Petunias Recovery

In early October, we noticed that our cat, Petunia, was having breathing issues. She began to breathe loudly, snore, sneeze, and had watery eyes. We brought her to the vet for what we initially thought was an upper respiratory infection. At that time, they put her on antibiotics and sent us on our way. After we completed the initial round of antibiotics, her symptoms weren't improving, so we brought her back in. This time the doctor did full body x-rays and blood work. Everything came back normal. Petunia was put on another antibiotic and sent home. When that did not improve her symptoms, we went back for a third visit, and Petunia was then put on a third type of antibiotic with a steroid. Petunia did not show any improvements, and she was continuously losing weight.

On December 8, we brought her to a different veterinarian for a second opinion. They put her under anesthesia for an examination and had more blood work done. Everything came back normal. They recommended that she see a specialist and have a rhinoscopy done.

On December 29, we brought her to a third veterinarian's office for one final opinion on her condition. They gave us advice on how to get her weight up and even did acupuncture.

We continued to monitor Petunia, and in late January, we noticed a small round bump was forming and was beginning to protrude on the left side of her nose. We also noticed that she could no longer breathe out of the left side of her nose. The mass continued to grow and began to deform her nose area.

We made the call to the emergency veterinarian hospital and scheduled her to get in as soon as there was availability. On March 1, we brought her in for her appointment, and they had more blood work done to test for feline leukemia. When that came back negative, they recommended a rhinoscopy be done as soon as possible.

On March 6, she was anesthetized and had full skull radiographs, a rhinoscopy, and nasal flushing performed. The rhinoscopy revealed that there is bone tissue missing over the bridge of her nose and there was loss of the bony nasal septum between her left and right nasal passages. They took multiple samples of the mass and sent it out for biopsy.

The doctor stated that he is almost positive that this is a nasal tumor. But we don't know if she has cancer, and we will have to wait for the results of the biopsy. This will take about 7-10 days. If this is cancer, she will need radiation. This is where we need help! We have already spent roughly $5k on all of the vet visits and care thus far, and she will most likely need a second surgery and/or radiation depending on the results of the biopsy.

If you can help us, we will be forever grateful. Petunia is our baby and is only 4 years old. We want to spend more years with her and want her to have the best life possible.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers for us. Hug your fur babies a little tighter today for us.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading her story. We will continue to post updates.

-Kelsey & Josh