Cat sneeze/coughing with respiratory infection

So, I have two female cats: Seffie and Po. Seffie is 6 and Po is 5. They're strictly indoor and spayed. I haven't had them vaccinated since I moved upstate, and that is where I've gone wrong. I thought, "Oh, they're inside cats! They don't need vaccinations!" Lies. 

Monday, Seffie has a bit of a sniffle. The weather is changing; I'm not too concerned. By Tuesday, she's having long chains of sneezes and her eyes are watery. I look up her symptoms online and come up with herpes. I start giving both Po and Seffie Lysine in their food and Seffie doesn't get worse. I marvel that Po seems fine and I'm glad. 

Wednesday rolls around and Po has the sniffles. Dang it. Seffie's sneezing and now Po is too. I give them lots of Lysine and start disinfecting everything. By the weekend, Po seems really stuffy, but Seffie seems to be getting better. I keep waiting.

I wake up with a start at 4AM Sunday morning to Po doing a crazy series of these strange mucusy combination sneeze/coughs (like what we do when we have a bad sinus infection or a flu). However, it sounds like she might be having a hard time getting a breath in between sneeze/coughs, so I put her in a carrier and we're off to the emergency vet clinic. 

They're super nice and the vet and nurse check her out and give her a diagnosis of an upper respiratory infection. She's given an injection antibiotic & prescribed cough pills along with two bottles of Clavamox (one mixed with an antihistimine and the other just straight Clavamox). I take her home and start her on the course and she hates it, but she's still eating and drinking. 

Yesterday (day two of treatment) she doesn't want to eat or drink. I force feed her some wet food with Lysine (which she actually seems grateful for) and drop water into her mouth with an eyedropper whenever I'm able. She actually "asked" for more water today by leaning forward and licking the eyedropper on her own. I also got a cool mist humidifier which she seems to like to sit by as well. 

I'm still worried as anything and I think I'm making myself sick over it. She still sneeze/coughs - granted it is only the third day of treatment - and she's lethargic/listless and her voice is weak. I'm worried sick. I keep having these awful dreams of her not making it...

How long does it take for Clavamox to help clear up an infection? Am I doing the right stuff? Is force feeding her ok? I'm worried I might be making her throat hurt worse with the pill pushing and syringe squirting involved in her treatment. I'm I doing everything ok? I thought I'd ask because you all love your cats to distraction as well. ^_^

Thank you for your patience with this long post. 

One of my kittens had a terrible URI and clovimax cleared it up fine. It took a few days. When you use the syringe for water and feeding it's better to squirt it in the corner of their mouth,rather than straight back. I'm sure your vet can show you exactly how to do it if you're worried. It sounds like you are doing a great job taking care of her.

Thanks, smitten. Reassurance and notes from your own experiences are greatly, greatly appreciated. I actually learned the side of the mouth thing from just seeing what worked best with Po. I knew that I was doing a number on her little throat with all the meds, and I knew that it could accidentally go in the lungs if going straight back, so I tried just getting her to open her mouth and doing it drop by drop on her tongue, but she turned her head and started licking the air as I dropped the water into her mouth. 

I about cried for joy this morning when she "asked" for more water and lovingly obliged until she backed away, finished. 

Just like with humans, it takes 3-4 days to really see an improvement in your kitty.  Unfortunately, time and patience are the best things for them.  It's very disheartening and stressful for the humans.  You can try steaming your kitty in the bathroom several times a day to help break up the congestion.  Just get your shower nice & steamy and then sit in there with her until the steam dissipates.  Also, try warming up her food a bit to enhance the aroma and elevate the bowl so she doesn't have to bend down so far to reach the dish.  This will help her want to eat since the drainage won't be running out her nose causing her to lift her head.  If you have a vaporizer (not a humidifier) you can run it near where she spends most of her time.  This also helps with helping her nose clear up and breathe better.  If you can find a really stinky wet food and offer her that (warmed up a bit) that might also entice her to eat.
 

Yes to all advice here!

I have a cat rescue group in Ca, and have endless experience with URI's, unfortunately!

Clavamox is my drug of choice as well.

Tomorrow you will start to see improvement.

Chicken baby food is nice, they seem to appreciate the smell and the smooth texture going down their throats. You can also put it in a bowl, add very hot water to it so the temp will be nice and warm, and makes it even more smelly! Irresistable.

Plus it will get the fluids in them at the same time.

Be SURE to finish up all of the med, even when they seem totally well!

Keeping hydrated while they get through this is number 1 in recovery.

They will eat again when ready, just keep up on the clavamox.

Good Luck! It will be over soon.

Once they are 100% again, get them an FVRCP vaccine. You don't need it yearly, but every 3 or so yrs in mature adults is fine.

You can bring viruses in on your shoes even, so although indoor only they need protection from the more heartier bugs out there.

Thank you for all the help. My little Po is slowly getting better. This morning was her last morning of antibiotics and I called the vet to say she still had symptoms and ask if I should get a refill. They told me to take her temperature and if she's between 100 and 102, she should be fine; I'd just have to let the symptoms ride out. 

Her temp last night and this morning is 101.5 (it had been at 104.2 before) and she seems more alert, but still pretty stuffy. She coughs a bit when she gets too active or sniffs too much. I have this "Respiratory Support" stuff from Only Natural Pets that I put in her food to try and break it up. I'm also taking her in the bathroom for steam treatments when she coughs a lot. 

She's drinking more on her own now and she's really close to eating on her own, but I'm still force feeding her because she'd go all day without it.

What do you all think? Is it ok to use the herbal stuff? Anyone tried it before?

You can steam her in the bathroom to help break up the congestion and help her breathe better.  Just get the bathroom nice and steamy and sit in there with her until the steam dissipates.
 

Thanks, stephanietx! I've been steaming her 2-3 times a day, even in the middle of the night when she wakes me up with a few sneezes and/or coughs. She's eating on her own now and she's not hiding nearly as much. 

You know what stinks now? My older cat (who had the URI first and is mostly over it minus a few sneezes here and there) is now hissing at Po whenever they get near each other! This drives me nuts!!! 

Why would she do that? Will they be buddies again soon or do I have to worry?

If she was in a separate room for awhile or if she's been to the vet, she probably smells differently and that's causing the problems.  Give it some time and it should work itself out.