URI relief

cazlee

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Peanut is 2 years old now and is sick for the first time, dx'd bronchitis, rx'd antibiotics. No fever. She's been sneezing and coughing moderately and is a little congested.

Would a humidifier help relieve the congestion? The humidity has actually been low-for-Florida lately, so I was thinking it might help her chest feel better too. I didn't think to ask the vet :|

Thanks!
 
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cazlee

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Thanks


Hope yours get to feeling better soon. I feel so bad for my girl, she has to be feeling miserable. She's been cranky one minute then wants to cuddle the next.
 
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cazlee

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She's in quarantine in the spare room where we keep the 2nd litter box, away from the others. She doesn't really want to be around Moo or Mama Cat right now anyway. It might be too late to keep it from spreading to the other two but at least Peanut will get some peace and quiet away from Moo. Peanut and Moo usually play together only all the time.
 

stephanietx

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I would use a vaporizer instead of a humidifier. You can also take her into the bathroom with you while you shower and the steam will do her good.

Is she congested? Is she eating?
 
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cazlee

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She's eating, drinking, using the litter box, is not running a fever. She is a little congested, sneezing, coughing, but nothing major. Per the vet today, her breathing and lungs sounded good. She's been sick about 48 hours and isn't getting any worse, so this seems like as bad as it will get. She's not panting or breathing through her mouth excessively. The vet feels like it's more a virus than an allergic reaction. There are no smokers in the house and we don't have a fire place,didn't bother putting up a tree, real or fake this year and don't really have anything else in the house that would cause a reaction due to my own allergies.

I have the humidifier from when I was sick with a flu 2 weeks ago so it was really fresh in my mind how much it helped me, so figured the same should apply for her. Did the steam shower last night and this morning with her, which seemed to help, which is what gave me the idea to run the humidifier.
 
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cazlee

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Beyond making sure she's eating, giving her the rx'd antibiotics, is there anything else I could be doing? She looks miserable. She's been breathing with her mouth cracked alot today like her congestion isn't letting up. I would assume this is the natural course of the illness (day 2 or 3 is usually when we feel our worst when we're sick I figure) and to not get too worried? How long should I expect her to be lethargic? I don't have alot of experience beyond common sense with sick kitties
 

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Continue the steam treatments if at all possible and run the humidifier. It will help. You can add some eucalyptus oil to some boiling water on the stove or to the little well on a vaporizer/humidifier. It gets sticky, so you'll have to clean the well often. You can also put some of the eucalyptus oil on an old wash cloth and put it near where she sleeps. Put it out of her reach, but where she can still smell the vapors. It will help open up the nasal passages. CAUTION: Eucalyptus oil is toxic if ingested, so be sure to keep it out of kitty's reach.

If she's doing the open mouth breathing tomorrow, or she starts doing the exaggerated swallowing (swallowing and sticking her head/neck way out), you'll need to at least call the vet tomorrow or take her back in. The open mouth breathing is from the congestion and the overexaggerated swallowing is from excessive drainage. Also watch her for coughing. Make sure she continues to eat and drink normally. You might need to warm up some wet food for a bit to enhance the aroma of food so she'll eat.

You can also try sterile saline drops in her nose. Here's the info I use for making my own:

"The saline should be buffered, ideally, and should not contain a preservative.
The solution should be isotonic, not hypertonic. Such solutions are available at pharmacies but hard to find without a preservative. The preservatives not only sting but also negatively impact the function of the cilia, the little hairs
that move things on and out of the nasal passages and can also irritate the
membranes in the eye. We don't want to cripple them. Buffered saline is better than plain saline although plain saline can also be used in a pinch but only very short term.

1. Put two cups of tap water in the microwave and bring it to rolling boil (6 to
7 minutes in my microwave)
2. Stir in one teaspoon of sodium chloride (I use sea salt)
3. add 1/4 teaspoon of sodium hydrogen carbonate (baking soda).

Since the solution has no preservative, be sure not to touch the dropper to
anything. If you warm the bottle in your hand for a few minutes, that warmed
drop can barely be felt. Saline doesn't sting, plain water would. You don't need to use a lot of restraint. If you miss your target, oh well, try again. A little salt water dropped around doesn't hurt anything."

You can also use an over the counter children's saline called "Little Noses" or something like that.

They do look so pathetic when they're sick and you just feel so bad for them. Keep her warm, keep her steamed and keep an eye on her and she'll pull through.
 
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cazlee

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Thinking about taking baby cat back to the vet tomorrow.
She wasn't so bad most of the day, she hardly sneezed and wasn't really congested until this evening, her eyes started tearing up late this afternoon. What should I expect them to do at this point if I take her back to the vet? Is there medicine I should request?

She's still eating/drinking, but she seems over-all more miserable tonight than she has been so far... She actually ate quite well today which surprises me, considering how sick she seems to be at this point of the night.

I'm glad I'm off this week to take care of her
 

stephanietx

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What medicine is she taking? You might for an eye drop/nose drop. The other thing is that it's just going to take time, patience, and lots of TLC. You might talk to the vet about lysine.

What are you feeding her? You might want to switch to a grain-free food. Also, she might g=have airborne allergens and depending on your weather, the allergens and weather systems may be contributing to the problem.
 
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cazlee

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She's on Clavamox only right now. Her CBC really didn't justify antibiotics but he gave it to her to ward off opportunistic infections. Her eyes have cleared up ALOT this morning. They're still a little glassy but nothing like they were yesterday. I put in a call to the vet's office for her vet to give me a call back to see if he wants to re-assess her.

They're fed Wellness's Chicken formula and cans of Wellness. Peanut has been getting canned only the past few days. Beyond being stinkier to encourage her to eat, she could probably use the extra calories from the wet food right now.

Due to my own allergies, we have tower air filters throughout the house. The only difference in the weather is it has been cooler and drier than usual for Florida on and off the past 2 weeks. This, of course, doesn't rule out an allergic reaction in her, but my own allergies have been less than usual with the cooler weather.

Where would I find l-lysine? I've heard/read alot about it in controlling herpes virii in humans while trying to help stepmother get shingles relief, but don't personally need it, so never sought it out.

I really do appreciate the help and advice
 
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cazlee

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We're back from the vet. He reassured me that I'm just being a panicky kitty mommy. He was surprised she was any worse, but wasn't alarmed.

I'd rather hear it from him that she's fine and it's the natural progression than to sit here and worry
 

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You can get Lysine tablets in the vitamin/supplement aisle at Wal-Mart or drug store, but you'll have to grind them up. I buy the NOW brand of Lysine powder in a 1 lb container from the local health food store. At the health food store it runs about $22, but recently I ordered from Amazon for about $10.00. With shipping, it came to less than what I pay at the health food store!

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=12622091...20Foods&page=1

The powder dissolves easily in water, so I add a couple of teaspoons (I use a tall drink spoon) to the wet food and stir it all together. My girl eats it like a charm and doesn't know it's not in there! It can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month or so to actually get in the system and show any kind of positive effect.

IIRC, it does seem like the illness gets worse before it gets better. It's so hard to wait and let the illness take its course, but giving your little one lots of TLC and patience will see her through to health. Coming here helps, too!

Something else I do, but under the instruction of my vet, is to give my girl 1/4 to 1/2 tablet of loratidine (10mg) AKA Claritin once daily. It helps her tremendously and usually will clear up any drainage, stuffiness, or sniffles. You might want to ask your vet about it before starting.
 
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cazlee

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I found a supplement store near by (oddly enough that also stocks your hard to find pet food brands in one place) that has this l-lysine that comes in a little gel-cap sorta thing already powdered up. Gonna check prices at GNC & Vitamin Shoppe.

I'll have to ask what the vet thinks about Claritin and how much he figures would be appropriate. I think that would be such a difference for her, she's been pretty congested.
 
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cazlee

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Just an update - All cats are doing well. Peanut is much better, Moo caught it mildly (she mostly snotted everything up with sneezing... ew cat boogers) because she wouldn't leave Peanut alone (they're totally bff's), and Momma Cat wants nothing to do with either of them so she hasn't come down sick in the slightest.

Thanks for the advice
 

stephanietx

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Yippee! Glad to hear Peanut is improving! Keep an eye on the little girl to make sure she doesn't get worse. Flinging snot is no fun to clean up!
 
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