cat with lung infection looking for advice

I would go to another vet. I had a cat that I rescued from a shelter who had severe pneumonia. They gave him high dose antibiotics and it took awhile but he did recover. I’m not a cat expert but flushing the lungs sounds like it will do more harm then good.

A “lung infection” sounds pretty broad. Is the cat coughing? That could mean an upper respiratory infection… which is treated with antibiotics.

Otherwise another treatment could be to tap the chest and get the fluid out.. if there’s any fluid in there. Sometimes just doing that works wonders.

However, if it’s a viral infection, lots of antibiotics will do no good.

Second opinions are always good options, but they cost money too just for walking in the door.

I hope the kitty gets better!!

A second opinion doesn’t hurt, but don’t forget that the second vet will need to see the results of the original tests. They will probably want to do some tests too, and may even want (or need) to repeat the X-rays because there are different X-ray techniques from one hospital to the next. So going to another vet doesn’t necessarily save money.

I don’t think your sister’s current vet is mishandling the case at all. The lung wash test is actually a good one, and about the only non-invasive way to get a sample from the infected tissue. Knowing what organism is causing the infection makes choosing treatment (and judging outlook) a lot easier. That said, the lung wash doesn’t always yield a solid answer. A biopsy is better, but it’s a lot more invasive. Given the circumstances, the lung wash is a safer choice.

I guess one thing I would be real curious to know is whether this is a primary infection, or a secondary one. Primary lung infections in cats (meaning caused by a microorganism that set up shop in there all by itself) are kind of unusual, and some of the agents that can achieve this are scary, like plague. Plague in the lung can spread from cats to humans and kill humans. Other agents are just plain nasty, like fungal infections. Somewhat more common are secondary infections, which come about because there’s something else going on in the cat that gave them a toehold. The something else could be a tumor, a foxtail, a ruptured cyst, or even a disease that has weakened the immune system (feline leukemia, feline AIDS, a kidney infection, etc.). The lung wash is a way to try to find out if the infection is being caused by a bacteria versus a fungus, and whether it’s something that might be dangerous to humans.

Ask your sister and the vet if the bloodwork has ruled out leukemia, AIDS, or kidney disease. Has a urine test been done to look for infection in the urine? It would be good to make sure that the problem really is only in the lung (and perhaps the vet has already done this). If it is, then the possibilities are reduced to primary lung infection versus secondary. At this point, hammering it with antibiotics can be tried, but because the vet would be firing blind, he can’t be sure that it would work. There isn’t any universal antibiotic. 🙁 The closest thing is combining two powerful antibiotics. And maybe an antifungal too for good measure.

Your sister’s vet really is trying to help, but he’s operating under incomplete information. I know it’s super frustrating when the problem doesn’t identify itself on the basic tests, and it hurts that financial cost has to be a factor in decisions like this one. But your vet does have an obligation to always recommend the best standard of care for each pet, and that’s what he’s doing. If the family of the pet has to decline that option, then the vet can offer alternatives (such as they may be). And maybe they’ll work, and maybe they won’t, but at least the family has gone in knowing that they’re making the best choice they can afford to. Good luck. This is a hard thing to go through.

Barrdwing’s response made me wonder..

Indoor or outdoor cat? And what exactly are the symptoms, other then falling over?

I don’t think it’s upper respiratory, I am by no means an expert, nor a substitute for one, but I saw alot of upper respiratory cats when I worked at the SPCA and they were marked by extreme tiredness (they sleep ALL day), sneezing, sometimes coughing, and a wet, running nose.

I think the vet is handling the case very well so far, he needs to find out what is going on so that they aren’t shooting in the dark with treatments. Broad spectrum antibiotics only work with bacterial infections, they are sometimes (not often anymore) given when you have a viral infection only to cope for the weakened immune system. Now with ‘superbugs’ coming about, they won’t do that.

So, point is, they need to determine whether an antibiotic will actually work before they give the antibiotic.

Isn’t that the way it works? The pets sometimes get better care than humans…. Sad thing is pets can’t tell us what’s wrong or where it hurts.

Does the vet think it’s fluid at all? They might also be considering FIP, which is…not good news.

My mind is running the gamut of things like blastomycosis (which can show up on an xray usually as a ‘snowstorm’ in the lungs, but I’ve seen cloudy too), histoplasmosis, FIP, FIV, FeLV, heart problems, etc, etc.

But if your cat has an infected tooth, it’s possible that infection has spread. If sis can afford a lung wash at all, it’s her best bet for an answer outside of a shotgun treatment which may or may not do anything for kitty.

I wish her luck!