My rescue kitten breathes heavily & dry heaves. Vet suggested X-ray.

Poor Ava! I can see that the white area has gotten larger over the past month, despite her antibiotic treatment. Given the location of the larger white area, an aspiration pneumonia would be my primary suspicion, and this typically occurs if an animal vomits and then inhales some of the contents. It is possible that any infection is resistant to the antibiotic being used. Even though she is still too small for endoscopy, it may be worth asking your vet if it is possible to perform an endotracheal wash to obtain a sample of this matter for cytology and culture. Other possible causes of this radiographic change include infectious conditions (such as FIP) or cancer (unlikely given her young age). I hope that all goes well for Ava!

Hi there, and thank you for posting this question. I am concerned as you are about that high respiratory rate. I would also be concerned about other lung problems and would recommend an x-ray. Kittens can develop an infection called FIP that causes fluid to build up in the chest and/or belly. I would want to make sure this isn’t what is happening. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

If he is dyspneic, he may have both upper and lower airway disease. I find that chest x-rays can underestimate the extent of lower airway disease. In some of these cases, we have to do additional diagnostics such as a thoracic CT, bronchoscopy and in some cases biopsy. He may need to be evaluated by a veterinary internal medicine specialist. Discuss this with your veterinarian.

Poor Mochko. With symptoms of decreased appetite and "hard breathe" which I assume means she is having a hard time breathing, it is possible Mochka has pneumonia or an upper respiratory infection. I would highly recommend getting her seen by your vet again or another vet for a second opinion. They need to listen to her chest (auscultation) to check the lungs for certain sounds. If certain sounds in the chest are detected and Mochko also has a fever (greater than 102.5 degrees F rectal temp), then pneumonia is suspected. Chest x-rays would then be needed to confirm. If the chest is free of any abnormal sounds on expiration, then an upper respiratory infection is suspected, which is a better prognosis for kitty. At that time a short course of antibiotics and anti-viral meds (i.e. Lysine) can be prescribed to treat her condition. At any rate Mochko needs to be re-evaluated and the underlying condition properly identified so that we know exactly what she needs to get better.

The area circled looks like gas but there is decreased detail in the abdomen so I am worried there could be some fluid in the abdominal cavity. Your vet could do an abdominal ultrasound to evaluate the abdomen and determine if there is a problem that needs to be treated.

It is always hard to look at x-rays on a computer screen like this. I am not seeing clear fluid, but I can't be certain. Marbocyl is a type of antibiotic that can be used with bacterial pneumonia. Other causes of increased respiratory rate are being hot (though this isn't the most common cause), infection (bacterial and viral), heart disease (needs a heart ultrasound), asthma, pain, anemia, kidney disease, among others. If the antibiotics do not show improvement in another day or two, I would take Leo back to the vet for additional testing (including other views of the chest x-rays).

There could be fluids in the lung indeed but it could also be just the upper respiratory tract that is blocked, as it's been 2 weeks the type of antibiotics probably needs changing, i would recommend switching to an antibiotic called Zithromax which is usually the best option for this type of infection.