Kitten won't stop sneezing...

We just moved into a new apartment on Friday, and Catsby (6 mos) took to it quite well. Yesterday evening I noticed her sneezing a bit, nothing unusual ( she had a bad respiratory infection when we adopted her at 10 weeks and got that treated, but she's been a bit wheezy since) but this morning I noticed she was sneezing more, once or twice every hour or so. NOW she's sneezing once or twice every minute or so....

We're assuming allergies at this point, and we can't get to the vet for about a week. The apartment was just built so we're thinking the drywall dust and new carpet/paint might be irritating her a bit. A neighbor said you can give cats small doses of children's Benadryl but I'm not sure if that would be safe. Any suggestions?

It may actually by a URI (upper respiratory infection), which can often surface during stressful times (such as moving). You may want to give some supplemental lysine just in case. The pills that we buy at the pharmacy can be ground up and put in some canned food. Just make sure to choose a brand without propylene glycol (most don't have it, but a few do).

Thanks, I'll give the Lysine a try. She'll be excited to get canned food for a bit as well. Any recommendations on the dose/how long to use it?

Honestly, at that age and given the stresses of moving and her prior illness, I wouldn't be going the self-diagnosis route. I'd try getting her into the vet ASAP, or at least calling them for advice. I'm surprised they won't schedule the appointment for a week? Can you get her records and try a more accommodating vet in your area, or just heading for the e-vet? I know it's a hassle to do everything when you've just moved, but.....

With the lysine, a lot of people use it for cats with chronic herpes infections. They often give 250 mg as a maintenance dose, and then increase to 500 to 1000 mg (split into two or more doses since the tablets are huge) during a flare up. You may want to peruse the thread about Lysine from Dr. Jean, the holistic expert who was on our board recently:
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=163557

have you vacuumed?

Yeah, we vacuumed before we moved our furniture in, and since. Catsby moved way beyond just sneezing today, and was breathing with her mouth open, her nose and mouth were twitching, and her inner lids were noticeably puffy. I live in a small town with 1 vet that's run by a family and due to some sort of family issues they had seriously limited staff. I called them today after hours and they agreed to meet me and check our kitty out. Upper respiratory infection, and what appears to be asthma attacks... She's now on amoxidrops with a steroid additive, and eye drops to help clear her congestion, as well as receiving a shot to help reduce inflammation. Hopefully she starts feeling better.

I have a Cat with Asthma and when she gets a Cold it gets real bad. Was it a Depo shot your Cat got?

ooh sorry i didnt realize your kitty was THAT bad. i was thinking pollen from new neighborhood cuz my kitties are sneezing like crazy and everything is yellow.
poor kitty. hope she feels better soon

It was that sneezing every minute thing that got to me - when something increases that fast and that badly, I'm always thinking it's time to see the doctor, human or feline - a bad allergy can go into dangerous zones very quickly. Glad your vet did get her in, and best wishes for a quick recovery.

Does the vet have a back-up service someplace, just in case for the future? I guess I'm just used to living in the 'big city' - lots of vets and e-vet services around. I'm telling you - in my suburb everyone seems to have either a kid, a dog, a cat, or all three.

There are a few treatments for Asthma. There is a Inhaler but we have not trid it. Coco gets teh Depo Shot when her Asthma gets real bad or sometimes Pred Pills. we are thinking of getting the inhaler.