Urv?

Let me start by saying I have a 1 year old male domestic named Parker. I got him back in January and have never been happier. Still after a while I felt he needed a new friend so in June we brought home a now 5 month old girl named Lucy.

When I brought Parker home I was a worry wort and brought him to 2 vets maintaining he was sick and told otherwise both times. He was fine until I brought Lucy home and she did end up having Urv. I have been to the vet 5 times since January and It's either untreatable urv and they charge me up the butt or they are fine.

Now both cats are sick sneezing coughing running eyes with green and white around them and some reddish discharge at times. I have waited a week for it to go away and I finally got an appointment for Saturday morning.

But I want to know your thoughts is it urv and am I wasting another $150 bucks for nothing? I'm a poor college student and my boyfriend says they will get better and it's urv but I am nervous. Should I wait another week?

Please don't lecture I am just trying to be a non paranoid parent thanks!

what is Urv?

upper respiratory virus

If the discharge is green, then the chances are very good it is bacterial and will need antibiotics to address it.

My Cats had that only my Vet called it a Uri. Your Cats need Antibiotics if its green.

upper respiratory virus

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Now, I guess I have to be careful that I don't "lecture" to you...

As gayef said, if the discharge from the eye is green, it probably is bacterial, not viral...if I were to have replied to you, I would have said that, if the discharge is coloured at all, it is bacterial...bacterial infections generally require an antibiotic to resolve. So, unless your boyfriend is a DVM, my suggestion (not lecture) would be to have a competent Veterinarian deal with it.

Now, you described a "reddish discharge"...that's troubling. I would have understood red eyes....but not a reddish discharge. Please bring both cats to your Vet...the Vet you feel most comfortable with...as soon as you can.

I am surmising that your reluctance is coming from this

... I have been to the vet 5 times since January and It's either untreatable urv and they charge me up the butt or they are fine

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If you're unaware, a viral infection is untreatable...the "cure" is to let it run it's course, treating the symptoms only, if one wishes. The cost of such a diagnosis is usually a basic examination fee....if the Vet were to determine that there is a bactrial infection present, there would probably be an additional charge for an antibiotic drug. (if that's "charging up the butt", so be it)

Oh dear! We're going through the reddish nasal discharge and watery eyes right now. It's bloody snot and is caused from them sneezing so much and their nasal passages being raw and irritated.

Probably what happened is that the stress of the new kitty caused the URI in the first kitty. Adding a new kitty is an extremely stressful thing for a cat. I would have both tested for Feline Herpes since an outbreak of URI-like symptoms and an URI can be brought on by stress. (I would suspect Herpes, which is not a death sentence, for Parker since you've been to the vet so frequently and the infection hasn't cleared up.) Also, they both need an antibiotic to clear up the sneezing and discharge plus the runny eyes.

To help get them over this hump, add Lysine to their food. You can get the 500mg tablets at Wal-Mart in the supplement/vitamin section. Just crush a tablet between two spoons and mix in with wet food. Since they're both sick right now, I'd do it twice a day. The lysine helps boost their immune system to fight off the infection. I'd also recommend getting a Comfort Zone with Feliway diffuser to use to bring down the stress level in your home. I run one continuously for my girls. One's old and a fraidy cat and the other one is a young punk with Herpes. It helps the fraidy cat chill out and the younger one have fewer URI-like symptoms.

URIs do not generally go away on their own and can lead to more serious infections similar to flu and pneumonia in humans, and can be fatal for kitties. Trust your gut instinct when it comes to your kitties' health.

Stephanie

thanks for all the help and time you guys gave me. I took Parker and Lucy in today and they both have URI i got antibiotics and I told them about my financial situation and they gave me the exam fee for a discount so instead of paying 150 i only paid 82!

I'm glad that you got both kitties in to the Vet. That was a wise move.

Having just gone through two viral URI's with my kitties...I can tell you that a viral Upper Respiratory Infection...just like our cold.....cannot be treated with medecine...it does have to run it's course. In a cat, it's at least a two week process...usually a good 3 weeks before the sneezing stops.

A bacterial URI...which can develop from a viral URI can be treated with antibiotics and must be treated. It can develop into pneumonia.
That is what my Vet told me.

My new kitty brought the URI with him from the Humane Society. Interestingly...my 5 month old developed a URI as well....but my 12 yr old didn't.
They are both 'over' their colds.....I hope your kitties are feeling alot better soon, too....