Sick Kitten. URI. I REALLY Need Help/Advice.

Thank you for reading this. My posting may be a little long, please bear with it. I am trying to give as much detail as possible. I greatly hope someone can help me figure out what is going on with my kitten.

I have had the Kitten for 6 weeks and I nor the Vet can Figure out what is going on.

The Good Part, Kitten overall:
- Never has had a Fever or Temp.
- Chest X Ray is Clear.
- Vet does not hear crackling in lungs.
- Good Heart.
- Has never lost appetite.
-Very playful and loving.
- Weight Gain is good/normal.
- Normal sleep and energy levels. (Except for 3 days when he was really feeling bad, then he was put on his 3rd round of antibiotics, Doxycline, see below.

Health Problems over the past 6 weeks:

Very wet Sneezes (daily):
\t- for several days throughout the 6 weeks he has sneezed yellow or green out
\t- His nose always has some dried sneezes on it (even with daily cleanings that I perform)
\t- I can hear him trying to blow congestion out of his nose when we are just sitting together.

Dry Coughing: Coughed for a Few days, then it cleared up.

Vomiting: None. At times he as appeared to be going through the motions of throwing up. But he never does… he just swallows it and licks his lips

Eyes: Daily build up at Dark brown "Crusties". Sometimes hard or soft. I do clean his eyes daily. His eyes/lids are never swollen or red.

Voice: He lost his voice for a few days. Off and on at times he has sounded "scratchy".

Medical Treatments over the past 6 weeks:
- 10 Days Clavimox (antibiotics)
- 2nd Deworming\t
- Add Lysine to food, Twice per day (kitten sized doses as prescribed by vet)
- 1st Distemper shot (3-1)
- Another 10 Days Clavimox (antibiotics)\t
- Chest X-ray (showed clear lungs)
- 2nd Distemper shot (3-1)
- 8 days of Doxyciline (antibiotics)
-Nasal Swab and Culture..Results showed that both Clavimox or the Doxycline should have been able to handle the infections based on the Culture results.
-24/7 running a humidifer for him at home\t\t\t\t



1. Kitten info: Modern (Wedgehead) Male Siamese Kitten (4 months old).

2. Purchased from one of the Best Breeders in the USA. (CFA and Cat Breed awarded for Healthy lines).

3. I purchased the kitten Sept 5th.

4. Kitten was 3 months old at the time of purchase.

5. Kitten had not had any vaccinations at the time of purchase and has not been fixed.

6. Drove from Breeders house to a Local Vet for check over.

Local Vet Check Sept 1st and 1st Vet Visit (Day of Purchase)
- Kitten Tested Negative for FIV and Leukemia.
- No Temperature (no fever).
- Coat, Healthy and shiny.
- Eyes Bright ( Both eyes had a little eye gunk in the corners). No redness
- Teeth and gums good, no irritation.

* Vet recommended 10 days of Clavimox (twice a day) since kitten had signs of eyes and nose drainage. I purchased the Claviamox and give the kitten his first dose.

Next...

Drove kitten home (8 hour drive).


What happened over the next 6 weeks:


Sept 1st to Sept 10th:

Over the next 10 days I gave the kitten his Clavimox.
- No Redness in Eyes or Gums.
- Kitten continued wet sneezes and both eyes with drainage.
- Kitten was playful.
- Eating/Drinking was normal.
- Energy/Sleep was normal.
- No Fever.
- Normal weight gain.

Sept 15, 2nd Vet visit:
- No Redness in Eyes or Gums.
- 1st Distemper shot.
- 2nd Deworming (Breeder Dewormed him in August).
- Add Lysine to food, Twice per day (kitten sized doses as prescribed by vet)
- Kitten continued wet sneezes and both eyes with drainage.
- Kitten was playful.
- Eating/Drinking was normal.
- Energy/Sleep was normal.
- No Fever.
- Normal weight gain.


Sept 20, 3rd Vet visit:
- No Redness in Eyes or Gums.
- 2nd Round of Clavimox for 10 days.
- Chest x-ray: results were clear.
- Kitten continued wet sneezes and both eyes with drainage.
- Kitten was playful.
- Eating/Drinking was normal.
- Energy/Sleep was normal.
- No Fever.
- Normal weight gain.



Over the days of Oct 5, 6th, and 7th (peaked)- No Redness in Eyes or Gums.
- Kitten continued wet sneezes With Yellow and green blobs coming out. Continued both eyes with drainage.
- Kitten was not eating as much
- Sleeping more
- Could not Meow
- Dry Cough
- Looked like he was trying to throw up but didn't.
- Not playful.
-No Fever.
- He looked miserable.


Oct 8th, 4th Vet Visit:- No Fever.
- No Redness in Eyes or Gums.
- He lost a little weight.
- Yellow/light green nose drainage.
- Nose Swab and culture performed.
- Doxycline (antibiotics) for the next 8 days.

Oct 10th - 12th, at home:- Gone: Coughing.
- Gone: Gagging/looking like he would vomit.
- He was getting his energy back.
- Starting to eat normally
- Could meow better.
- He did not look as miserable.
- Kitten continued wet sneezes and both eyes with drainage.


Oct 13th - 15th
- Not as much wet sneezing going on.
- Not as much nose mucus drying up on him.
- Still has eye drainage in both eyes.
-Energy and eating back to normal.

Oct 16th, last day of Doxycline dosing.

Oct 14th: Lab Culture from Nose Swab came back. It had several results, indicating that he had normal URI bugs, and that the strains should have cleared up after being treated with either the Clavimox or the Doxycline.

Oct 15th - Present- Kitten seems to be wet sneezing more (clear) again, His nose has more stuff drying up on it .
- Still has eye drainage in both eyes.
-Energy and eating back to normal.


I can't figure out what is going on. He does not sneeze as much while he is on antibiotics (at least during the first 5 days of dosing), after that he starts sneezing more and seems to go right back into another infection. i.e. his symptoms go back to: more sneezing, gagging, more nasal drainage.

During the entire 6 weeks he has had: sneezing and both eyes with drainage… and at times these issues have been heavy or light.

At no time has he had a Fever. And for only 3 days out of the 6 weeks he suffered from: loss of energy, reduced eating, coughing, and gagging.

I can't think of anything in my home that could make him ill or have an allergic reaction. They day I got him from the breeder, he had the nose and eyes drainage.

Presently, he is in good spirits. Growing, gaining weight, and playful. However, he is having more and more sneezing. The nose drainage started back up again around day 5 of Doxycline dosing (which ended on the 16th). I am worried that he is just bouncing back into another infection.


Daily Home Care:

Food: I continued to feed him what the breeder was feeding him.
- Open access to Royal Canin Baby Dry food.
- 2 times per day for canned kitten Blue Buffalo.

Water: Filtered water in a bowl.

Litter: Worlds Best Cat Litter.

Hummdifer: 24/7 running a humidifer for him at home.



My Home Environment
* (In case it could be Allergies)
- House Temp. at 70-75 degrees
- filtered air
- no other pets
- no smoking
- no house plants
- no air fresheners, perfumes etc
- Very little dust
- Carpet was professionally cleaned last year (a "green" cleaning)
- I vacuum 1-2 times per week.
- I do have down/feather pillows
- Overall, my home is very Clean/hypoallergenic and stress free.

Food and litter allergies usually cause skin irritations… He has not had any. I have changed Food and litter but, nothing changed. He does not sneeze anymore or less after eating, using litter box, or being around Down or Feathers.

Again, he left the Breeders house with nose and eyes drainage. So, I can't think that it would be something I have at home or in his food, water or litter.

Thoughts?
Advice?
Suggestions?

Thank you all! I know this a Super Long Posting.

Obviously those antibiotics are not working, and there is no reason for you to keep giving it over and over again IMHO. If he has the normal URI "Bugs" what are you talking about here? Herpes? Calicivirus? Chlamydia? The first two are viruses, and not bacteria... Apparently not Herpes if L-Lysine is not working...
IMHO I would be looking for a second opinion instead of going back to this vet and giving him the same antibiotics that are not working over and over. Take the culture results with you.... Try to go to a feline specialist...

Is the snot clear, or greenish/brownish?

Chlamydia is a bacteria...

I agree, either sit down with your vet and tell them this isn't working and to come up with a new plan or try a new vet.

I would definitely be asking for a second opinion at a different vet. It really sounds like what we went through with Hannah, my herpes positive cat. First thing, have an Idexx Real PCR URD test run to rule out herpes and a host of other upper respiratory diseases (URD). You can read about it on the IDEXX site, http://www.idexx.com/view/xhtml/en_u...sts&SSOTOKEN=0 . Click on the Canine and Feline Respiratory Disease Panels, Tests, and Profiles for more info. There's also a link on the right hand side of the page that you can print off of a *.pdf document to take with you to the vet.

Have the nasal discharge cultured again to see if the values are down and if the medication is helping at all. Perhaps there is a secondary infection that didn't show up.

Are you running a feliway diffuser? The stress of the new environment may be contributing to the problem.

Change to a grain-free diet (Wellness grain free wet, Wellness CORE dry, EVO, Taste of the Wild, and others). It's a possibility that he does have herpes. Sometimes the Lysine doesn't help and if you're feeding a food containing grain, it negates the effects of the Lysine.

Also, you can try steaming in the bathroom a couple of times a day to help with congestion and such. Ask your vet about something like Gentamicin nasal/eye drops to put in his nose to help clear that up.

Lastly, as long as your guy is sick, do NOT vaccinate. Wait until he's healthy to vaccinate since the vaccines stress the system and his little system is already stressed as it is. Additionally, the stress of going to the vet could be contributing to the problem and aggravating things.

Sounds like feline herpesvirus which unfortunately can mutate in certain situations. I would think that pulling the kitten away from the vet and finding a feline specialist would be the best thing for all concerned. Sometimes, we can over medicate the young ones when the professionals who are caring for them are shooting blanks trying to figure out what is wrong.

Since he had slightly gunky eyes when you got him from the breeder and these issues sound like they started soon after you got home - have you spoken to the breeder about this?

Hi! My cat is having the same problem, did you ever solve it?

We adopted a male DSH, 2 yo, 6 weeks ago and he's had the same issues. After 10 days of clavimox (and a vet shot of another antibiotic I don't recall now) his sneeze and cough are gone, but he still has daily eye gunk and walks around exhaling like he's trying to blow his nose.

I also administered a week of eye drops (ab + steroid) to no avail.

We adopted a 10 month DSH at the same time and she had the sneeze and cough a little bit, but the clavimox cleared it up after one cycle.

Thank you!

You retest for FIV?

I am not sure I would change now but baby cat is for the younger kittens-no real concern at moment but for future.

I would go to a different vet and get their ideas without seeing the workups done already and then show them the results from the first vet to get the best unbias diagnoses.

I agree the breeder should be contacted tho they let the kitten leave sick does put some doubt in my mind about them.