Cold or allergy

inhousecounsel

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Hi, I just joined and I have a question. My 13 year old female has started sneezing, runny nose and runny eyes for the last 2 days. She is diabetic and just went to the vet for blood tests last week, she was fine then. If cat symptoms are like human symptoms, I would say she either has a cold or allergies. She has never had this problem before. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to travel out of town Thursday and Friday. Normally I leave her alone and don't worry, but I'm a little hesitant to leave her when she isn't feeling well. Can anyone tell me what this is likely to be and whether I need to be concerned about leaving her. I am not able to get her to the vet without taking off work, which is very hard to do before I leave town. Also, is there anything I can do to relieve her symptoms? Any info or comments are very welcome. She's a mean old girl, but she's my sweetie!
 

trouts mom

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Hi there, it could be a URI...but you won't know until you get her checked out by the vet.

I realize its hard, but I would not leave town if Trout had those symptoms..she needs to see a vet before you go. You will worry the whole time anyway, if you leave her like that


I hope she is okay, good luck!
 

stephenq

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Upper respiratory almost certainly. Cat allergies don't express themselves that way. She may have picked it up at the vet. Needs treatment, and without treatment it could become serious and result in loss of appetite - not a good combo in a 13yo cat.
 
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inhousecounsel

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Thanks folks. I took her to the vet and it is a URI. He can't tell if it is bacterial or viral, so we are treating for both. I just got her RX for antibiotics filled and squirted it in her mouth. She didn't like it, but most of it did stay in, so that's good. Thanks for your input!
 

calamintha

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In a cat that age it could also be some kind of nasal polyp or tumor. If the symptoms resolve within a few days then it's probably a URI. However, if they continue, do not postpone a follow up with the vet. I know of someone who had a cat that began sneezing a lot. Vet thought it was allergy and gave her prednisone. The prednisone seemed to take care of the problem at first but eventually the symptoms returned and it was found to be a nasal tumor. Sadly, if they had treated it right away, the cat would probably have survived but because of the delay in diagnosis it was too late.
 

stephenq

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Make sure you squirt the antibiotics **sideways** into her mouth, NOT straight into her mouth as that way she could inhale it causing a chemically induced pneumonia. And just squirt as much as she can swallow - so its squirt, swallow, squirt swallow etc. She'll be fine.

If her eyes get gooey, drippy or the lid starts to close you'll need eye cream. And if her appetite decreases contact the vet before she's refusing to eat.
 
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