Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
My cat has been having audible breathing noises for a few months. No open mouth breathing, just audible through the nose, on and off throughout the day. She’s developed some weird other noises especially while sleeping or falling asleep some snoring, random sneezing as well. She isn’t overweight or old.
We’ve tried antibiotics but it didn’t help. The vets are quoting between $2-10k for just imaging for polyps, not even removal, if they see any. It’s impossible to afford it. She’s eating and playing and acting normal otherwise. I’m wondering what it can be, is it likely polyps and if I don’t go into debt to see, am I going to make her like unliveable?
I’m wondering if I can even rent a car and come down to a cheaper clinic in the US (I’m in Canada) which may be cheaper than doing it locally. There are very few low cost vets here and they only work with people on welfare so it wouldn’t apply. There’s a huge gap between people who are on assistance and people who aren’t but still can’t a afford $10k in imaging.
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 🙁
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
Hello! My cat Daisy (3y/o F, spayed) has been having upper respiratory symptoms, specifically, nasal discharge in one nostril, reverse sneezing, and congestion on and off since November 2024. She is otherwise acting normal (same appetite, energy levels, etc). She will go a day with these symptoms and the next day they’ll clear up, then come back again. I’ve taken her to the vet twice and the first time they said to just give lysine supplements (didn’t work) because she’s had a history of URI when I adopted her 2 years ago and the second time they said to give chlorpheniramine (which didn’t work) and then prescribed hydroxyzine (which also didn’t work). I don’t really know where to go from here if it isn’t allergies. Just wondering if you have any thoughts? Thank you!
Hello,
If this is only one side of the nose then I would worry about a potential foreign body or even a tumor.
When I get a case like this we talk about what our potential differential diagnosis is after an exam. We usually start with an antibiotic because an upper respiratory infection is the most common thing we see in cats. Then we talk about a different antibiotic or antiviral if the first doesn’t work. After that we start talking about either running diagnostics like an Xray, blood work, or sending our patient to an internal medicine specialist for a second opinion.
For people who are cost sensitive we try options of different medications or a nasal flush or head Xray.
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
Dr. Magnifico – My captain (5 month old GSD) started vomiting this afternoon. Threw up all the food he had in his stomach at the time and has since thrown up 8 other times. Mostly foamy mucus and liquid. Had diarrhea once so far that was very gassy and liquidy. He can’t hold any water down. He is now just laying down. I can hear his stomach gurgle every once in a while. I’m held up in the kitchen with him. This started around 6pm, it’s now almost 11pm. I don’t know if I should wait through the night or go to ER now. Help please.
Hello,
I’m sorry to hear about Captain. In puppies we worry about parvovirus, intestinal parasites, foreign bodies and eating something that doesn’t agree with them. With your pup I am not as concerned about the first two.
I am at the clinic first thing. We will fit you in.
Dr Magnifico
Thank you for following up. He is back to his normal self this morning. He has eaten fine as well. I guess something did not agree with him.
Hi, this inquiry is for Dr. Graf or Dr. Magnifico, both have seen my Blink for this mystery issue. Blink has had random nose bleeds on and off for about 6 months now and not really sure the cause. They are extremely intermittent and bleed from different parts of his nose (it’s never a lot of blood but enough to notice) He has no other symptoms and is behaving like his normal self although he does have sneezing fits sporadically. Him and his brother both have always had runny eyes etc. On 4/3, Dr. Graf recommended we start a steroid which we totally agreed to but truthfully we did not pick up because we were worried about the side effects and since the nose bleeds are so intermittent we thought we would watch and see. Today 4/21 was the first time we saw a nose bleed happen again (the last time was 3/27). I have included a picture. We just want to make sure we are doing the correct thing, is it still recommended for him to take the steroid?
One thing I realized that I didn’t mention before is that our neighbor is a heavy smoker (cigarettes) and not sure if this is contributing… we like to keep the windows open when it’s nice out so sometimes you can definitely smell it. Just wanted to add that detail as well.
Thanks!
Hello,
There are numerous things that can cause a nose bleed. Some of them may respond to a steroid. But until you have a good idea of what’s causing it (blood work and X-rays along with a good dental exam), it is just a guess that a steroid might help.
I can call you tomorrow to discuss possible options for this.
Dr Magnifico
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it and will wait your call
We had a cat in our shelter with similar symtoms. Turned out, she had a blade of grass stuck up her nose that wasn’t visible. It took a while but after one of her sneezing fits a bit of it poked out in the front and could be removed. Seems it caused a lot of iritation in her nose, but she had no problems after it was removed.
Dr.Magnifico/Pawbly forum
My sister has a 3.5 year old husky mix that has has started experiencing skin issues over the last few months. She’s tried cytopoint injections and more frequent bathing but is now looking into starting him on probiotics because she read it could be a gut issue. Recently, his ear became inflamed and there was some yeast but Zymox has seemed to really improve it, which is what lead her to think this could be a gut thing. He otherwise is a very happy and comfortable and playful dog but does have several instances a day where he is itching behind his ears or licking his paws.
Are there any recommendations of food or probiotics that you recommend?
He is currently on the Purina ProPlan Sensitive Skin and Stomach food. He has regular stools twice/day, no changes in appetite and no other symptoms other than this itchiness. He is up to date on vet visits and vaccines.
Picture uploaded of his cuteness!!
Hello,
This is a common reason why I see dogs. The difficulty is that every dog is different and there isn’t a blanket recommendation for these cases.
The best place to start is with your vet. And a good foundation for preventatives. From there we talk about diet, complicating conditions and a good baseline diagnostics plan. If these don’t yield anything we try medications to see if we get a positive response to treatment.
In all it can be a slow and gradual process of ruling in or out options.
I wish I could help more. But it has to be personalized.
Best of luck.
Krista
Jack Russell having coughing like hacking fit for like 15 mins straight. Have a vet appointment in a week but is there anything I can do before then?
Hello
I don’t know enough about your pup to offer much help. I think a week is too long to wait. If your pup isn’t coughing frequently (like a few times a day), or the coughing is worsening (ie can’t sleep or coughing to the point of vomiting), then you need to see a vet asap.
cat had bloody soft poop, and we found a big long dark brown stringy thing running almost all the way through it. I couldn’t get a picture but it looked like a worm but it wasn’t moving so idk. A few years ago he had a uti but i dont think its that cause he isn’t going back and forth from the litter box and he pee’s just fine and doesn’t seem in pain but idk what else it could be
Hello,
You can bring a fecal sample to your vet. They should be able to help.
Hello,
Without knowing more details I would say keep looking into finding a place that will help you affordably. I do t know why vetmed has gotten so unkind or unwilling to help people and pets like you, but there are still places and vets who will offer care to help patients. Please keep asking for help. I have lots of videos on polyps and I write a lot about them. In almost all cases I recommend a n exam under general anesthesia to look behind the soft palate. I also take skull X-rays and flush the nares if I don’t find one.
Polyps are most commonly found in young cats. It can be a life saving procedure to remove them. I charge about $500-700
Hi Krista,
Where are you located? If I were able to get to the States (I’m assuming you are there) would it be possible to book in with you? There are no lower cost vets here I’ve been looking for a long time and am willing to travel, at this point it seems likes my only option, or not doing anything.
Also – what about nasal polyps?