treating cat with constant cold

[Anonymous]

Our vet is at a loss and after 2 rounds of antibiotics, my 16-year-old cat's "cold" is still in full force. I've been giving him HomeoPet "nose relief" which seems to occasionally work. He's eating well; drinking well. Sometimes playful for an old guy. Always snuggly.

His nose is just a faucet and he sneezes nonstop. No coughing.

We've seen our vet as well as others in her practice a number of times for this. He's been on Lysine for several years. Also takes daily probiotics. But this is the first time a cold has refused to go away.

Any thoughts on how to treat this? Homeopathics? Other OTC? He feels rotten and it kills me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our vet is at a loss and after 2 rounds of antibiotics, my 16-year-old cat's "cold" is still in full force. I've been giving him HomeoPet "nose relief" which seems to occasionally work. He's eating well; drinking well. Sometimes playful for an old guy. Always snuggly.

His nose is just a faucet and he sneezes nonstop. No coughing.

We've seen our vet as well as others in her practice a number of times for this. He's been on Lysine for several years. Also takes daily probiotics. But this is the first time a cold has refused to go away.

Any thoughts on how to treat this? Homeopathics? Other OTC? He feels rotten and it kills me.

Poor bud. You could see a specialist for imaging. He may have a blockage (unfortunately our dog had similar synptoms, + bloody noses and it was a nasal tumor). I probably would just to know/rule it out.

There are some wholistic vets in the area. You could also consult with one of them for nontraditional approaches.

So sorry. Hope he feels better soon.

[Anonymous]

No no no. Your cat doesn’t have a cold.

Your cat has allergies, respiratory infection, and/or possibly a growth in his sinuses/etc. or other things. Time to take him to a good small animal hospital for a workup.

[Anonymous]

Feline herpes?

[Anonymous]

At this point, I'd definitely see a specialist. There's clearly something else going on that your regular vet is missing.

[Anonymous]

Did the vet try a covenia injection? That is the only thing that worked for my cat, but she needs to get one every 3-4 months (as symptoms return).

[Anonymous]

Thank you. Going to call holistic vets on Wednesday to see who can see him. Our vet’s treatment of him has been so disappointing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feline herpes?

+1. This is most likely what it is. Ours have it and it took a couple months to figure it out via testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you. Going to call holistic vets on Wednesday to see who can see him. Our vet’s treatment of him has been so disappointing.

They generally start with two rounds of antibiotics. Push for testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feline herpes?

+1. This is most likely what it is. Ours have it and it took a couple months to figure it out via testing.

Did you find an effective treatment for feline herpes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feline herpes?

+1. This is most likely what it is. Ours have it and it took a couple months to figure it out via testing.

Did you find an effective treatment for feline herpes?

Not exactly but we did make some lifestyle changes to minimize it as much as possible so it's kind of like she doesn't have it...

She will get sick if her water is not changed twice a day with a fresh new bowl so we have it changed in the morning and before we go to bed. We have to take care with her food-it's basic food safety things like washing hands, washing bowl, not leaving a scoop (we weigh out the food into sterilized jars anyway). Cat dishes are picked up about 20min after being put down so they can't lick it again if they get hungry later and ingest any bacteria that grew on it. Making these changes dropped her being seriously ill at least 1x a month requiring a vet visit to once every six months. Changing the water from once a day to twice a day was our biggest change.

We really went through a ridiculous number of swabs and checks for polyps before we got a definitive diagnosis. Something about her size/anatomy made a normal resp. panel hard so she had to be sedated and there was an issue with the lab but it should be more straightforward for you. It was beyond frustrating having her get so sick and be miserable all of the time. Then she and the kitten would pass it back and forth until BOTH did antibiotics, usually two rounds and then it'd start again in another week or two. We don't have that now, though.

Stress is the biggest trigger. She needs to escape when we have lots guests even though she is very social with smaller groups. We have the family member who is a pet sitter stay over the night before we leave so they are "safe" to them. A dirty litter box will also do it so we scoop it daily and a full change weekly.

We looked at the Lysine and there doesn't seem to be sufficient evidence that it helps so the vet was equivocal. The vet also said it's just going to be a thing that she'll need antibiotics pulsed if she can't kick whatever it is. We started adding tuna, sardines with olive oil and meat (all cooked) to their diet and that seems to have really helped. A little bit of liver, too-just something that is nutritionally dense instead of buying a pet multivitamin. We were looking at the ThorneVet Curcuvet, immugen, or antioxidant if we continue to have issues but she's been pretty much fine since we implemented everything else. Vet said the other supplements are fine but definitely check with your vet first.

The vet said to make sure we are on top of her teeth... Definitely get regular cleanings since they are more prone to inflammation and go downhill faster when they do get sick and you don't want to deal with an abscess or a bone infection. I can't remember the name but there is chicken and tuna flavored cat toothpaste if you can pin them down and brush. She definitely gets build-up of plaque and other things a lot faster than the cats who aren't sick (not with us, my FOO's don't have FIV+ cats). There are dental treats to help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feline herpes?

+1. This is most likely what it is. Ours have it and it took a couple months to figure it out via testing.

Did you find an effective treatment for feline herpes?

Not exactly but we did make some lifestyle changes to minimize it as much as possible so it's kind of like she doesn't have it...

She will get sick if her water is not changed twice a day with a fresh new bowl so we have it changed in the morning and before we go to bed. We have to take care with her food-it's basic food safety things like washing hands, washing bowl, not leaving a scoop (we weigh out the food into sterilized jars anyway). Cat dishes are picked up about 20min after being put down so they can't lick it again if they get hungry later and ingest any bacteria that grew on it. Making these changes dropped her being seriously ill at least 1x a month requiring a vet visit to once every six months. Changing the water from once a day to twice a day was our biggest change.

We really went through a ridiculous number of swabs and checks for polyps before we got a definitive diagnosis. Something about her size/anatomy made a normal resp. panel hard so she had to be sedated and there was an issue with the lab but it should be more straightforward for you. It was beyond frustrating having her get so sick and be miserable all of the time. Then she and the kitten would pass it back and forth until BOTH did antibiotics, usually two rounds and then it'd start again in another week or two. We don't have that now, though.

Stress is the biggest trigger. She needs to escape when we have lots guests even though she is very social with smaller groups. We have the family member who is a pet sitter stay over the night before we leave so they are "safe" to them. A dirty litter box will also do it so we scoop it daily and a full change weekly.

We looked at the Lysine and there doesn't seem to be sufficient evidence that it helps so the vet was equivocal. The vet also said it's just going to be a thing that she'll need antibiotics pulsed if she can't kick whatever it is. We started adding tuna, sardines with olive oil and meat (all cooked) to their diet and that seems to have really helped. A little bit of liver, too-just something that is nutritionally dense instead of buying a pet multivitamin. We were looking at the ThorneVet Curcuvet, immugen, or antioxidant if we continue to have issues but she's been pretty much fine since we implemented everything else. Vet said the other supplements are fine but definitely check with your vet first.

The vet said to make sure we are on top of her teeth... Definitely get regular cleanings since they are more prone to inflammation and go downhill faster when they do get sick and you don't want to deal with an abscess or a bone infection. I can't remember the name but there is chicken and tuna flavored cat toothpaste if you can pin them down and brush. She definitely gets build-up of plaque and other things a lot faster than the cats who aren't sick (not with us, my FOO's don't have FIV+ cats). There are dental treats to help.

I want to clarify that we did go see a team specialists for this because we were also frustrated with our local vet that our retiring vet passed us to just giving us antibiotics and not making any other suggestions or being proactive or curious about the underlying issue to actually solve it after 6-8months of the antibiotics. I knew the specialists better anyway and the primary agreed we should rule out anything else. The primary vet was able to do the swab and antibiotic sensitivity testing. I believe the swab was <$100ish without sedation, which most cats don't need. We also did imaging. I'd just go straight to the swab and panel if it is suspected.