UPDATE 2 POST 47 I'm already at the end of my rope (cat with chronic condition)

[BCGirl]

French fry I am so happy that the new vet is so amazing!

Having a vet that you can communicate with, that is this on top of things and wants to get to the cause of everything must give you and your SO some serious relief. I know you don’t have a diagnosis yet, but at least you have a vet that is handling this the way you (and I believe we all feel this way) wish a vet would!

Sounds like a good workup of possibilities, and I for one am keeping my fingers crossed that the Panacur will clear it all up. Although after looking up nasopharyngeal polyps (good idea Kachina), it certainly seems like that would make a lot of sense…and it seems to usually be successfully resolved with surgery!

Keep us updated, I hope this gets sorted out soon and so happy you have a new vet! When I had the diabetes scare with my kitty forums (and a new vet) played a really important role in sorting it all out and I am happy to see someone else getting the benefits of shared knowledge!

[JumpQH]

Terrific news! So glad you got a second opinion! Fingers crossed it’s a manageable issue.

[shea_smom]

Aww. You are a good mommy. Good luck.

[Beethoven]

So glad that the new vet is willing to listen and think through different possibilities. I figured that heartworm was highly unlikely but it has to be on your differential diagnosis list. I’m in my last year of vet school aka clinical year so we have to think of all possible causes no matter how unlikely.

Hope you get some answers soon!

[Kachina]

Oh wow OP! Your new vet sounds great! So impressed with your efforts to advocate for your kitten! Initially, my vet, after identifying a large polyp visually under sedation, offered to tie it off with the warning that it might come back. This procedure relieved the symptoms for a while, but they came back in a few months. Rasping breath with exertion or stress. Was then referred to a surgical specialist and had the more thorough procedure done. She went in bilaterally under his jaw up into the ear canals. A year and a half later, issue remains resolved. His hearing is pretty compromised, as predicted, but he is doing great. He’s such a cool guy and worth the sacrifices we made to afford his care. Good luck with your little guy now that you both are in caring hands.

[BCGirl]

Wondering how kitty is doing!

[french_fry]

UPDATE: We had batted around the idea of a food allergy (specifically to chicken) which the vet had really not taken seriously (with good reason, as a food allergy to chicken that causes respiratory symptoms would be very rare) but she didn’t stop us from switching to a novel protein source limited ingredient diet. We have been doing this for the past couple of weeks with no major changes - no further asthma attacks but she usually only averages one every six weeks or so anyway.

Anyway, I was going to donate some of her old food that contained chicken to a rescue and had unwittingly left the bag of dry food out in my apartment. When I got home last night she had gotten into it and eaten about a serving. She was obsessively itching her ear until it was bright red, violently shaking her head (to the point of almost falling over) and generally biting her paws and over-grooming her belly. CLASSIC food allergy presentation. Additionally, she was doing her “I don’t feel good” behavior that normally accompanies her asthma attacks - sneaking out of the room to go hide somewhere and sleep curled up in a tight ball, baleful expression, the ruffled or “puffed up” look her body takes on when she’s in the throes of it. Her respiration rate was fine (low 20s) but she seemed to be breathing harder or perhaps more visibly (although maybe I was just being paranoid!)

So now…I don’t know. She clearly has a chicken allergy; the food she got into was high quality without any gluten or fillers. She had abnormally large amounts of chicken before both of her bad attacks (We had just started her on Wellness kitten food which is mostly chicken before the first one, I had given her some plain poached chicken as a treat before the second one) and she had thrown up (presumably because of the chicken) within a couple of days of each attack (about two or three days before the first attack, a few hours before the second attack.)

Am I totally grasping at straws here? She was eating smaller amounts of chicken in her food every single day up until a couple of weeks ago and only had those two big attacks. I suppose it’s possible that she has a chicken allergy AND polyps/some other asthma issue.

I have a call in to the vet but I feel like the cat owner who cried wolf at this point.

I feel like a very inept detective.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

OP, it’s okay. My vet has a saying, “If it’s something we only ever see in textbooks, we know ABM will bring us an animal who’s got it!” It can take a long time to sort out a problem like this and find the real solution.

Sometimes the weirdest, most out-there thing is the actual truth – “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Never discount an idea just because it’s “out there.”

[Pancakes]

A chicken allergy is not out of the question. Chicken allergy manifesting alone as respiratory symptoms IS rare. What’s more likely is that your cat is allergic to chicken, allergic in general, and the respiratory stuff is just part of that “I’m prone to allergies” kind of response throughout the body. Of course, polyps also possible too. But it sounds like the chicken allergy is there, whether it’s directly affecting her asthma or not.

[french_fry]

The only times she’s vomited since we’ve had her have been after eating pure or nearly pure chicken and both of her really bad breathing attacks have followed within the next 12-72 hours. In combination with the skin irritation response it does seem like she has a sort of systemic reaction to chicken (or possibly chicken and other TBD allergens.)

Dare I even hope that if we go back to a totally chicken-free diet she may not have any further respiratory symptoms? I feel like it’s a stretch so I’m trying not to let myself even think in that direction.

Or, if she just has a million allergies (dust! chicken! TBD!) I wonder how likely is it that we can manage her without bringing on one of the severe respiratory attacks.

These are questions I’m going to pose to my vet, of course, but I can’t help but feel like that problem client - you know, the one who read about the one in a million case on the internet and is SURE that little Fluffy doesn’t have run of the mill asthma but rather some rare exotic thing…

[BCGirl]

I would give going chicken free a try, it seems she has some sort of inflammatory response to it. Did your vet rule out the polyps? I looked back but didn’t see a definite answer to that. Also I wouldn’t feel like the cat owner who cried wolf- a good vet wants to figure this out as much as you do! As a result they will value symptoms and behaviors you only see at home!

[french_fry]

Up until the slip up yesterday she had been on a completely chicken-free diet for at least 3 weeks. We didn’t think we noticed any difference in her day-to day-behavior in relation to this but yesterday when she went into hyperdrive with the head scratching and head shaking and paw chewing we were like, “wow! Now that we’re seeing this we realize that she used to do this a lot before we switched her to chicken-free food.” In retrospect she was probably showing allergic symptoms the whole time she was eating food with chicken.

We have not done any diagnostics for polyps since she will have to be put under. The vet wanted to take a wait and see approach after the Panacur dewormer. Looking for polyps would be the next step.

[Pancakes]

I don’t think you’re over-reacting especially with such a dramatic response to chicken as you said. It takes 8 weeks (give or take) they say to see results from switching to a hypoallergenic or novel protein diet, so you’re still going to see improvement, potentially.

Any time a pet has a respiratory condition, you have to take things seriously. Your vet will understand.

[french_fry]

So…the vet clearly thinks I’m insane. She was extremely polite but overall unimpressed by my chicken allergy revelation and she said she’s never seen a food allergy cause respiratory issues other than anaphylaxis. I know it’s possible, though, because the internet told me, dammit! :lol:

She thinks it’s much more likely that the food allergy is unrelated to whatever her breathing issue is and wants to stay our course of waiting and seeing before exploring for polyps.

Either way, it’s just more of a waiting game. If we keep her off of the chicken and she never has another breathing issue (which I don’t even dare hope) then great, if not we will have to go further into the diagnostic process anyway.

[Simkie]

french fry, seriously–I had a cat whose asthma was managed with her diet.

I think you’ve got a good theory there and just run with it until proven otherwise.

[BCGirl]

I’m with Simkie- its a good theory and it isn’t going to hurt the kitty. And if you are right, and kitty never has another breathing issue once chicken is out of the equation you can say I told you so to the vet!

Good luck with the waiting game and keep us updated!