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Hello. I have a grey kitty who is 3 experiencing a lot of wheezing. She has about 4-5 spells a day where she just hacks – never coughing up a hair ball or vomit, her whole body gets tight when this happens. I’ve had 2 opinions by different vets. The first vet said it was asthma gave me liquid albuterol for her as well as PREDNISONE. after about 3 months no change so I took her for another opinion. The vet there agreed asthma but said cats cannot metabolize prednisone so she gave me prednisolone to try. Still no change. She is so uncomfortable when she has these spells and I feel so bad because there is nothing I can do to help her. Any thoughts? I have a video but unfortunately it will not allow me to attach to this post 🙁
I’m in desperate need to help my cat Kitt she is a 13 year-old Siamese cat who has been suffering from chronic constipation. The past five years it has increasingly gotten worse. It seems to be happening once a month now what can I do at home to assist her? I’ve changed diets numerous time, I’ve tried numerous supplements, laxatives- I’m at my wits end on how to help my poor cat. Are there any other suggestions to treatments I haven’t tried.
Hello,
In my experience constipation on cats is always secondary to something else. Either old wounds, like a fractured pelvis, an underlying disease, or diet.
Has your cat had a thorough examination, bloodwork and X-rays? Have your tried different diets, supplements and fluid therapy.
I hope this helps.
My 12 yr old Siberian Husky has always been a picky eater / grazer, but recently she has been acting like her mouth might hurt when she goes to eat her kibble. I took her to a vet near me and they want to do a dental with bloodwork and possible extractions, and quoted me almost $1300. Does this seem like a reasonable price? Are there any vets in Harford County, MD that might be cheaper?
Hello,
The price of a dental can vary greatly because the service and needed care once the dental is started can vary greatly. If this is just a cleaning, ie all of the teeth are healthy and no extractions are needed then the typical cost at my clinic can be about $400-600. If there are multiple teeth that need to be removed if can go up to almost $2,000. So it’s import try to understand where your dog might fall on this spectrum of need to get a better idea if rhe cost of their care.
My 11 year old Cat has slowly developed noisy breathing. For a long time it was bearly noticeable, then over time I noticed she was getting worse, a snoring/snorting sound when sleeping and occasionally after playing or running. A short time after that I noticed she was having trouble eating, specifically swallowing. That was when I knew somthing was definitly wrong. I callled my vet and explained everything, they got us in, the vet checked her over and said everything seems fine.. not an emergency. Told me it was potentially a polyp in her throat, but said they cant do “scoping” at that location and said I would need a referral to another clinic. This annoyed me because I explained the symptoms on the phone while booking and they didnt mention their limitations. So they charged me ($200) to basically tell me they cant help. Luckily my cats symptoms subsided a bit while we waited for the referral. Some days are worse than others. This is when I found Krista Magnifico’s video removing a cats polyp!! It made me feel so much better know it might just be that simple, hopefully. I finally got the call back from the referral, they said they need to do a consultation first before anything else ($330) then after that they would need to sedate my cat, do a CT scan ($3000) and if my cat needs surgery I would need to come back, sedate the cat again and surgery would be roughy ($4-5000) This was devastating to hear…. now I completely understand vet bills arent always cheap and working people need to be paid, but this seems excessive… Any advice is greatly appreciated. I dont know what do to at this point…
Hello,
In my experience polyps are unlikely in a cat this age. I would ask for a few rounds of either an antibiotic or anti inflammatory to see if these help. In cases where clients struggle with the cost of diagnostics we often try various treatments to see if we get a favorable response. You can also ask for a sedated exam to look for a polyp behind the soft palate. Like I do in the video.
I hope this helps.
I have a cat who seems to be having tooth pain. The gums are slightly red around the tooth and it’s discolored. Could we try antibiotics or maybe a simple extraction? Looking for options or the best way to help her. She is a rescue and we have a lot of cats. We already have 2 with liver problems that have costed us a lot of money. Any ideas or options are greatly appreciated!
How old is she? It is possible that the gums are simply inflamed. But in my experience, even if not much is visible above the gums the roots may already be severely affected (FORL). Antibiotics don’t really help with this, the tooth has to be removed. But only a vet can see that with an x ray.
I hope you find a good solution. I wish the best to all your cats!
Thanks! She is about 8. It’s definitely more than just inflamed. There is also some weird build up on the tooth. It’s definitely going to need to be removed unfortunately. Just hoping to find an affordable way to get it removed
We have a male cat who is almost eight years old. He will urinate in a litter box but prefers to defecate on the concrete floor underneath my oil tanks in the basement. I discovered this earlier in the year. We also have two female cats so there are multiple litter boxes. I moved one of the litter boxes next to the oil tanks and have so far tried three different types of cat litter. I have seen him urinate in the litter box and then go under the oil tanks. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
Not sure if Pawbly is still in operation. Does anyone know if Dr. Magnifico does the Urethrostomy surgery on male cats? We have a much beloved cat (Blackie) who is peeing just everywhere. Has been peeing and spraying for years but it’s gotten much, much worse. (His urine contains no crystals, according to our vet.)
As a next-to-last resort, we want to find a vet who can do this surgery. (You know what the last resort would be.) Thank you for any help, tips, info, etc.
Hi! I have 3 cats that visit your facility and we absolutely love your clinic. Our 3 cats are our entire world and we have recently installed screening underneath our deck area so they can safely sit outside with us on the patio without getting out. Think of essentially a giant catio, lol. They are indoor kitties but enjoy sitting by the screen door so we know they would like the fresh air. Anyway, I feed songbirds all year round and I started to get a little spooked with the bird flu and my cats having the potential to actually be “outdoors” even if it’s in a patio area there is a very busy bird feeder in the same yard about a school bus lengths away and wasn’t sure if it’s recommended to take it down or if the risk of my cats getting it is very unlikely? I just wanted an expert opinion. Thanks!! (I’m in Harford county Md if that helps)
Hello,
Thank you for the very kind words. I understand your concerns but I think it is very unlikely that your cats are at risk.
While transmission of disease is possible between species it is very rare.
I hope your cats enjoy their new patio space.
Take care
Dr Magnifico
My Lulu Purrl – female 2 yo Siberian – threw up her whole dinner last night and hasn’t eaten since. She disappeared under a bed until this morning. This kitty lives to eat! Won’t take anything today. I found a clear liquid thick puddle on the floor this am. She is lying on the floor. Not moving. And I don’t know if I should bring her to vets. We go to Jarrettsville. Could she possibly have a blockage? I have caught her chewing plastic in the past. But I don’t think she does it often. I have only once found a chewed piece of plastic.
Thanks, Krista 😢
Hello,
These aren’t specific signs for anyone to offer a diagnosis. In some cases it can be a transient condition from a virus, a bad piece of kibble or even an unknown stressful event.
In others it certainly can be something more concerning like a blockage or organ/systemic condition like pancreatitis.
If your cat isn’t better call the clinic asap to try to be seen, or consider the ER for help.
Good luck.
Hi. I have a 17 year old cat( Approximately calico. She has elevated liver and kidney levels but not too bad and is on KD dry food but loves wet also. About 2 months ago she started grooming excessively. Now her front legs are brown , not white anymore and everwhere she sleeps she leaves brown stains. 2 vets have said it’s iron in her saliva .. she is on a very low dose gabapentin and she has gotten a bit better with the excess grooming . I have been told that all cats have iron in their saliva but why all of a sudden is it so much and is there anything to do. Fecal urine and bloodwork mostly normal
Hello,
I think that it is time for some diagnostics. I would recommend an Xray and some blood work. In some cases I am also concerned about things like lungworm, round worm, or toxoplasmosis.
If you haven’t done an antibiotic trial you can also try that. The problem is that you are trying to treat clinical signs and not identifying the underlying cause.
Thank you for this suggestion! I do appreciate it. Praying we find some answers for my special girl!
Hello my cat is at the emergency vet in bel air and they said she has a bad case of pneumonia (their diagnosis) I paid $1200 via care credit , they are suggesting she stay over night for monitoring and be on oxygen. They gave her a injectable antibiotic and a steroid. They offered me the opportunity to take her home with meds also. I am not really sure what to do, but I don’t have another $2k to pay them and they won’t treat her without the funds 🙁 in your opinion is this something she may survive at home if I bring her home and try and get an appt with your office asap? Thank you for reading
Hello my cat is at the emergency vet in bel air and they said she has a bad case of pneumonia (their diagnosis) I paid $1200 via care credit , they are suggesting she stay over night for monitoring and be on oxygen. They gave her a injectable antibiotic and a steroid. They offered me the opportunity to take her home with meds also. I am not really sure what to do, but I don’t have another $2k to pay them and they won’t treat her without the funds 🙁 in your opinion is this something she may survive at home if I bring her home and try and get an appt with your office asap? Thank you for reading