How can I safely induce sneezing/clear nasal passages in 6mo kitten?

We feed Innova EVO duck, chicken & turkey, and venison (3 different flavors) canned.  We also feed a small amount of Taste of the Wild dry.  All of our kitties get this, but I also have a little guy who has a sensitive tummy, so he also gets some prescription food thrown in the mix.  In the past, we have fed Wellness grain-free and Wellness CORE with good success.  We switched because we can get the bigger cans of EVO from the local feed store and it was more cost effective.

Be sure to get the pure evening primrose oil in a bottle.  I can never find any locally so I order it online.  The dose is 1/8 t to 1/4 t once daily for an adult cat.  With one so young, I'd try half of a 1/8 t dose.

Well, he got all swabbed out this morning, poor little Rufus.  They swabbed his nose, eyes, throat, and I think even his ears and butt. 

The vet commented that he looked far better than he did two weeks ago, and he has gained a whopping 1/2 lb in that amount of time!

He assured me that as long as Rufus could breath from his mouth, although scarey, he would be ok.  Only if his airways were completely blocked, then I would have to worry.  (I've actually thought about getting an oxygen concentrator, but he thinks that's over doing it for now).  His lungs sounded really good so no worries there. 

They are going to run the culture and sensitivity test. He cautioned me that the C&S will pick up everything, and there could even be multiple things going on.  He didn't think it would give us a clear answer, but since there is no harm, he agreed we should do it.  So we are going to start him on the Zithromax meanwhile. 

And the good news about Cricket is that he probably has leftover immunity to URD from his kitten shots, but he's getting the URD vaccine this afternoon, just in case.  He won't need a booster in three weeks either.

Will keep you posted when the URD results come back.

Poor Rufus!  How embarrassing to have all that swabbing done!  I really hope it helps get to the bottom of what's causing his problems.  Did they also do the PCR URD test as well as the culture & sensitivity?  Glad he's improving some and gaining weight.  That's always a good sign!
 

Yes, they did both the culture and sensitivity and the real PCR/URD.  I should have the results in a few days, but I didn't get specifically when.  Meanwhile, I've got the humidifier (with eucalyptus) going and he's had his first dose of Zithromax.   It's been a very expensive day!  I got more canned food today, the only variety of Evo they carry is the turkey and chicken, so for now I got some more Wellness. 

Poor Rufus did so well at the vet that he got a new toy   He's so used to having his little nose handled that he hardly flinched when the were swabbing him (and that was a long swab)!  They all said what a good boy he was. 

Vet printed out for me a really good paper I assume was from a conference he attended from the Atlantic Coast Veterinary Conference 2011 Snots and Sniffles:  Chronic Feline Respiratory Syndromes.   It's a technical paper and I haven't had a chance to read it, but if I learn anything I will post.

 Almost 24 hours and nary a sneeze or sniffle on the Azithromycin

The vaporizer has been amazing as well, wish I had gotten it sooner..  I woke up in the night and realized how much clearer my own breathing was.  I suffer from allergies and they are especially bad right now.

Hooray!!  Are you also doing an antihistamine?  I would advise you not give him any more vaccines until he's healthy.  That way his body isn't trying to fight off the antibodies of the shots as well as the infection.  If he does come back herpes positive, I also wouldn't get the combo vaccine (FVCRP or whatever those letters are!) as it might trigger a flare up.  The vet can do them separately, but usually have to order them since it's easier to give the combo shot.

He's finished with all his shots (except for the yearly rabies booster). Unfortunately he was given his final kitten shots and rabies right after I got him, and he was showing some symptoms then.  I have since learned I should have waited.  The local vet was on duty and while a nice guy, I don't think he's that thourough.  Never even mentioned Herpes Virus, just put him on Clavomox. 

I did get the older cat the combo vaccine just in case.  He has never shown symptoms and the vet said it's probably left over immunity. 

Right now, he's not on antihistamine.  Oh, and the evening primrose oil I will probably need to order.  They had the gel capsules at the health food store, but no liquid.  And this is a pretty well stocked place. 

I can't tell how thankful I am for your help and the support of this website.  I found TCS while doing research on this very thing. 

PS: No sneezing last night or yet this morning.  And there is no nasal discharge for the first time since I got him.  And while normally very active, he seems even more so. I am so thrilled.

Our little four monther has a similar problem- he's on anitbiotics and lysine, but had a bad URI when he was brought into the shelter.  Tobias has a lot of congestion and gets phlegm stuck in his throat, and to get antihistamines for a kitten this small our vet said they'd have to mix it up specially at another lab, and that it would probably be expensive.  she said the antibiotics should take care of the virus itself, but the coughing and sneezing, if we wanted, could be aided by the antihistamine.  can you guys tell me a little more about giving kitties human antihistamines like benadryl?  sorry to threadjack, but this case seemed so similar and it's how i found this site!

ZiggyTobias said:

  sorry to threadjack, but this case seemed so similar and it's how i found this site!

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Hey, by all means be my guest and welcome to  TCS   I found the site looking for infomation on this topic as well.

I haven't used the antihistamines yet.  Right now I'm hoping I found the solution with Zithromycin.

StephanieTX is using Clariton, I imagine she will post an answer to your question later on.  She's been very helpful with some great tips on this thread!  

I wouldn't use an antihistamine on a kitten that young.  I would use a vaporizer, continue the lysine, and give him lots of tlc.  Sometimes the only thing to do is to wait it out.  As long as he is eating well, playing, using the box properly, and getting better (even if slowly) then I'd just give it time.  Sounds like he's on the tail end of the URI. 

Ziggy, what antibiotic is Tobias on? 

Rufus was first on Clavomox, no improvement.  Next it was an injection (don't know what, sorry)  that was a 10 day dose. Finally I was considering Famciclovir, which is what let me to TCS. 

I had a real PCR/URD test (that I also heard about on these forums) run on Monday, and they also did a culture and sensitivity test.  He was put on Azithromycin on Monday as well. 

He showed significant improvement by evening!  He had so much snot, sometimes bloody (sorry to be graphic) coming out his nose.  Then it would get totally plugged up to where he had to breathe out of his mouth.  And when they're small you know how scarey that can be.  This had been going on almost constantly since I got him in Aug.  There has not been one sneeze that I'm aware of since.  And the clear discharge that was always coming from his nose has cleared. 

It sounds like you haven't found the right antibiotic yet.  The Culture and Sensitivity test that Stephanie mentioned will help determine what is going on and how to treat it.  We are still waiting for the test results on mine. 

And one other thing.  The humidifier has made a world of difference!  I picked up a Vick's warm air, the one with the seperate reservoir, for under $30.  They also have the basic model for under $20.  The one I have has a place you can place inhalants, so I've been using essential oil of Eucalyptus.  As mentioned earlier, most essential oils are toxic to kitties, so keep the actual oil put up.  The humidifier has helped my sinuses, I can't imagine how much it's helped poor Rufus!

Today we got the test results back:  Herpes Virus, Chlamydia, and Influenza were negative.  Yay!

Rufus is positive for Bordatella, Mycoplasma, and Calici Virus.  The vet thinks this is manageable.  All along he had been telling me this is probably herpes!

StepanieTX, had it not been for you, he would probably have been put on anti-viral drugs The vet said he never ran the Culture and Sensitivity test, this was all the results of the swabs sent in for the PCR/URD

He has sneezed a few times today and has a little discharge.  The vet says we might put him on Doxycycline and he is going to re-check him on Nov. 12 next time he's in town. 

I'm wondering if I should keep up the Lysine.   

Woohoo for test results!!  Sounds like a lot to deal with, but now you know what you're battling and can work to get him well.  I would continue the lysine as it helps support the immune system overall.  When he gets well, then you could stop the lysine.