Hi, I posted awhile back about my cat who had two teeth removed. He was having respiratory problems that sounded like asthma. The vet thought it might be asthma but noted that the upper left fang was loose and needed to be removed. So did the lower right fang. That was done in April. At the time the vet refused to give antibiotics even though I asked for them repeatedly. He said there was no need. Within a week my cat developed respiratory problems again and the vet said that it was due to the body's reaction to the "debris" of bits of bone and tissue cast off during the tooth extraction and he gave a prescription for Prednisone 62.5 mg a day. This did not correct the problem and after several weeks no longer dampened what was termed an allergic response and my cat developed respiratory problems again. This time the vet put him on Clavamox as well as Prednisone. The symptoms persisted to the point that my cat needed a shot of Demamethasone every 5-7 days. He was weaned off the Prednisone because it didn't seem to be doing much good and is currently now on Cepthalexine 125 mg twice a day for two weeks and Dexamethasone(tablets) 2 mg twice a day slowly moving it to once a day then once every other day as there is improvement. He has now been on Cepthalexine for two weeks and Dexamethasone for two weeks and every time I try to taper off the Dexamethasone the symptoms return. I got it to the point that I was giving the Dexamethasone every other day for about 4 days- no symptoms- so I extended it to 30 hours and only doing that once the symptoms returned within hours. It took 15 hours and two dosages of 2 mg of Dexamethasone every 12 hours to get the symptoms under control.

I'm pretty well on my own on this, vet-wise. The vets(I've actually now seen three vets about from two different clinics) now feel that as long as the Dexamethasone is keeping the symptoms under control that everything is fine. But Dexamethasone has side-effects- increased thirst, increased blood sugar levels, and fluid retention, as well as increased appetite- and I'm seeing all of this. I think my cat should be on a diuretic and the cause of the problem should be found but, as I said, the vets think that as long as the symptoms are under control that's all that's important.

I really don't know about what happens when teeth are extracted- how long the body takes to recover, if there's debris, bone damage, infection, or whatever, and how long that takes to heal. I also don't know if tooth extract can trigger asthma and if that is what my cat has- all questions concerning that are vague- well, give it time for the gums to heal, etc, before we look into that. It's been almost four months since the teeth were extracted and I would think that the gums,etc have healed by now.

I don't know if the symptoms that keep recurring can be any indication as to what the problem might be. If I don't give the Dexamethasone at least every 24 hours- he begins to breathe in a raspy way in the left nostril where the upper fang was extracted, there is a flap just inside the nostril and it seems to move closer and closer to the central nasal bone, it's not swollen,it's not red, it's a normal color, it just seems to move towards the central nasal bone so when I look directly into both his nostrils the one is wide open and the other is partially shut. As the symptoms increase it's all in the nasal passages or sinuses and it sounds like there's a whistling sound when he breathes in like it's breathing through a flute, then the breathing becomes more laboured and there's a yellow discharge that accumulates in the same left nostril. It doesn't drip it just accumulates and blocks the nose if I don't clear it out. If it gets to that point and I give 2 Dexamethasone, the symptoms take 15 hours exactly(it's happened twice) to clear completely.

As I said, the vets I've seen are content that the symptoms aren't there if the Dexamethasone is given and my concern is that it is not without cost. I think my cat has fluid retention, and there's also the possibility of raised blood sugar levels, and his increased thirst and increased hunger.

I think it's up to me, at this point, to suggest whatever I think the cause might be because the vets don't know what is causing this. Does asthma have the symptoms I mentioned? Does it take this long for gums to heal after an extraction? Can
a tooth extraction trigger asthma? Can a tooth extraction trigger anything that has the symptoms I mentioned? What can I do now? What diuretic can my cat take for the fluid retention? What is the problem? What is causing the respiratory problem and what looks like an infection but can it still be an infection after two weeks on Cephalexine? Maybe the right antibiotic hasn't been given for it although I think Cephalexine is broad-spectrum.

Sorry for the length of this post but I really could use some help and direction. Thank you.

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