lose as much weight (but I didn’t change his food, and he wasn’t as old) We tried four different antibiotics. It wasn’t an infection. We did a culture for fungus. It wasn’t a fungus. I wasn’t going to put him through any diagnostics to prove it was a tumor. Everything pointed to that fact.

Absolutely try antibiotics - maybe he does have an infection. But if it doesn’t work…learn from me and Toby and let Lark go

[MizzouMom]

You mention that your other cat had an upper respiratory issue - we had a stray come through several years ago that gifted all ours with a unknown upper respiratory virus. All recovered, but one was left with chronic sneezing/snotting that has persisted for nearly 10 years, mostly on one side.

Evaluation showed deformed nasal turbinates as a residual of the infection, which makes her prone to congestion and infections. So she needs antibiotics now and then to keep things under control.

The weight loss is much more of a concern and in the absence of diabetes I would have thought kidney issues, but you say those readings are normal. Ours loses her appetite and consequently some weight when her nose is bothering her.

I will make my pitch for Wellness brand food, available dry or canned. It brought all our cats to a normal weight, and solved severe vomiting/diarrhea/hair loss issues in a cat with food allergies. We lost our dog in 2007 from the pet food recall, and this was the best stuff I found.

Good luck to you.

[equit8or]

My cat who is probably around 13-15 years old at least, was ~18 pounds at her heaviest. She had gradually lost some weight (moving, larger house, stairs etc) but then all the sudden she dropped down to about 9 pounds from around 12. She never had discharge but she dropped weight REALLY fast. I took her in to the vet. Her blood was OK, her thyroid was off, but not enough to cause the sudden weight loss. Her teeth seemed to be bothering her, she wound up having 8 teeth removed (she has 1 fang and 2 molars left now). It was a little rough right after the surgery as she needed to get pain meds and thyroid medication with stitches in her mouth. We used the trans-dermal thyroid medication till she was healed. She is back up to about 11 pounds which is a good weight for her. She eats friskies cans and royal canin senior hard food (she refuses to eat higher quality cans). She is back to her normal self.

[fooler]

Complete the anti-biotics as it could be an ‘upper respiratory’ infection. The queen kitty at my old barn staggered into the tack-room one day with a very stinky, green gunk across both nostrils. It was horrible and she stunk!! If memory is correct, it took 2 rounds of anti-biotics to completely knock the infection out. Jingles that the anti-biotics will heal your kitty.

FYI - don’t forget to give him some yogurt, with active cultures, to keep the proper floral in the intestines.

[SquishTheBunny]

Sorry to hear about your kitty, Ill keep my fingers crossed its just an upper respiratory.

We have done 8 CT/Rhinoscopies this week for dogs/cats with nasal discharge…unfortunatley only one good result.

Dont mean to be the bearer of bad news, but if its unilateral than you’ve got a pretty high chance of a nasal tumor.

Might want to talk to your vet about an antiinflammatory type drug if the antibiotics dont cure her. May keep her more comfortable until its her time to go.

[Larksmom]

thanks for all ther replies

Lark LOVES yogurt loves it. Muff unfortunately is violently allergic to any dairy.:no: If I let her drink a tiny amount from the cereal bowl she heaves all over the place, so I always get these looks [you always like him better!]
Squish, what about these surgeries? Did they die or just cannot be fixed? What causes this discharge?
I did get to talk to the vet yesterday, and she said altho the kidney and liver functions were normal, thyroid was ‘high normal’.
Lark has always been very ‘pliable’ friendly and put up with any amount of handling, but now, he becomes angry, and won’t stand for looking into the mouth and gets very angry when I try to clean him up.
I also asked about his weight as they used to weigh them every time they came in. She said in 2009, he weighed about 12 pounds, so the weight has been going down for a while. But it is only recently he got skinny. I did get the BG canned food yesterday and plan to start them both on it today.
If it is untreatable, so be it. but I do love him so.

[lovey1121]

@Larksmom;5678992

Lark has always been very ‘pliable’ friendly and put up with any amount of handling, but now, he becomes angry, and won’t stand for looking into the mouth and gets very angry when I try to clean him up.

Geez, this sounds exactly like my dearly departed Pee cat :no: He also lost weight and was diagnosed w/ hypert’ism, and threw a blood clot to his lungs about 2 ms. later. He was super easygoing, but he also got grumpy…now I feel he was probably in pain:cry:

Fingers crossed while jingling for your Lark.

[SquishTheBunny]

[QUOTE=Larksmom;5678992]
Lark LOVES yogurt loves it. Muff unfortunately is violently allergic to any dairy.:no: If I let her drink a tiny amount from the cereal bowl she heaves all over the place, so I always get these looks [you always like him better!]
Squish, what about these surgeries? Did they die or just cannot be fixed? What causes this discharge?
I did get to talk to the vet yesterday, and she said altho the kidney and liver functions were normal, thyroid was ‘high normal’.
Lark has always been very ‘pliable’ friendly and put up with any amount of handling, but now, he becomes angry, and won’t stand for looking into the mouth and gets very angry when I try to clean him up.
I also asked about his weight as they used to weigh them every time they came in. She said in 2009, he weighed about 12 pounds, so the weight has been going down for a while. But it is only recently he got skinny. I did get the BG canned food yesterday and plan to start them both on it today.
If it is untreatable, so be it. but I do love him so.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunatley a lot of these cases who actually do have nasal tumors are not candidates for surgery for several reasons. First off, its generally a malignant cancer. Second, by the time you see nasal discharge and treat it with antibiotics for x weeks, its generally too invasive to remove. By this time, the turbinates are likely all destroyed, and there is a good chance the “plate” between the nose and brain has also been eaten away. We can get the majority of this information through CT, which is non-invasive for the animal. If a tumor is noted, and the owners do wish to treat if an option- we will do a rhinoscopy with biopsy and nasal flush (to at least get rid of some of the deteriorated, infected turbinates, snot etc). Some nasal tumors (such as lymphoma) are quite responsive to chemotherapy - and cats seem to do well with this. Steroids can also help put lymphoma into remission. Carcinomas, adenocarcinomas and the plethora of other nasal nasties are generally not as chemo responsive but can be responsive short term to piroxicam and or steroids.

Again, there are many different things that can cause discharge, however unilateral discharge really sends strong signals to a local invader, meaning something’s happening in one side of the nose. Yep, its possible you have a toothroot infection, but if this was the case your cat would likely be very painful as these are generally fairly acute compared to a slowly growing tumor which is not nearly as painful as its a chronic slow growth.

Cheapest method - talk to your vet regarding a trial of an antiinflammatory with antibiotics. If you need to “know” whats going on, dont waste your time with skull rads, request a CT. It can see each and every turbinate and tell you not only IF there is a tumor, but now invasive it is. Its a simple procedure for your cat, a quick GA, a sit on a table and voila…done. We find a lot of clients choose this route to confirm a tumor, and if it is, they opt to try antiinflammatories. Some do choose to go onto biopsies so they can have an actual name to the disease and possibly treat more aggressively.

Fungal infections and foreign bodies can also cause unilateral discharge. However considering age and weight loss I would think chances of this would be less likely…but again, not something to rule out completely.

We once got a fish out of a 12 year old lab’s nose - 6 month history of progressive nasal discharge. Owners opted to CT dog before euthanasia to confirm tumor - well, it wasnt a tumor…it was something “fishy”. Went to have the rhinoscopy and out came a small gross fish.

Talk to your vet again about palliative care if the abx’s arent doing much and you dont want to go into further diagnostics. Sounds like you really love your kitty and hopefully your vet can give him something to keep him comfortable and your walls less snotty

And by all means, finish up those antibiotics! There is always that strange creature out there who will have a run of the mill snotty nose that only drips from one side

[MizzouMom]

Our Lily has had a unilateral snot problem for maybe 8-10 years, so sometimes it isn’t a worst-case situation. The sudden weight loss is more bothersome, certainly.

Sending good thoughts.

[Pancakes]

Hyperthyroidism can cause hypertension, which can cause nasal bleeding and discharge in some cases. However, the vast majority of one-sided nasal discharge cases in cats tend to be cryptococcus (fungus) or some sort of cancer (lymphoma, adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma).

I hope you can get your kitty on some thyroid meds to get her feeling better, and I hope you can find out what the discharge means… skull x-rays, culture of the discharge, and antibiotic trial are some of your many options.

[Larksmom]

good news! I can SEE his left nostril!

For the first time in a long time, I can actually see his left nostril. Yes we are continuing to use the antibotiocs. Sadly the B&G hasn’t gone over so well. Being food compliant, they pretty much ate it. Slowly. Not enough ‘juice’ is my guess. I also have to figure out how to feed him without over feeding her. Noone would ever call Muff fat, but she has indeed put on a pound or two since the Canned Food Offensive began. Lark is still rail thin. I did buy several types of small canned food for the cats at Petco. Crossed fingers that ONE of them will do the trick.:yes:

[SquishTheBunny]

Thats great!!! I’llkeep my fingers crossed that he continues to do well once the antibiotics are finished! And feed him whatever he wants - calories are calories and hell, when Im 90 Im very much ok with eating whatever I want!!