tokay99
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posted on July 30, 2000 09:18:44 PM
The whole world came crashing down on me this past week. Everything that could go wrong did. Among the chaos I noticed my cat coughing. I thought he just had a cold since it had been rather cool around here. He seemed to get worse over the next two days. Now it is real bad.
Well it was pointed out to me that there is a very good chance he has heartworm. I am rushing him to the vet tomorrow as soon as it opens.
Has anyone else had to deal with this? I hear the treatment can be pretty rough.
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Rawbunzel
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posted on July 30, 2000 09:22:26 PM
Tokay, There are a number of things it could be! Don't panic yet! We live in an area where there is no heartworm [yet] so I can't help you there but I have heard the treatment is difficult. Good luck at the vets tomorrow!
[does Kitty have any other symptoms?]
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barrybarris
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posted on July 30, 2000 09:22:47 PM
Tokay,
I don't have a clue about Heartworm and cats.
All I can offer is best wishes for you and your cat.
Barry (maybe a smile will help.. ..) Barris
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LadyofLake
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posted on July 30, 2000 09:24:27 PM
tokay, hi haven't seen you in a while, hope you are ok. I'm so sorry to hear about your cat... I don't know anything about heart worm, I just started giving my cat the Capture treatment, I think that's the name. It's fairly new, drops that help prevent heartworm.
Hope your cat will be ok.
Donna
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tokay99
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posted on July 30, 2000 09:28:59 PM
Thanks everyone. Yes I have been gone for the past week. Had the flu.
I hope it is not heartworm but he has all the signs. The main things that are bothering me is his loud choking sounds and the breathing.
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calamity49
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posted on July 30, 2000 09:30:14 PM
Tokay,
Don't worry until the Vet. examines your cat. There are many reasons cats cough. Most are not serious.
Whoever told you that reminds me of people who find out you are going to have surgery and then proceed to tell you how painful it will be. When it happens you find it is not nearly as bad as you have been told.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Calamity
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LadyofLake
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posted on July 30, 2000 09:39:47 PM
Calamity HI! haven't seen you in while either. Hope you are well.
Calamity that was great advice, next time I get really worried about something I'm going to ask you for some calm reasonable words, it is really helpful to know someone like you!
regards
Donna
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calamity49
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posted on July 30, 2000 10:02:20 PM
Hey Lady,
Good to see you. I don't know about calm and reasonable but I'll try and thanks. I haven't seen you around much lately either. Been wondering about you.
We haven't had a very good week but I'll start my own thread about it. I don't want to ruin Tokay's.
Calamity
edited to add thanks.
[ edited by calamity49 on Jul 30, 2000 10:04 PM ]
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pareau
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posted on July 30, 2000 10:10:47 PM
Tokay, what Calamity says is true. There are many reasons for coughing and other symptoms. I did a little reading about feline heartworm and thought you'd want to know this: "Survival of adult worms after transplantation and after L3 infections would indicate that the cat does not harbor the adult as long and spontaneous recovery is much more likely in the cat than in the dog.
This is an exhaustive, medical discussion of feline heartworm, diagnosis, and treatment. I don't recommend reading it now, but if your vet finds heartworm, you may find it quite helpful. There are treatments.
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/distance/cardio/all.html
My cats and I will be pulling for you two.
- Pareau
[ edited by pareau on Jul 30, 2000 10:11 PM ]
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tokay99
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posted on July 30, 2000 10:31:57 PM
Thank you so much pareau. I will not read that page until tomorrow. I am waiting for my cat to vomit up a shoe. That is how loud he's gagging.
I will let everyone know how he is tomorrow. Thanks for helping me deal with this.
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mybiddness
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posted on July 31, 2000 12:14:06 AM
Tokay99, Just wanted to say I'm wishing you and kitty the best. And I hope the rest of the chaos settles down for you too.
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mouseslayer
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posted on July 31, 2000 06:12:58 AM
My best wishes go out to you and your cat tokay. Please update us when you find out what's wrong.
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tokay99
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posted on July 31, 2000 06:49:59 AM
First off I want to thank everyone. The information and thoughs did help.
He has tape worm. Still a worm but much easier to deal with. Within a week he should be his normal, sneeky, mouseslayer self.
Thanks again.
[ edited by tokay99 on Jul 31, 2000 06:51 AM ]
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LadyofLake
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posted on July 31, 2000 06:51:12 AM
That's a relief - hope you are doing better also.
regards
Donna
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snowyegret
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posted on July 31, 2000 07:29:52 AM
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pareau
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posted on July 31, 2000 07:36:21 AM
I'm so glad, Tokay! I was worried about this one last night. Keep us updated on his progress, if you have time.
WHEW!
- Pareau
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tegan
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posted on July 31, 2000 08:47:04 AM
tokay;
I'm so glad it was not heart worm. I have seen a cat survive this though.
Tape worm is gross but curable.Give the baby an ear rub from me.
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mybiddness
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posted on July 31, 2000 09:01:42 AM
This calls for another
So glad to hear it's not heartworm!
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mouseslayer
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posted on July 31, 2000 01:20:40 PM
Yay! We are all so happy tokay!!! We have a cat that had tapeworm when we got him from a shelter. When I took him in for his one month check up, the vet barely touched him and said he had tapeworm. I said, "how do you know?" (I'm thinking, "don't they have to do a blood test or something??" She lifted up his tail and said, "that's how."
Now I'm not really a squeemish person, but that was seriously gross. He finally got over the worm, but never did stop eating for 2
~~~~~~~~No, I'm not a cat.~~~~~~~~
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Rawbunzel
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posted on July 31, 2000 01:58:05 PM
Great news!Tapeworm is an easy fix! Now you just have to make sure kitty doesn't get re-infested!
Did you get kitty the heartworm preventative? After this scare she really should be on that.
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calamity49
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posted on July 31, 2000 06:45:23 PM
Tokay,
Sure am glad it is just a tapeworm. Though they can be really gross they aren't life threatening and easily gotten rid of.
Calamity
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chococake
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posted on July 31, 2000 08:46:10 PM
tokay, so glad it was only tape worm. Did your vet explain that they are caused from fleas? If you don't get rid of the fleas the cat will get reinfested.
There are some very good products on the market now that are really great, and applied only once a month. I use Frontline on my cat and dog.
Fleas are really bad here. Before I used Frontline I just about killed my pets with spray. I had my yard, garage, and house professionally sprayed every three months. Even after the cost and hassle (not to mention the smell) they still had fleas! Since using this stuff I haven't seen a flea in two years. Plus no more tape worms.
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tokay99
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posted on July 31, 2000 10:03:56 PM
Gross is putting it mildly! It only took the assistant one look to tell me it was tape worm. He is up and walking around. He even sniffed his food. He hasn't done that in about 3 days.
When I first moved into this house it was infested with fleas. They were everywhere. I declared war. I tried everything. Then I just stopped. I have not seen a flea in about a year and a half. I'm sure he still gets them from being outside and all. He also has a taste for field mice.
Next week we start with the prevention. 
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