Advice on cat's hospitalization and passing - Fluid overload?
My cat, Riley, male neutered, ~11 years old. Medical history: Had a PU surgery about 6 years ago when he became blocked. Has had a few flare ups of urinary tract disease since then, but always resolved with time and/or gabapentin and antibiotics. Was on Urinary S/O diet. We noticed excessive drinking, lethargy, urine on himself, and hiding the way he does when he has had flare-ups before. Some blood drips outside the litterbox as well. Made the mistake of doing a virtual vet appointment who prescribed Amoxi-Clav. When there was no change in a couple of days, we took him into the vet. Tests revealed signs of chronic kidney disease with pyelonephritis. BUN and other kidney factors were off the charts. So, they insisted we hospitalize in which he received fluids and meds for about 5 days. His levels got almost back to normal, and the bills were racking up, so we took him home to do meds and fluids. We brought him back for a recheck two days later, and his levels had spiked again. So we hospitalized again, with constant IV fluids and meds. X-ray after another 2 days of hospitalization revealed fluid in his lungs. He was breathing fast and shallow at this point. Vet had already confirmed no heart failure. Vet opted for Salix injections, and since they would only be able to check on him twice per day (not an overnight care facility), they allowed us to take him home to continue Salix injections three times per day along with tube feeding and other meds. The first day home he received his 3 Salix injections, about every 8 hours, and we were able to give him some kidney support food mix through his tube, along with his ongoing antibiotic and phosphate binder.
There were moments when we thought he may recover, but overall his breathing never really improved and he seemed unable to move about much at all without getting completely worn out.
He made it about 24 hours before he began to wail, wretched several times, then passed away.
I was a vet tech for about 4 years, but this was some time ago. I’ve never heard of fluids ending up in a patient’s lungs from IV fluids. I’m just confused, and the vet seemed confused, and it would be helpful if someone with more experience could shine a light on what happened.