Waiting for a phone call.

[Gingerkittykat]

I'm currently waiting for a phone call from the vet.

My almost 15 year old was taken in as an emergency this afternoon. He got up, vomited and then started breathing really fast and shallowly. They said he had crackles on his lungs.

They have kept him for a couple of hours to do bloods, a scan and possibly and x-ray. He is in a cage with oxygen. They have said the possibilities include feline asthma, heart disease or some more things.

DD is absolutely hysterical, he is her childhood pet and he has slept on her bed every night since he was a tiny kitten. Her dissertation is due next week.

I'm upset but holding it together.

I just need a hand hold right now.

Here is my boy.

Have hold here, he's gorgeous.

I hope you’ve had the news you were waiting for

Beautiful boy - I had one like him years ago.

Fingers crossed x

Keeping everything crossed for you, OP 💕

What a gorgeous boy.

Hope that you have some good news about him, Op.

They got us to bring him home as even with the sedation he had for his bloods and scan he was literally climbing the walls of his cage.

The bloods showed raised glucose and some change in the liver but both could be down to stress.

The scan showed the surface of his lungs are ok but the vet warned us that the x-ray could still show up a serious illness, including cancer.

His breathing was 100 a minute when he went into the vets and 50 when he left so he's comfortable. He is so happy to be home, he polished off a bowl of food in minutes and sat purring for ages.

Glad he's home tonight.

Hope it's something simple to fix x

I've got good news, Simba is fine.

They didn't do the x-ray, I think because we realised we only had £2000 cover per condition and they didn't want to bump the bill up in case he needs treatment later.

They are not sure what happened, a possibility is he simply vomited too hard or aspirated some vomit. They said they had another cat who had also developed breathing problems after a vomit and it fully recovered with no further episodes. He's been really lucky as normally trouble breathing signifies significant heart disease or other nasties.

I've to keep an eye on him, especially over the next few days as if he has aspirated vomit he is at risk of developing pneumonia.

Apart from that he needs his bloods repeated in a couple of months to see if they have gone back to normal.

That's brilliant news, Op!

Fantastic news 😍 absolutely gorgeous cat.....we had a big ginger years ago. Real character x

Simba had another episode on Thursday night and had to go to the OOH vet hospital. It started the same way, he vomited and then had trouble breathing but he was worse because his breathing rate went up to 160. After some time in the oxygen cage, he recovered, came home, and has seemed fine since.

The ultrasound showed some opacity in his lungs so he will be having x-rays on Monday. They think something is obstructing his breathing, possibly a tumour.

Can everyone keep their fingers crossed for Simba on Monday, please?

So sorry to hear this. All fingers and paws crossed here for Simba on Monday.

Paws crossed!

Best of luck to Simba.

Fingers crossed for Simba.

Everything crossed for your beautiful ginger boy 🤞🤞🤞🤞

Do so hope everything went well today 🐾

I have everything crossed for Simba. I do hope he will be ok and its treatable.

I'm back from the vet and after expecting the worst Simba is fine. His x-ray was completely clear, they quickly scanned his heart and found no sign of heart disease and his bloods were excellent for a cat of his age.

Of course, it means we are no closer to knowing what has triggered those episodes. The vet suggested things like plug in air fresheners or candles but we don't have them or stress. He wasn't stressed either of the times these episodes happened . I'll get some pet remedy which has worked well for him in the past but he is generally a happy boy so don't think it is that.