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My cat bandit has trouble breathing and is wheezing and making snoring sounds when he is awake. He wont groom himself and sheds terribly. When we took him to the vet after their tests they concluded its probably polyps in his nose or throat and suggested a specialist who wants over a thousand dollars for a ”special” surgery but when i did some research online i watched a video of Dr. Krista Magnifico removing a polyp from a cat which took 3 mins and was 130$ total cost. I live in the Atlanta Ga, area and was hoping y’all had suggestions of somewhere close to me that can do the same wonderful, skillful job Dr. Magnifico performed for around the same price range. I know this problem is bothering my poor bandit and i just want him to be healthy and happy and i know getting this removed is the key.
My rescue cat is estimated to be about 3 years old. Pembroke has had breathing issues since I adopted him. It started with a URI which was treated successfully. But then the snoring started. He also shakes his head frequently and itches his ears. I had a full body x-ray as well as blood work done on him. I can visibly see a blockage in his left nostril but no vet in my area has been willing to figure it out without me going to a specialist for an endoscopy. However, this could just be nasal inflammation (according to 1/3 different vets I’ve gone to) because I was told based on the x-rays there is no growth. Am I crazy for wanting to try and get more answers before spending $2000 on an endoscopy? Ive already spent thousands on this little one and I’ve only had him for a few months. I’m in the Greater New Orleans area. I will attach his x-ray photos. He also has an abnormally large kidney but all of his blood and urine levels were fine. They recommend an abdominal ultrasound but I am trying to prioritize his breathing issues as this is hard to watch when he’s sleeping. He acts completely normal but when he is asleep it is apparent his breathing is difficult. I can also hear him do big swallow that sound like he has post nasal drip. He sneezes often but he never has any discharge/snot.
Hello.
I think it is perfectly reasonable to ask for help without spending another few thousand dollars. Maybe you could try some medications to see if they help? I use cerenia drops often. I also try a nasal flush under general anesthesia. This is a really hard place to look at our even investigate. So I would give some time and some medications and see if that helps.
If all else fails ask for a feline specialist referral.
Good luck. Keep me posted. Please.
Thank you for such a quick response. Do you have any suggestions for what this may be? The last two vets I have seen have said they have never seen this before. It is definitely not urgent (unless it’s cancerous but he has no other symptoms). It doesn’t seem to bother him much. I just feel so guilty when I hear the whistle snores and see he struggles while sleeping. I can also occasionally hear him breathing during the day. I will ask about the cerenia drops and other possible medications before going to a specialist! Thank you again!
My 16 year old cat has been diagnosed with some kind of nasal cancer. I don’t know which specifically because I didn’t want to pay for the tests that would specify which kind. Regardless, we are not treating the cancer; we are giving her supportive care. She is currently on steroids (prednisolone) and painkillers (gabapentin). With all of this, she has recently had a new symptom: a bulging of the bridge of her nose. At first, I thought it might be the cancer, but then one day, it popped open, and started leaking fluids (probably blood mixed with other things). I gave her first aid, and it healed. Now, it’s doing it again, but the fluid is building back up, even after leaking out. I called the vet after the first time this had happened, and was told that things like this would keep happening, and that she’s probably near the end of her life. Nothing about what it could be or how to handle it.
So my questions are, should I see a different vet? Does the pressure cause her pain? Is there some way to treat this? I haven’t euthanized her yet, because she still seems to enjoy life.
Hello,
These are all questions to ask your vet. Without knowing specifically what the diagnosis is (or specifically what type of cancer) and what kind of fluid this is it is hard to predict outcome abd treatment options. Also the steroid can influence patient response. Cancer is defined as aberrant cell growth so it is by definition abnormal activity and asking to know and understand anything acting abnormally is also hard to predict. You have decided to keep her comfortable while declining the work up so we have a hard time answering specific questions about what to expect and do bed sue we do t have enough information to be able to answer questions like these.
Pain is impossibly to answer without seeing your pet in person and doing an exam to look for the signs that might indicate pain. Also we don’t have great long term options for treating pain in cats. Pred has some properties to help.
It sounds like you are doing the best you can with limited ability to diagnose which is the huge majority of cases I see. Keep doing what you can and it’s ok to seek multiple opinions.
Good luck.
Dr magnifico , we took our 3 year old feline to our home vet yesterday morning for straining and not being able to urinate (happened within 15 hours approx.) they released him at 12:09pm on buprexen 0.35 ml every 12 hours until we can get the culture and urinalysis back Monday, they did an ultrasound and said there was no blockage but to take him in to an ER if things get worse, well 8pm that night it was only getting worse not even a dribble and so we rushed him to an emergency hospital and applied for a loan because the ER told us he WAS blocked and that there was a mound of crystal formed and that he needed surgery ASAP as well as the catheter. They kept him overnight and now today ( the next day) they said if at 430-5 they take out the catheter and he can pee on his own they want to send him home. My fear is that he will get reblocked as he is trying to heal… I saw your YouTube video GET OUT ALIVE BLOCKED CAT and how they should keep him for up to 3 days and monitor him with the catheter still in place? Our home vet doesn’t open until tomorrow and I’m sure they will want more money to keep him overnight again I already applied for the loan and got approved but our expenses are running tight. What do you recommend? This is our cats first problem he has no history of illness or allergies. The ER he is at right now is tanasbourne veterinarian emergency in Hillsboro Oregon ! Our home vet is Milner vet hospital in Oregon city
Hi there- I am soooo sorry that you going through this. I am not a vet- I have however had a male cat who had urinary blockage issues and can tell you what we had to do-
First off, the vet we had at the time kept him overnight after the. Lock she was removed to make sure his Irvine was running clear and to monitor him. He was sent home to us with very specific instructions- keep him isolated in a small area in case of accidents(which there were) a change in both diet and litter and multiple water sources. He was also put on a Rx food from science diet for the rest of his life. I would contact your vet first thing- explain to them what has happened since your last visit, ask to speak with your vet and see what they advise. We had to change our litter to “low ash” and the prescription food seemed to do the trick????He ended up living quite a long life with no recurrence.
Hi,
I have a kitten named Luna. She is less one years old and we recently discovered she has a nasal polyp. She has the “snoring” symptom while she is awake and has difficulty breathing through her nose. We took her to our local vet and she told us she was able to get the tip removed, but that we needed to see a specialist to get it completely removed. She told us the procedure would likely cost $1500-$2000. We happened to come across your video removing a cats polyp and was hoping we might be able to bring our cat to your clinic. How would we go about making an appointment with you and how much would we expect to pay?
Hello,
I’m sorry to hear about your cat. I’m also sorry but we are not a referral practice. Therefore it is difficult to set up an appointment for people who are not local. I also cannot give a price for a procedure I have not seen the patient t for. If you are local you can call the clinic and I will call you back to discuss.
Good evening,
My wife and I are struggling trying to help our cat with megacolon and obstipation. He was diagnosed over 4 years ago but he had been put on a Royal Canin GI diet that worked wonders. It suddenly became unavailable and our cat deteriorated rapidly. He had to be hospitalized for a week to remove the blockage and we’ve gone back and forth with the internist on how to move forward. He’s currently on miralax, Lactulose, Cisapride. We recently introduced an anti-nausea medication and appetite stimulant as he stopped eating a few days ago. The suspicion being that he just becomes backed up again. At this point it’s been multiple hospital stays and several thousands of dollars trying to help our guy.
I watched the video on regular palpation – it’s difficult in our cat, both personally and from the vet, due to his large size. He’s a very long cat and also a chunky boy.
Do you have any guidance on palpation in obese cats? Suggestions we can explore with our vet?
I’m worried we’re looking at the colon surgery to remove part of it – but the vet noted many cats are unable to form or control stool following that and have constant diarrhea.
At this point if we can’t get him stimulated at home and eating a little and defecating a little we’re likely headed back to the animal hospital.
I appreciate any guidance or suggestions.
Hello,
Have you directed these questions to your vet? Have you asked them to help you cate for your cat at home? I teach my clients how to palpate and I also have them give lactulose. Miralax and cat lac along with watered down wet food only. I try to avoid dry food. I also think the fat cats need to get healthier with walks exercise and this helps the gut stay active and make constipation less likely. I always believe constipation is secondary to something else. Like obesity or poor diet or lethargy. Cats should be at a good weight with good muscular body condition. I encourage walking on a harness, playing and using food as a way to encourage activity. Try a feeder ball or scattering small amounts of food across the room so they have to “hunt” for it. Also car grass and cat hip might help. These cats are too often too fat and too sedentary and that compounds the problems.
Hello Dr Magnifico
I watched your video on Beerus the cat (Megacolon/ Obstipation) on YouTube! Currently my 8 year old English bulldog was diagnosed with megacolon. My dog is my life. The last week I’ve spent $4000 which included a deobstipation. The deobstipation wasn’t successful as there is a hard piece deep in the colon. They stated they removed a good amount but couldn’t reach the hard piece deeper in the colon and he will need two more procedures. I truly can’t afford to spend any more money and I don’t want anything to happen to my dog. Each procedure is about 2500 in the area and that only includes 24 hour care. Right now he is feeling much better but that piece is still in there. I’ve increased his exercise to 2-3 short walks. I’ve also changed his diet. Chicken, very little rice, raw liver, flaxseed, watermelon, blueberries, coconut oil, green beans, carrots and pumpkin. He’s feeling much better and is having diarrhea which I hope is chipping away from that hard piece. Can you recommend anything? Days ago he was vomiting, shaking, couldn’t walk, didn’t eat or drink and was lethargic. It was so scary! I literally would do anything for this dog. But I can’t keep shoveling out thousands of dollars and not get any results. Anything would help, I can’t have anything happen to my boy. You also mentioned to learn how to palpate the abdomen. Can you explain how that is done. Any help or recommendations would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Hello,
I’m sorry to hear about your pup. I think that diet and exercise are very important. I also think that monitoring daily for fecal output helps. I also think you need to find a vet who will help you manage this outside of the emergencies. Your dog is going to be very hard to palpate so although I don’t want to discourage trying it’s going to be hard to monitor that way. I would also ask about gi motility agents, laxatives and prescription diets. I am not a raw or homemade diet fan. I just see too many people missing hey ingredients. Also finding a bet who will allow X-rays to monitor might help. I think you also need to start a savings account for surgery down the road. JIC. At my clinic a sun total colectomy is about $3000 and we allow payment plans to pre existing clients.
I hope this helps.
Keep us posted.
Thank you so much. I was hoping to try this for the next few days since he is having diarrhea where he couldn’t go to the bathroom at all even after the deobstipation. Do you think it’s chipping away at that piece? What is that surgery? Will that make this constipation issue go away?
Hello. My 4 year old cat has known allergies and therefore, is often pawing at her ears. I clean them weekly with Salicylic Acid (as prescribed by our vet). 2 days I noticed that she as a foul odor coming from her ears. Is this a part of her ear allergies or is it an infection? I’d hate to drag her into the vet (very stressful for her) for them just to tell me the odor is a part of the allergy. I also do want to ignore thing if the problem has gotten worse. Thank you!
Hi there- sorry there hasn’t been a response. I am hoping that things have improved, however if they haven’t and there is still an odor, I think a visit to the vet would be needed.
Hi. My cat was diagnosed with a throat polyp, however, my vet does not perform the procedure. They referred to a specialist with the cost of 3k. I live in the western suburbs of Chicago and was wondering if anyone has a referral for a much less expensive possibility. Thank you-
Hello,
For reasons I don’t understand it seems like more vets are getting hesitant to even look for a polyp and try to remove it. The best advice I can give is to put out a social media plea via Facebook and Nextdoor and to call all local rescues and shelters to see who has had a patient with this before who might be willing to help affordably. There are vets out there who have done this and will do it again
Thank you so much Krista. Excellent suggestions. I will see what I can find out.
If you are able to find anyone willing or any helpful information, please post and share????????
Oh I will for sure 🙂 Thanks!!
Hi all! I hope someone on here might be able to shed some light on the mystery going on with our 6 month old male golden retriever. We got him at 10 weeks and kept him up to date with shots and all was fine, but about 6 weeks ago we started noticing a little bit of swelling in his front armpits (one side more pronounced than the other) we kept an eye on it and eventually brought him to the vet when it continued to grow. The vet did a needle aspiration and saw bacteria in the murky clear/slightly yellow fluid and prescribed antibiotics. We brought him to another vet a week later who suggested surgery to drain the fluid and tried that. The lump stayed down for a week while he was healing (on sedatives and antibiotics) but now it is starting to grow again! The idea of it being a seroma has been considered but no one can really nail down what is going on or why. His blood panel is completely normal, the biopsies from the fluid and tissue show no indicators of cancer, and the only strange thing was a high level of calcium in the fluid (there were more scientific terms used but I do not recall them)… he scratches at the lump pretty frequently but other than that he acts completely normal and healthy! We noticed that scratching tends to make it grow/become inflamed and if he leaves it alone, it will shrink down significantly… it is all so strange so if anyone has any ideas I would greatly appreciate it! Here are some pictures post-op if it helps at all! Thank you so much!
Hello,
If it was a seroma it should have gone away and not returned. I would go to the vet and have it looked at. It might be time for a surgical exploration. I have seen this with infections (abscess), foreign bodies, neoplasia, etc.
We did do surgery and the vet sampled the fluid and the tissue inside the area. The fluid was infected, so after she drained it she prescribed oral antibiotics. She said that it’s possible that he could be having an allergic reaction to something in his environment?
Good morning-
I would start at your vet. I would explain your thoughts and ask for help in finding someone who is willing to perform the surgery at a more affordable price, if they cannot. If that doesn’t pan out, I would start calling around and asking. Maybe try your local humane society or animal rescue? They may know of someone close to your area that is willing to perform the polyp surgery. Perhaps even posting to social media may prove helpful- someone who has been through this situation may see it and point you in the right direction. I hope things work out- please keep us posted.????????