Huffy Sneezy-Type Noise

Late last night, and during the night, Lily has been making a pre-hairball huffy and sort of sneezy sound. It sounds like she is blowing dust out of her nose.

Her eyes are clear, she is eating and using the litter box, and she is in good spirits and playful. She snuggled with me last night which she didn't do the time she got a fever from her vaccinations. I gave her some hairball medicine.

She has a heart murmur that has been downgraded from a 3 to a .5 in the three years she's been in our family. She's five years old.

I don't know if this is important, but we did have a slight basement flooding problem and the clean-up crew has fans and dehumidifiers running all night downstairs. She hasn't gone down there, though.

I am going to take Lily to the vet, but my question is do you think this can wait until Monday morning when I can take her to our vet whom I like and trust, or does this symptom warrant an emergency vet visit this weekend? (I'm afraid my past experiences in other cities have left me without much confidence in emergency vets - no offense to anyone.)

If I notice other symptoms (what should I look for?), I will take her to the emergency right away, but I appreciate any advice you might have!


Lily says thank you, friends!

From the way you're describing it, it sounds like Lily has a bit of head congestion. As for what it is, I'd say it could run the spectrum from just reacting to the environment, to a cold, to some sort of upper respiratory infection. As for additional symptoms, I'd keep an eye out for lethargy, discharge from the eyes or nose, vomiting, changes in litter box habits, or not eating. The last symptom, not eating, is common in cats that are badly stuffed up in the head, because they typically won't eat anything they can't smell.

If it were one of my cats, I wouldn't rush him to the ER immediately over that one symptom, but of course I'm not familiar with Lily's condition or the peculiarities of her heart murmur. Is it possible you could call your vet or one of his vet techs at home and see what he thinks? That might give you a little peace of mind.

BTW, she's a really beautiful girl and I hope it turns out to be nothing.

I love how she looks.
Of course I have 3 black and white cats.
Sounds like she might be getting a cold.
You can watch her and if she gets worse go to the vet.

She could be reacting to the dust and stuff from the clean up crew. Just keep an eye on her. If she quits eating, starts sleeping more or hiding, or stops using the litterbox, then she needs to go to the ER vet. If she's having problems, breathing, take her into the bathroom with you. Turn on the shower and let the bathroom get nice and steamy and keep her in there until the steam starts to dissipate. This helps loosen up the mucous in her head so she can breathe easier.

You're a good cat meowmy, I think she'll be fine!

Leslie