Princess, one of my cats was seen Sunday for having her days and nights mixed up and a lump on her belly. Up through last Thursday she would do anything she could to get me up from knocking things over to stepping on the alarm clock and my CPAP machine.

She was seen Sunday and overall visit looked good.

However, starting Friday night she has only meowed one time. Unknown to me at the time of the visit was that she had thrown up a strip of soft plastic that covers the sticky side if envelopes. My husband saw it and cleaned it up. He said it was folded similar to an accordion. This probably happened during the last night that she was talking all night and into the morning.

She is eating okay but is sleeping most of the day or night. She also is either sneezing or coughing at times. I don’t know which one but she stretches her neck out and makes this repetitive noise.

Is it possible that the plastic may have scratched her throat and that is why she will not meow? I have an appointment for today that I made before bringing her to the clinic on Sunday. I am debating as to whether I should bring her back to be checked.

My foster cat, who I am now considering adopting, has been struggling to breathe properly for about 3 months now. He came into the shelter with a suspected URI. However, after months of treatment with antibiotics and a whole swath of other anti viral medications, the vet determined that he wasn’t getting any better and euthanasia is on the table. I want to get a second opinion before we make any drastic decisions. I am doing online research and suspect that perhaps he has a polyp, a tumor, or foreign object in his throat/nose.

While I am dying to explore these other solutions, the shelter told me if I adopt him and take him to a specialist costs could go up to $5,000. I don’t have that kind of money. I am in Olympia, Washington State. Does anyone recommend any veterinary hospital that is more affordable and can explore other resolutions at a more reasonable price? I don’t want to give up on him, but can’t afford to spend that kind of money.

Thank you so much.

Hello, my cat Koshka has been suffering from chronic upper respiratory symptoms (snorty breathing, sometimes bloody sneezing) for quite some time now and I’m worried that she may have a nasopharyngeal polyp. I’ve watched several videos posted on youtube by Krista Magnifico and our situation sounds very similar to what was described there. This has been persisting for 2 years and she has been to the vet 4 times now and last week I took her to a new vet for a second opinion and she prescribed prednisone and said she could refer me to a specialist to do a rhinoscopy which costs over $2000.

My question is why hasn’t anyone thought to check for a polyp like Dr. Magnifico has been doing in these videos? It seems like a relatively simple and cost effective procedure. I’m getting very discouraged and frustrated at the thought of paying thousands of dollars just for diagnostics alone when I am currently unemployed. I’d be happy to take her in to the Jarrettsville Vet Center but I live in Nashville which is 12hrs away. I would love to hear any kind of advice on this matter as I’m not sure what to do at this point. Thank you for reading this!

My rats (2 months old) are sneezing. Sometimes it’s one, sometimes its like three in a row, but it is not consistent. I have read that this could be linked to respiratory issues, but they have no other symptoms. They ping, brux, boggle, play fight with their siblings, eat, socialize with me and other members of my family. They are not secreting porphyrin either. They do sleep a lot during the day, which I thought may be a symptom, but they are also still babies and are EXTREMELY active during the night. Should I be worried about the sneezing?

Hello. I am hoping Dr. Magnifico sees this message as she treated Samantha yesterday (Friday) for me.
She has found a quiet hiding place and I am able to pet her although she is not thrilled….turns her head. I have not seen her eat but I cannot rule it out because she may come out when we are asleep.
Do you think she could be in any pain? If not okay but if you do I have a syringe of 5 ml buprenorphine that was for Dexter but he did not need
It. I did not want to do anything without asking you. If you think it would help could I give her the med?

Another question. One if my other cats was diagnosed with probable lymphoma. I mentioned on Wednesday (I think it was Wednesday) that she had been sneezing from time to time but it was recommended that we hold off because we were already dealing with something major unless it got worse. She is doing it more frequently and seems to effect her purring. There is a good chance I may bring her in tomorrow to see you.

Thanks
Sandy

If you are reading this I want you to know that I truly appreciate you helping us out at the last minute yesterday because of my stupidity.

I have a 10-1/2 black lab that you (Dr. Morgan) has seen over the years. Lilly started sneezing yesterday and last nite and today she has had a nose bleed. What could be causing this? Thank you!

Hi,

Last April, my 16-year-old long haired cat, Geisha, began experiencing frequent sneezing and congestion. Her symptoms worsened gradually. Her nasal breathing sounded wheezy and her purring sounded like duck quacking. We took her to the vet who treated her with antibiotics (Amoxicillin) and anti-histamine (Chlorpheniramine). When her symptoms did not improve, the vet then gave her a different antibiotic (Convenia) and a steroid (Dexamethasone). When her symptoms still did not improve, we took her to a specialist. The specialist ruled out rhinitis because Geisha’s bloody nasal discharge only occurred from her right nostril and concluded that Geisha possibly had a polyp or nasal tumor. They recommended performing a CT scan, rhinoscopy, and biopsy. They prescribed Geisha a steroid (Prednisolone) while we thought over their recommendations. Within a day, Geisha’s symptoms began to dissipate and after a couple of days, all her symptoms disappeared and she was fully recovered.

Unfortunately, in January of this year, Geisha had another relapse of the same symptoms. We brought her to the vet on 1/9/2020, who after hearing her previous history, prescribed both Clavamox and Prednisolone. They also administered a blood test, the result of which we were told was unremarkable.

Geisha’s recovery last year came after she was put on 1 tablet of 5mg Prednisolone per day. Unfortunately, the same medication regimen this time did not improve her condition. After weeks on medication with no signs of improvement, on 3/6/2020, we brought Geisha to a specialist referred by the vet. There she was given another blood test, the results of which was once again deemed unremarkable. During the same visit, we were told that only a CT scan along with a biopsy would conclusively identify the root cause of her symptoms. We agreed to the CT scan on this basis alone.

After spending close to $2,500 on the scan, we were told that the CT scan did indicate a mass but that the nature and identity of the mass could not be determined. The specialist informed us that the biopsy results did not indicate that the mass was cancerous. However, he stated that it is his opinion that the mass was cancerous, without any supporting evidence and despite the contradictory biopsy results. It is his opinion that the biopsy results are incorrect due to poor sampling. His conclusion is that we should consider pursuing radiation treatment since that would be the only resolution. So, basically, after a $2,500 expense, the vet is just as clueless about the nature of Geisha’s issue as he was before.

Geisha was returned to us after the CT scan with Prednisolone medication. We were instructed to increase her dosage to 1.5 5mg Prednisolone per day. With this increased dosage, Geisha’s condition has improved. In the month that has passed, while her condition has improved, she is still mildly symptomatic and not fully recovered and thus is still on the same medication regimen.

Naturally, my wife and I are very disappointed that we still have an inconclusive diagnosis despite having been assured that the costly procedures would be justified by the precise root cause that they would deliver. We also don’t understand why we spent money for procedures such as the biopsy only for the vet to completely disregard the results and formulate his opinion purely on conjecture. This all seems to fly in the face of the scientific method that all science is based on.

I would love to get your opinion on what you think is the issue with Geisha and what you believe the best course of action for her is based on her past year of symptoms and treatment history and also taking her age into account.

Thank you so much for your time.

Hi Dr Mag

I noticed alittle over a month ago my cat (Zedicus aka Boo Boo) was sneezing alot and sound like he was snoring when he was up. I took him to his VET where he was diagnosed with polyps. My vet referred me to a specialist for a rhinoscopy. In the process of searching for a reasonable priced specialist. I discovered your youtube page while doing research so I could be better prepared and I had to rush Zed to the ER b/c one night he woke up vomiting up foam. Once we got to the ER he was fine. I had the ER vet take xrays and told them what my Vet said. The Dr vet didnt think it was polyps but perhaps allergies or asthma. She prescribe Clavamox for 2 wks and to revisit the Vet and take another x-ray. The medicine helped the runny nose but nothing else. I’m getting frustrated because I don’t want my cat to suffocate and seems no one really knows what’s wrong with him.

I have a 12 year old cat that is experiencing sneezing, nasal discharge followed with blood in one nostril as well as some wheezing. Took him to emergency room and he was given steroid injection and clavamox for two weeks in December. After the two weeks experienced same thing, they stated it could be nasal polyp. Regular vet gave Orbax which did nothing. After calling around because everyone wanted 2500 for a ct scan i found a vet that performed a rhinoscopy and he removed three polyps. One looked abnormal so he did a culture and biopsy. He put my cat on doxycycline. The cat is still having wheezing but breathing better. The meds do not seem to be working. So went back to vet and he gave my cat a steroid injection. The biopsy came back negative for cancer and the culture negative for respiratory viruses. He doesn’t know whats going on. He says either my cat has a immune issue with inflammation where he will prescribe some predisone pills or that the cat has a tumor deeper than his rhinoscopy can go. He is suggesting i put my cat down. My cat has been behaving more energetic since receiving the predisone injection days ago but the wheezing and stuffy nose wont go away. Any ideas, i don’t want to put down an otherwise healthy animal.?

I have a question directly for Dr. Magnifico. I reached out through Jarrettsville Vet, and they directed me to Pawbly to reach Dr. Magnifico more directly:

I am reaching out after watching your YouTube videos on nasopharyngeal polyp removal. My cat Fitzgerald has all of the symptoms of this (and has for multiple years). A couple of years ago, he had a full-mouth tooth extraction due to stomatitis at University of Georgia. (I live in Atlanta.) They suspected his wheezing, occasional sneezing, snoring, and other symptoms could be due to a polyp, but, as a vet school, they refuse to check without putting him under and doing $3500 in scans. They would then have him come back in to be put under again, taken to the pet hospital, and then would extract the polyp as a costly surgery. They are not alone in the high costs of treatment in the Atlanta area.

I have seen your expertise and candidness regarding this simple diagnosis, actual procedure, and the lower cost and would like to bring my cat to your clinic. Fitzgerald has been on longer car rides in the past, so I’m sure it would be okay. I am a graduate student living on a small stipend in the city. $3500+ is not possible for me, which is why I am willing to drive 10 hours. It’s the only way I can afford to take care of Fitz’s polyp.

Please let me know how I may proceed with scheduling this. I am eager to do so as early as this month. I appreciate your time.

Best,
Christy Kinney
(and Fitzgerald)