Sneezing & congestion

Hi guys, for the last day, Cotton's been sneezy and congested. Now he tends to get allergies this time of year, but it seems a bit worse this year - more congestion, runny nose, etc. I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestionsfor this or if it's a definate 'take him to the vet.' Our regular vet is closed for the week and while I could do an emergency vet, they're almost $100 just to walk in the door and I'm not terribly fond of them. I guess I'm just wondering if I need to worry or if this wll go away on its own.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

What I have used for my own cats for a problem like this is l-lysene. I give 1 pill 2x a day
Available at walgreens or health food stores

Frequent steam treatments in the bathroom will help break up the congestion. Just get the bathroom nice and steamy with the door closed, take him into the bathroom and sit in there with him until the steam dissipates. Or, if you can confine him to one room run a vaporizer 24/7. You can put a few eucalyptus oil drops in the water and that will also help open the nasal passages. Keep him hydrated and fed. Keep an eye on him and if he goes downhill, then off to the ER vet!

Okay, we've had him with the vaporizer all morning and it seems to help a bit. I also picked up some l-lysine from the drugstore...one capsule is 500mg, so how much do you generally give to a 14 lb cat?

I hate it when my big buddy's sick. He's one of those cats who hides when he's not feeling well and I miss his company.

Glad you posted as I thought they usually came in 250mg pills
I would start at 1/2 pill 2x a day and take it from there. If you want though you can give 1 pill 2x a day too. No harm can come

Originally Posted by optionken

Glad you posted as I thought they usually came in 250mg pills
I would start at 1/2 pill 2x a day and take it from there. If you want though you can give 1 pill 2x a day too. No harm can come

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Thanks. And thank you so much for posting about the Lysine. I was reading that it also helps boost thier immune system and I think that would definately be a good thing for Cotton.

He does seem to be doing a bit better today. Last night he was decongested anough to spend most of the night curled up in bed with us purring. He's back in thier favorite wardrobe box/cave this morning, but DH said he came down to eat a full breakfast this morning.

I give my kitty 1000mg/day, but she's got herpes. It will take about a month for the lysine to kick in. Best bet is to get him to the vet as soon as possible for meds. Continue with the steam/vaporizer treatments as often as possible.

Stephanie

I dealt with the same problem recently and posters like Stephanie gave me similar and very helpful advice. It took over 8 weeks for the daily sneezing to stop. It was a quiet and pleasant surprise to notice one day that my kitties weren't sneezing consistently. An occassional and random sneeze still makes me very nervous.

I have them on spray lysine for their wet food. One pump is 250mg I think. I feed them wet 1-2x daily. I also bought lysine caplets which I break open and sprinkle on the dry food. My advice is to buy the human grade caplets which are much much cheaper than the fancy spray stuff. Three cans set me back $45 from Amazon. And it turns out they would not eat it on its own. Thankfully, I can mash it into the wet food and the kitties aren't bothered. A bottle of 100 caplets is about $7-8.

I would take my kitties into bathroom when I showered since I do not have a vaporizer. I did run a cool mister to counter the dry heater air in my apartment.

Also know, as tdonline posted, it can take WEEKS (and those are very l-o-n-g weeks!) for them to get better. Stress only aggravates the situation, so keep your calm, give them LOTS of TLC, don't be afraid to try alternative/homeopathic options, and be persistent if you don't think they're improving, whether that be with the vet's office or asking questions here.

If this is a chronic thing, you might want to have him tested for feline herpes using the Real PCR/URD test. If you think it's seasonal allergies, talk to your vet about antihistamines for those times.

Thanks. If I know he'll besneezing that long, I won't worry as much if he's still sneezing tomorrow. Sometimes I really think I worry too much about him.

I think I will talk to the vet about testing him for Herpes. He's fairly prone to 'colds' - just bouts of sneezing, gunky eyes and a runny nose, but it usually goes away in anything from a few days to about 2 weeks. Herpes wouldn't suprise me considering Cotton's health was compromised pretty badly before we got him and I really don't think his immune system is as good as Freya's.

I've started him on 500 mg of Lysine a day. I just mix it in his 1/2 tsp of yogurt in the morning (it's our ritual treat ) and he doesn't even notice it. I did get human grade caplets at the local pharmacy. I think it was about $8. I guess the best thing at this point is to let him curl up in his box/cave as much as he wants and just make sure he's still eating/drinking. He's eating a bit less than usual, but so is Freya, so that might just be them reacting to the seasonal shift, but he is still eating and drinking normally.

I'll admit I pulled my 'mom' thing on him today and cleaned him up because he was looking pretty scraggly. Just brushed him and wiped his face, cleaned his ears and eyes. Funny thing is, he was a bit more active afterwards - wandered around the house sitting inall the windows, using his scratcher and then curling up on the bed with me while I had a nap. Hopefully ti won't take him too long to kick it.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Cotton's doing much better today.
He's down to about half the sneezes, is eating his full meals, he's being cuddly and chatty again and his eyes and nose are lot clearer. Hopefully this will continue.

How long does it take for the Lysine to really start helping? just curious if this is incidental or if it may actually be starting to help. He's been on 3 days worth now.

Thanks.