Our cat is 18. He's been breathing with difficulty for a few days (about 5). He has been eating and drinking very little as well.
I took him to the vet's and the woman there just said he might have a tumour, he might have heart failure, an infection, an allergy, basically anything... you pay to have no diagnosis whatsoever. She said that his lungs are very bad.
They could keep him in for a night and give him furosemide and oxygen for about £120. This without knowing what he has exactly.
Bf was very angry. Anyway I was given the furosemide tablets and an antibiotic. She said to try them, but she said that he's likely to have something bad (being that he's very old) so she was pessimistic.
We can't afford all that money (he might need to be kept on oxygen for days), but it breaks our heart to see him suffer. Bf would put him down, if he had something that can't be cured; he wouldn't let him suffer. If I had the money, I would try everything I could to help him, if he can be cured.
The thing is we took him to the vet's and she said basically what anyone could say seeing a cat struggling to breathe. Sorry for the ranting but I am obviously upset.
I think he can't have heart failure (bear in my mind my dad has it, so I know about it and the symptoms), as he is not swollen.

Does he have open mouthed breathing at all

The very first time I noticed he was having problems, he was like coughing/wheezing and his tongue was sticking out, now he's panting and making like a purring noise when breathing (most of the time but sometimes the purring noise subsides) but no tongue out.

I'm sorry to hear that your 18-year-old cat has heart problems.

Yes you recognise typical heart failure in humans - it can be different for cats. There are various presentations of heart failure in humans too, for that matter. Fluid around the heart and lungs is typical in humans and may be why your cat has problems breathing.

There's a link here which covers heart problems in cats...

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/heart/cardiomyopathy.html

Eighteen years is a very very good age for a cat - about 88 / 89 human years. But they (and we) can't go on forever. Sometimes vets treat the owners psychologically rather than the animal if they feel that the owner doesn't want to accept the truth. We always ask the vet: if this was your animal, be honest - what would you do? Then we listen to the answer and make our decision.

It may be your cat's time has come and we must always put the animal's interests before our own. My 89-year-old mother has heart failure... she isn't going to be cured, only managed. If "managing" your cat means that it will suffer, take a deep breath and accept the moment that all pet owners dread may have come and do what's right for the cat. Don't let it suffer.

Thanks for the reply. We don't know if it's heart failure, she just said it could be... it could be anything the way she put it to me. Without more money, we can't know.
I know how hard it is to have heart failure. My dad has it and he is in and out of hospital, so I understand how it is for your mum
Dad has the fluid in the lungs but also swollen legs and abdomen, so that's why I thought our cat couldn't have that. It was a sudden thing really and it's gotten worse the last couple of days.

What did the vet give him.

She gave me some furosemide and an antibiotic but that after I asked if there was anything we could do for him at home.

The furosemide is a water tablet that reduces excess fluid. Do you know the name of antibiotic. Does he drool a lot too

I know it is a diuretic as dad is on it as well . I hope it will help him. Baytril is the antibiotic.
No, no drooling.

Lovely post Normandie.

I'm sorry to hear about your cat lem but as Normandie says, 18 is a very, [i]very[i] good age and you've obviously given him a good life (which isn't to say that cats who die younger didn't have good lives). I had to put my 15 year old to sleep a few months ago through renal failure.

Do what your heart tells you is best for him.

Edit. It's our final gift to our beloved pets.

Thanks for the replies. I'm always sorry to read a pet needed to be put to sleep as I wouldn't ever want to see them die
We're gonna try this therapy and see if especially the diuretic will help with getting rid of the fluid in the lungs. He is still alive and was crying to be fed this morning (he came with me in the kitchen waiting by his bowl). He had a tiny bit of food and drank a lot. I guess he hasn't given up yet.
He even jumped in the bath to drink from the tap, so I wanna hope he can make it.
Obviously if he gets worse, we'll do what's best for him and not let him suffer.

I work as an ITU nurse and although heart failure in humans can present in a typical 'obvious' fashion, particularly when patients are in the acute phase, it is not always so obvious, it can sometimes be confused with acute chest sepsis (the crepitations we hear when listing to the lungs can be fluid or infected secretions) and we need to perform X rays, blood tests and cardiac echos to confirm the diagnosis. These cost money (though NHS patients don't pay obviously). Acute breathing problems have many differential diagnoses, as the vet has stated, and even the best doctors and vets can't diagnose without supporting evidence. Diagnosis is based on history taking and clinical testing with the actual physical assessment only accounting for about 40%.

In my opinion, the coughing and wheezing is pointing to heart failure, coupled with the cat's age.

I am really sorry for what your cat is going through but please don't blame the vet. I agree with others, if you can't afford to get your cat tested and treated it is much kinder to put him to sleep. 18 is a great age, he has achieved higher than the national average cat lifespan.

I would urge others to get some sort of insurance in place to deal with unexpected illness (or a dedicated savings account) because there is no question that vets cost a lot of money.

I know you love him so much lem but be aware of his crying (to my utter shame I dismissed my cat's occasional patrolling the house and yowling as moodiness. I could cry when I think back.)

Notice his drinking more water. I think he wants to go lem

When I said he coughs (I think I used the wrong term), I meant he lies in the sphynx position and bends forward wheezing. It lasts a few seconds. It actually looks like he is gonna try to bring something up.
He was meowing when we got up and he saw us. He is quiet otherwise. That's his usual behaviour when he wants food. He followed me to his bowl in fact.
I know I am probably just trying to deny the truth, but if he were on the verge of dying, he wouldn't want to touch food or water at all, would he?
Giving him his tablets is a nightmare. I am trying to make him eat them by rubbing them with a treat or putting them with some food, but it worked only once. We had to hold his mouth open and force him to take the diuretic this morning and the Baytril, but then I found he spat the antibiotic out. I don't wanna stress him too much, so I'll try later.
He went in his litter tray and I didn't see blood in there. He hasn't thrown up.

Please, please take him now and say goodbye. Please.

I think lem is a WUM.

Whatever petty pleasure you gain from showing off and teasing is testament to you.

And I think that is a cruel and unkind thing to say unless you have a very good reason for saying it.

I'm hoping its a windup tbh as if it is true, keeping the cat alive is the unkind and cruel thing here.

I'm sure her posts are genuine and I believe she really loves her cat.

I'm sure she won't let her cat suffer, she just wants to give him a chance to see if the medication helps. Who knows, without a firm diagnosis, perhaps symptoms will ease with the medication - antibiotics to treat any infection and duiretics to offload the heart. The battle is to actually get the cat to take the medication. My uncle's cat had to be put to sleep because my uncle (who is elderly) just could not get him to take his thyroid tablets, the cat was also elderly and showing severe symptoms though he had a good appetite (due to the overactive thyroid). It was sad but it was definitely in his best interests and the vet put a lot of pressure on my uncle to make that decision. I'm sure the OP's vet will also act responsibly - my uncle used to get lots of letters from the vet reminding him to get his cat checked over (he went for a few months without renewing the cat's prescription, unknown to the family) and 'threatening' him with the RSPCA if he did not comply.

The cat already is suffering - it's been having difficulty breathing for best part of a week... I know I sound like a cruel hearted bitch but the cat is already 18, the OP is struggling to administer drugs herself and cannot afford for the vet to treat the cat any further. The kindest thing is to have it PTS. And I say that as a huge cat lover who currently has 3 cats of her own, a stray staying over for a few days after I've paid to have her neutered, and a family of seven strays in my garden that I am also getting healthy and neutered as and when they're ready.

The symptoms sound very much like my cat Benji. He was 18, and he had everything you have described. He also had dandruff. I took him to the vet for a check up but for the dandruff mainly. The vet looked at him, listened to his heart, checked his breathing etc and said it was organ failure. His heart, lungs - well, everything was failing. The dandruff was a sign of this as well as his snotty nose and trying to breathe. I took him in thinking I would get some medication for his skin problem, and came home with a cat the had been PTS. I was in shock.

I feel for you OP.

I asked about open mouth breathing for a reason. My bracket all of a sudden came down with it in November last yr. I got up one moring and he was gasping for breath. I was running around the house panicking and crying. I got him too the vets he gave us an antibiotic injection called convenia also advised too take him into a steaming room too clear his chest. The antibiotic lasts for fourteen days. My two oaps had the same too. We did loose one but the other two didn't eat much for a week if anything but are fine now. The also had a pain killing injection too.

It could be asthma/bronchial issues. Unfortunately putting them under at that age to confirm diagnosis is a risk in itself.
But if your vet is willing, you could try the aerokat
http://www.trudellmed.com/animal-health/aerokat to deliver inhalent meds to ease respiration.
My dog is on Flixotide (fluticasone propionate) via the aerodog for chronic bronchitis.
The vet gave me a prescription for the former and I bought the aerodog online. The higher dose Flixotide costs me £60+ for two months from Sainsburys pharmacy. Could possibly get it cheaper online.
PS I also take her into the bathroom when I use the shower and use a vaporizer (sometimes with a little Eucalyptus) and we are just trialling Corvental D.

Yep, that's right. If the cat is still getting some sort of enjoyment out of life, whether it's eating or playing - whatever - then you've got to balance that with what degree of pain you think the animal may be in: as with humans, some degree of pain can be tolerated and is not a cue for an animal to be put down.. Humans with asthma gasp and pant, too, but I'd not sure every asthmatic would want to be put to sleep under an order from do-gooders! Some problems whilst not curable can be managed - it's for you (who have access to the full details of the case) and your vet to decide the way forward - ignore the ruder posts on this thread.

Asthma can hardly be compared to what is most likely renal/organ failure!