Serous nasal discharge/sneezing

sarahwilli308

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Hello everyone.  I'm brand new to this site, and I hope to find some helpful input on my dear kitten's problem. 

Some background: Cookie is a 15 year old short hair male.  I've had him since I was 5, and he is my baby.  We allow him to romp around in our backyard for a few hours a day, but he never spends the night out, nor does he leave the backyard.  He rarely comes in contact with other cats.  

So here's the issue.  Since about December (2011), he has had issues with some nasal discharge.  At first, it was clear with just a hint of blood.  We  thought he possibly got into something and didn't think much of it.  As we got further into winter, it seemed like it was getting worse.  About once a week he would have a great sneeze that would cause his nose to bleed.  Our vet suspected he had a bad tooth, so she gave him an antibiotic shot and sent us on our way.  That seemed to help for about three weeks.  Then the sneezing and bloody nose returned.  In early spring, we took him to see a different vet in the same practice.  This vet said it could be feline herpes, nasal polyps, or cancer.  We decided against having him put under for a scope procedure to look up his nose.  He is old and he has never had surgery before.  We were too scared that something would go wrong, so our vet told us just to keep an eye on him for a while.  He eats like a piggy and is playful.  Well, we started doing a little home improvement to see if we could get rid of some of the things that could possibly irritating his nose.  We had him sleep in our basement because he would romp around at night and slide his paws under everyone's doors. Most of the sneezing/nosebleeds seemed to happen in the morning, so I suggested we stop having him sleep in the basement.  That seemed to work wonders.  His nose bleeds were less severe after sneezing, and he just seemed to be better.  However, the clear drainage from his nose continued.  

Now it is summer, and we have had very minimal problems with the nose bleeds.  He still has clear drainage from his nose constantly and he sneezes quite a few times a day.  However, the nosebleeds are happening a little more frequently.  They are nowhere near as severe as they were in winter when he slept in the basement, but it's still troublesome.  We have provided our vet with pictures of what his nose looks like after a sneeze, and she has stated that, however troublesome it is to look at, it's not a significant amount.  I've done so much research on nasal polyps, cancer, tumors, and the like.  I've almost chalked it up to just being he's an old cat who suffers from allergies.  It seems like the days my family suffers worst from their allergies (stuffy, bloody noses and headaches), my cat's stuffy nose is just that way too.  Could it be possible that dry, dusty air just bothers my cats nose?  I live in Ohio, and the heat wave/drought has been miserable.  

I guess I'm just looking for anyone's input on what could be up.  Apart from his runny nose, sneezing, and occasional nosebleed, he has no symptoms of being ill.
 

andrya

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Hi, and welcome to the forum :)

l'm sorry, l have no experience with this, and no advice.

l just wanted to empathize, and to bump up the thread for more ideas.
 

kittylover23

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Hi there!
Welcome to TCS!! My name is Jen, and it's great to meet you!

I know that Cookie is a senior kitty, so I totally understand why you don't want to put him through surgery. Sometimes the risks outweigh the benefits! But I would recommend that he gets a blood test and some x-rays to rule out some serious problems. Nosebleeds in cats can be caused by a foreign body in the nose, and also from bleeding disorders. It could also mean low platelet count, which you really want to check for.

What are you doing to stop the bleeding? When kitties have nosebleeds, it helps to squeeze the nostril for a few minutes and apply cold compresses such as ice across the nose. Since cats breathe out of their noses, Cookie may try to fight you on squeezing the nostril so if he does, it's best to just apply the cold compress. That should slow the bleeding. He could also have a ruptured vein in his nose from a previous injury? But I don't know if that would cause the sneezing, that part's really stumping me.
But cats with nosebleeds often do start sneezing and develop nasal congestion, so it may not be an allergy, it could possibly just be that the blood drying up in his nose gives him that itchy sneezy feeling.

When a nosebleed occurs, definitely try to relax him. Stress and anxiety can make the nose bleed more! If you start relaxing and breathe in and out, while slowly petting him, it will also help Cookie to relax as well!

Also, I think Cookie may have himself stuck in a bit of a loop - he gets a nosebleed, the blood dries and forms a clot, and the dried blood makes him sneeze, which can start a nosebleed....see what I mean?

Keep in mind that I am no vet.
I've just had previous experience with kitty nosebleeds when my friendly feral Lucky had them. His nose only bled a few times though, and I do think it was do to the URI he had at the time - sneezing too hard made it bleed.
 
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sarahwilli308

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Thanks for your reply!  The odd thing is is that Cookie never gets just a straight up nosebleed.  I'm having a hard time wording it, I suppose.  I've seen it happen a few times... but Cookie will have a great big sneeze and then his nose will become a little blood.  He's never had an active nosebleed, just a bloody nose after a great sneeze.  A few times in the winter it seemed as though he sneezed out some blood because we had to clean up the snotty "debris," but that hasn't happened since able February or March.  The vet mentioned that he could have a weak blood vessel in his nose that pops whenever he has a big sneeze.  
 

kittylover23

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Exactly what I was thinking!!! Maybe because of his massive sneezes, the blood vessel keeps rupturing and causes a bloody nose? If so, it could definitely be allergies causing the sneezing!
 
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sarahwilli308

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Thank you so much for your quick replies!!  It's such an odd problem!  He acts like he's perfectly fine and doesn't even notice he's got a bloody nose!  It's very odd how much worse it was in the winter than now.  One day in February or March he had a bloody sneeze twice and it looked like somebody had punched him!  He had blood all over his nose.  It was awful to see!  But the vet gave him a "physical" and said he's in great health for a 15-year-old cat.  His runny nose is a little concerning for me because sometimes there is an audible whistle sound when he's breathing.  When that happens, I usually put him in the steamy bathroom while I run the shower.  That usually helps a bit.
 

stephanietx

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Have you tried an antihistamine?  I use the generic form of Claritin (loratadine) 1/4-1/2 of a 10 mg tablet once a day.  It dissolves easily in water, so I put a couple of spoonfuls of water in with my kitty's wet food, mix and serve.
 
 
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