Open mouthed purr / laboured breathing - allergies?

keelyg

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
54
Purraise
1
Location
West Hollwywood
Hello,

I think my kitty may have allergies?? Or maybe it's something else?

She's always been quite a sneezy cat, will do sniff, sniff sneeze quite often, when she's checking out objects around the house...

About 2 weeks ago, she had a cold (brought on by stress, I think - her pet sitter didn't show up all weekend). She was checked out by the vet and went on clavamox for a week to treat the cold. She still seemed congested though, so went back to the vet, who thoroughly checked her out and gave her clean bill of health (no temp / clear eyes / mouth / ears) - apart from congestion (so looked like ends of cold working its way out).

Today though, she was purring and then, after a while, she was opening her mouth - like she was trying to breathe through her mouth at the same time as purr. She's also been swallowing a lot and is a little off her food.

Does it sound like allergies? My vet is a bit med happy, so I think the temptation will be to treat as if she has a cold - but how do you find out if kitty might be reacting to something around the house?

Thanks for any thoughts!
 

tekgrl

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Messages
160
Purraise
1
Location
Indiana
Originally Posted by keelyg

Hello,

I think my kitty may have allergies?? Or maybe it's something else?

She's always been quite a sneezy cat, will do sniff, sniff sneeze quite often, when she's checking out objects around the house...

About 2 weeks ago, she had a cold (brought on by stress, I think - her pet sitter didn't show up all weekend). She was checked out by the vet and went on clavamox for a week to treat the cold. She still seemed congested though, so went back to the vet, who thoroughly checked her out and gave her clean bill of health (no temp / clear eyes / mouth / ears) - apart from congestion (so looked like ends of cold working its way out).

Today though, she was purring and then, after a while, she was opening her mouth - like she was trying to breathe through her mouth at the same time as purr. She's also been swallowing a lot and is a little off her food.

Does it sound like allergies? My vet is a bit med happy, so I think the temptation will be to treat as if she has a cold - but how do you find out if kitty might be reacting to something around the house?

Thanks for any thoughts!
Keelyg,

That's exactly what I've been trying to figure out with my cat's skin infection. So far I haven't received any responses that indicate how to tell or what to look for and my vets don't seem to know either. Maybe it's just one of those things that's hard to figure out. I hope you have better luck than I have had...maybe the info will help me as well.
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
Please try another vet if your not happy with yours...

her signs are of distress PLEASE take her IN ASAP... an ER clinic if nothing else
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

keelyg

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
54
Purraise
1
Location
West Hollwywood
Sorry! The title was a bit melodramatic - I couldn't think how to really describe it! She's not in distress - she's currently stood next to me, making biscuits and rubbing her face against my laptop screen.

It's more, after she'd been purring heavily for 10mins or so (I've just got back from a biz trip and she's v pleased to see me), she seemed to get all congested and needed to breathe through her mouth and try and purr at the same time.

She was doing the same a week ago, so I took her back to the vets, thinking she still had the cold and was congested. The vet is v thorough and checked everything and found nothing wrong, so we figured it must still be the cold working through her system.

That she's just done it again is worrying me. Yet, she looks well otherwise and a nurse from the vets has been pet-sitting her twice a day for the last few days. I think you're right - I'll need to take her back to the vets - but I just wanted to be armed with some info / ideas first, so I know what to ask about or what to ask them to check for. I know the usual once-over will either suggest there's nothing wrong or will look like the ends of a cold...

Thanks!
 

debskats

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Feb 16, 2007
Messages
219
Purraise
2
Location
Iowa
Bailey has chronic URIs, and there are times when he sounds really congested but he never has to open his mouth to breath unless he's having a flare-up. His head can sound totally full of "crap", but nothing ever drains. I wonder if they have the herpes virus chronically if they don't just go through spells where they get really congested, but don't have a full-blown "cold".
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

keelyg

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
54
Purraise
1
Location
West Hollwywood
Originally Posted by tekgrl

Keelyg,

That's exactly what I've been trying to figure out with my cat's skin infection. So far I haven't received any responses that indicate how to tell or what to look for and my vets don't seem to know either. Maybe it's just one of those things that's hard to figure out. I hope you have better luck than I have had...maybe the info will help me as well.
hi there, i've just been looking round the site and found an article about common illnesses which shelter cats get. Mine had a bad UTI just after i adopted her - and I was warned this might mean she got flare ups when stressed... herpes was also mentioned - but the runny eye seems to be key for that??

there was also mention of ring worm as a common skin infection - was that checked out for your kitty?
 

mamakitties

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Nov 26, 2006
Messages
197
Purraise
1
Location
California
Not familiar with this personally but watching and reading about cat behavior that when a cat sticks their tongue out, it's a sign of distress that may lead to stroke. I'm sure this isn't your case but it doesn't hurt to get a second opinion.
 

tekgrl

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Messages
160
Purraise
1
Location
Indiana
Originally Posted by keelyg

hi there, i've just been looking round the site and found an article about common illnesses which shelter cats get. Mine had a bad UTI just after i adopted her - and I was warned this might mean she got flare ups when stressed... herpes was also mentioned - but the runny eye seems to be key for that??

there was also mention of ring worm as a common skin infection - was that checked out for your kitty?
Yes, we got a ringworm culture with turned up negative. I've been wondering if it's some type of allergy since my 3 mo old kitten and I haven't gotten it...
 
Top