How do I know when she needs a vet?

About a week ago my cat had one watery eye. I tried eye drops and she seemed to improve. However, tonight she has sneezed at least 10 times within the last hour...her one eye watered again, too, during this. If she keeps sneezing I probably won't get any sleep tonight. I hope I am just overreacting to what is her first cold or URI.

I am getting her to the Vet tomorrow. How do they treat a URI? Her watery eye is clear stuff, her sneeze isn't producing but maybe a bit of water from her mouth.. have your cats had these symptoms? How did they medicate? What is the safest med to ask for? She is never around other cats.

The Vet heard a heart murmur a while back - I took her to a specialist who couldn't find it - but I try so hard to take good care of her. If she needs meds I want to give her the safest choice. Have your cats ever had URI's? What helped them? Thanks so much.

The vet will probably send you home with antibiotics, to help ward off a bacterial infection.

I hope she gets to feeling better soon. I'm sure the vet will be able to help.

She'll probably get antibiotics if there's anything wrong. Is she eating, drinking, playing, using the litter box as normal? What color is the drainage from her eyes? Clear is okay, green or yellow or some other color isn't.

You also might want to start her on L-Lysine which is an immune system booster. It's full of amino acids and helps the body fight off infections. I give it to both of my kitties, especially when the weather is changing as they both have some airborne allergies that affect them. You can get the pills in the vitamins & supplements section of the store. Just crush the pills between 2 spoons and mix in wet food.

Stephanie

It may be just an allergy, or maybe she got some dust in her little nose and eye? Just to be sure though, it wouldn't hurt to have her checked by a vet, for your own peace of mind if nothing else.

I actually think I have some Lysine which I take myself when I start getting cold sores. I never heard of giving it to cats. How do I know if the one I have is ok for cats, as far as other ingredients that might be in it? How much do I give her and how? Thank you! I will try to research it more online, too.

If my kitties are sneezing, but they continue to eat normally, play normally, use the litter box normally, and drink normally, they don't go to the vet. I just watch them.

If they are sneezing and they are NOT eating normally, not playing normally, generally lethargic and non-social, they go to the vet. When they are like this, they just "look" sick to me. I can tell they don't feel well and they need to go to the doctor.

As for the Lysine, I give my kitties 500mg a day of the regular stuff you get from the health food store or vitamen section. If they are having an epidose, I increase it to 1000 mg/day. Just crush it up and mix it into their wet food. If you can, buy some powder from a health food store. It's actually a bit better as it doesn't have the stuff used to hold the lysine together in pill form. I give my kitties about 1/4 t once a day during non-episode times.

Stephanie

Hi - I have 2 persians that get several URI's a year. At first I used to panic, but now I guess I'm used to it and know what to look for. Like some others have said, clear is ok, but green/yellowish generally means infection. Mine have had them before where they have taken their course and cleared up on their own and then there are other times when they have had to be on antibiotics. If I notice that it has lingered for more then a week, I go to the vet for an antibiotic. My female persian is on antibiotics now for an URI. I noticed when she sneezed the stuff that came out was greenish so I knew it was time to get her on medication. Good luck... let us know.