Ongoing Eye and Respiratory Problems

mochapenguin

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Hi everyone, I'm new to the site and just hoping to get a few opinions...

A little over 2 months ago my husband and I adopted our first cat, a 7-month-old shorthair tabby, from the local shelter. She was sneezing a bit and had a little reddish-brownish discharge from her eyes. The lady at the shelter said that if it continued the vet should be able to give us something to clear it right up. When we went for the initial vet exam right after bringing her home, the doctor wasn't concerned and said we wouldn't need any meds unless she started having green or yellow discharge from her nose. During the next week or so she sneezed and slept a lot, but would eat canned food and use her box fine - no colored nasal discharge, though the discharge from her eyes never stopped...we would just wipe it with a clean cloth when it got bad. She seemed to get better after that, the sneezing stopped for the most part and she became a lot more active - but still the eye discharge didn't stop.

One day we came home from work and she was really squinting her left eye, and in addition to the "normal" discharge, she also had some yellow stuff coming from that eye. We promptly made an appointment with the vet (a different vet this time, who is now our primary and we like very much) - found out she had a corneal laceration in the left eye, and also he was pretty concerned with what seemed to be a lingering upper respiratory infection. Gave us some oral antibiotics and eye ointment.

One week later, went back to the vet - the cut in her left eye was completely healed, but not much progress otherwise. We continued the oral antibiotics but not the eye ointment for one more week (she always seemed worse off after the ointment), then went back again - I thought her eyes looked a lot better at this point, but the vet was still not satisfied. He switched us to another oral antibiotic and wanted to give her an anti-inflammatory for her eyes (apparently the tear ducts were swollen from the URI, and he suspected that might be causing the eye discharge) BUT it turns out she had a new cut on her left eye, so instead we got a different eye antibiotic (a drop this time), and made another appointment for one week later.

Later today we'll go back to the vet again, but this whole week with the new antibiotics she doesn't seem to have improved - if anything she's gone downhill. She eats fine, uses her litter box and is very active. But she still squints her eyes a lot and there's still the brown discharge. She doesn't sneeze much anymore but we can hear that she's still a little congested when she's sniffing heavily or breathing hard after playing, and she seems to have a clear, runny nose sometimes. Obviously we're doing everything we can by taking her to the vet and giving the meds, but she's had these problems for over two months and we just don't seem to be getting anywhere. She was a stray before she was at the shelter and she had only been there a short time when we adopted her, so this might have been going on even longer.

She's got the sweetest temperament and we love her dearly, but the vet bills are piling on and we're just not seeing any progress. I'm just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences or any advice?
 

sharky

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try a different vet??? and possibley ask about l lysine??

Welcome to TCS
 

stephanietx

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Not sure this will be any consolation to you, but 2 years ago, we adopted a 6 mo kitty from the shelter and she came with a very nasty URI, runny eyes, and a host of other things (fleas, parasites...). It took a good 6 weeks for her to get well enough to be integrated into the rest of the house. Even then, she was sneezing a bit and still a little congested. I think we were at the vet at least once a week, if not more! We went through 4 or 5 different meds and finally ended up with drops that we put in her eye AND nose that zapped the remainder of the infection.

One thing our vet started us out on immediately was L-Lysine. They gave it to us in a gel-like paste that we'd shoot out onto our finger and Hannah would lick it off. However, I would suggest going to the health food store or the vitamin/supplement section of Wal-Mart and getting L-Lysine tablets. Crush one tablet between 2 spoons and add it to your kitty's wet food twice a day. This will help boost her immune system. We still give it to Hannah (as well as our other kitty) daily as a maintenance boost for their immune systems.

The thing I've found with URIs is that they take time to get over and sometimes you have to be an advocate for your kitty. You know when your kitty isn't feeling well and when a certain med isn't working. You might not need to take your kitty into the vet each time, so a call for a different med might be all it takes.

Stephanie

PS~PM if you want some additional tips on keeping your kitty comfy during an URI.
 

addiebee

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How much and how often do you give the L-Lysine to cats? I volunteer with rescue and the mass cages are a breeding ground for spreading URI infection. I want to help these guys but they are not mine. A food or vitamin supplement - in tandem with vet treatment - may help them fight off infection. Obviously, I understand that it is NOT a replacement for medical care, just a way to help them along.

AB
 

stephanietx

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I buy the food grade powdered Lysine from our health food store. I give each kitty about 1/4 t a day. If I notice that they're sneezing or have runny eyes (usually when the weather changes or a front blows through), then I up it to twice daily.

I have bought the 500 mg tablets from Wal-Mart and crushed those and mixed in with wet food as well. We figured out that it costs about the same for both the tablets or the powdered, so we're going with the powdered since it's easier.
 

jennywhite686

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I give l-lysine to my cat who has had conjuntivitus off and on for a few months. We took him to the vets several times when his symptoms started, but eventually gave up on prescription treatments. He had antibiotics twice and an eye cream, and none of them did him any good. After a week on l-lysine he had a clean clear eyes and nose, which has lasted ever since. (touch wood!!!)

I buy tablets from Target (500mg) and crush them up, and mash a tablets worth into his breakfast and another into his dinner. I add it to our kittens dinner too, just because its cheap and if it does her any good I consider it worth it. She hasnt actually had any problems though.

Eye/nasal problems are common with cats with underlying herpes virus too, and stress brings on more extreme attacks. Our cat really HATES vets visits, which is why we stopped taking him. I actually think now that the stress of the vets visit actually made him worse.... Silly kitty!!
 

addiebee

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Originally Posted by stephanietx

I buy the food grade powdered Lysine from our health food store. I give each kitty about 1/4 t a day. If I notice that they're sneezing or have runny eyes (usually when the weather changes or a front blows through), then I up it to twice daily.

I have bought the 500 mg tablets from Wal-Mart and crushed those and mixed in with wet food as well. We figured out that it costs about the same for both the tablets or the powdered, so we're going with the powdered since it's easier.
That's cool. I wouldn't have any problems with my shelter kitties eating wet food. When they smell it, they come to the cage doors and scream for dinner! I would have to go in there every day. I think I could do that. It would be out of pocket- so what would the food grade L-Lysine cost me either powdered or tablets?
 

jennywhite686

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I get 100 500mg tablets from Target for 2 dollars something.. they're really cheap.
 

stephanietx

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The last time I purchased the powder it was about $18. I'm sure you can find it online for less than that, but then you have to figure in shipping.
 
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