SUBWAY THE CHIP CH
It’s time for a cat confessional.
I wasn’t always the articulate, deadline-driven, and professional feline writer I am today. If I’m being honest, I was very naughty at times in my life. About a year after Dr. Saunders found me as a stray and took me in, I slipped out of the house and went exploring for about a full day. Eventually, I went back home to my very relieved guardians. Was it guilt over my sudden disappearing act that led me to return? Did I realize that I had made the humans who love me think the worst?
We first met Katrielle in September 2024 after she and her guardians moved here from Colorado. She was approximately 8 years old, and she had a two-month history of heavy breathing, wheezing, and making a raspy sound when purring. Her physical exam was overall normal, and chest radiographs showed possible age- related changes and evidence of low-grade asthma or bronchitis in her lungs. A trial of an antihistamine, Zyrtec, was initiated, but it didn’t help her symptoms after about two weeks of treatment. Videos revealed what seemed to be a nasal whistle, and she would sometimes sneeze. We tried Cerenia, a medication to reduce nasal drainage and sneezing, but it didn’t really help. Mysterious Murmurs THE CLUES THAT CRACKED KATRIELLE’S CASE
Nah, I was just hungry, and it dawned on me that food was easier to find at home than on the mean streets of Iowa. In any case, I knew I’d eventually be reunited with my pet parents if I had been found while wandering around. After all, I have a microchip. In honor of National Check the Chip Day on Aug. 15, I’d like to remind my human readers to make sure their pet’s
In February 2025, she had a dental procedure under anesthesia, which included radiographs of all her teeth, a thorough exam of her throat, and radiographs of her skull performed at the same time. She needed a single extraction, but it was a lower jaw tooth and would not affect
her nasal sounds or sneezing. Her skull radiographs were normal, and no masses, polyps, or abnormalities were noted on her exam. At the same time, she also received an antibiotic injection, but this didn’t change the sounds or sneezing either.
That November, she had a computed tomography (CT) scan performed of her skull and chest at a different clinic since we don’t have that imaging capability. The scan revealed fluid and some nasal changes in her left nasal cavity. This prompted us to perform rhinoscopy with a biopsy the following month.
The pathology results of the biopsies revealed mild lymphoplasmacytic rhinitis, an inflammatory disease of the nasal airways. While this disease is an ongoing condition with no cure, we finally had an answer for Katrielle’s symptoms and a path forward! Katrielle’s symptoms have since been managed with prednisolone (a steroid) to help reduce inflammation. Her breathing is better, though still sometimes abnormal- sounding, but she has much more energy to play. Her case highlights that it can take a lot of hunting to get to the bottom of symptoms. Sometimes, it takes advanced imaging, such as CT scans and rhinoscopy. Other times, there is no cure, just the end goal of minimizing symptoms. We’re grateful that Katrielle’s owner was so diligent in the hunt and in the trial-and- error of treatments. We’re happy that Katrielle can breathe better and feel better with her long-term care.
—Dr. Sarah Young
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