Sick kitty, need advice

Hi All,

I recently took in a stray cat, she looked like a healthy 2-3 year old, super affectionate cat who i named Misty. I've been feeding her outdoors for the last month and i only moved her fully indoors last week when i noticed she had a teary eye.

The 2nd day (last thursday) it got really wet and i heard a few sneezes, so i took her to the emergency vet. The vet didn't do much except to take Misty's vitals. The vet said that in all likelihood it's an upper resp infection and send Misty and I home without medication or any tests.

I started noticing gunky stuff that looks like snot coming out of her left eye and i've been wiping it clean for her, but i am VERY concerned, i'm having a lot of trouble sleeping knowing that she isn't feeling well. She has symptoms of sneezing, congestion, breathing through her mouth regularly which are all signs of being sick with URI. It doesn't appear to be getting any better...

Also she was a very active and happy cat when she was outdoor/indoor for the month, but right now she's behaving like a person with a very bad case of the flu and sleeps all the time and has trouble keeping her eyes open.

i'm wondering if...

1. I'm making her life miserable by keeping her in?
2. Do i need to take in into the vet again this week to make sure she's ok ?
3. Is there anything i can do for her to make her feel better?

Thank you in advance for the replies, Misty is my first pet and she is my little baby. I just want her to feel better

I included a very recent picture of her eye, it worries me a lot.



-Sushilover

URIs are very common. Why on earth the vet didn't give you meds, I don't know!! Misty needs to be on antibiotics, perhaps an antibiotic eye ointment as well.

Please do keep her inside, she's safer. Take her to the vet to get looked at, get meds, make appts. to get her shots & spayed when she's feeling better!

Thank you for taking this girl in!

Sushilover I am so sorry to hear that your Misty is sick. My kitten Starbuck had a URI about a year ago and had to be put on antibiotics to get rid of it. Starbuck did not have any eye issues with her URI. The antibiotics worked quickly for her. I would definitely get her into your regular vet as soon as possible. I am suprised the ER vet did not give her any medicine or mention that you should follow-up on this with your regular vet. If you can take Misty into the bathroom with you and run a really hot shower to steam up the bathroom. The steam may help loosen up Mindy's congestion. I hope Misty gets well soon. Kudos to you for taking Misty in.

Thank you for the advice so far, I will definitely try to make an appointment for her tomorrow and try to see if they can give Misty something for her symptoms. Are there any specific things that i need to have the vet test her for ? URI appears to be a secondary symptom from other causes, do you recommend that i ask the vet to do blood tests and everything ? I'm very new to having a cat and have no idea what can/should be done for her.

Thank you again,
Sushilover

Has Misty had any vet work done?

My standard thing for a new kitty is:
1) Deworm 3x(every 2 weeks)
2) FeLV(feline leukemia) & FIV test
3) Frontline
4) Distemper shot & booster 3-4 weeks later
5) Rabies shot
6) Book spay/neuter

The URI is often caused by stress. And the new environment, being indoors, probably stressed Misty. It was not a bad thing to bring her in, but every little change throws off kitties. My Ophelia developed a URI Friday night, just bam out of the blue. So, you did not do anything wrong to cause Misty to be sick.

Thank you Whitecatlover and Catlover73,

The normal vet office opens at 8am (it's currently 7:30am) and i will call them once they open and try to book her for today, i'll let them know that she needs to be tested + shots and treated for URI today.

-Sushi

You are welcome sushilover. Please let us know what happens at the vets. Hugs to both of you.

I just came back from the vet, this one gave me an eye ointment + amox drops. He's pretty sure it's URI. It's been a bit of a challenge to administer the dropplet into her mouth..

any tips on how to get her to eat it? it's strawberry flavored and it smells yummy to me but she seems less interested in it..

Thanks again,
Sushi

I am glad the vet gave Misty some medicine. Hopefully she will feel better soon. Hopefully someone else can offer some advice on the medicine soon. I was very lucky that Starbuck was good taking her medicine.