Old cat has VERY stuffy nose. Home remedies??

My 19 year old cat has always had URI flare ups every year and I normally take her to the vet for antibiotics (usually clavamox or baytril), but unfortunately I don't have enough money to bring her in.

It seems like she is having another flare up (very runny nose with yellow mucus and watery eyes). She is still eating and drinking which is a good sign. I do have some extra baytril tablets from her last flare up and gave her one of those tonight because her stuffy nose is concerning me. She seems uncomfortable because of it. I have the l-lysine stuff from the vet for whenever a flare up occurs which I'm going to start using. I've read that using a humidifer is effective so I'm going to set it up and try it out.

Are there any other home remedies that I can try on her? She's a very elderly cat so I don't want to try anything crazy, just simple solutions.

Help?!

Welcome to the forum, KittyCatKatie!

Simple solutions will be the order of the day, then.
 

Before that, though, a couple of thoughts for you. I would be more than usually concerned because the discharge is yellow - to me, that says there's a bacterial infection going on - usually, with "colds", it's clear.

Now, the Baytril you have (which you shouldn't really have at all - antibiotics should be used for the entire course of their prescribing, and, not doing that can result in the infection lingering "quietly" only to flare up again) - personally, I wouldn't use it for many reasons.

What I would do, based on the personal circumstances you've described, is to call the Vet who advised using the L-lysine and do whatever it takes to speak with her/him personally - it will probably mean a call-back. I'd remind him about Katie, her age, the L-lysine...and I'd tell him about the yellow mucus - then, about my financial crunch, and I would ask her/him for some consideration in light of my circumstances - perhaps suggest that you could pay something and the balance in a few weeks.....

There are a number of problems with using the remaining Baytril: it may not be the "right" drug for this bacteria, so it might only "mask" what's really going on...you may not have enough to eradicate the problem...etc.

OK

Keep a sharp eye on the amount of food she's eating - if it slackens, you may need to assist-feed her. Post again if this is happening - and don't "wait-and-see". Cats can develop a serious liver disease when they don't take in the amount they need.

For those home remedies...the L-lysine is number one. You can give 500mg twice a day.

The humidifier is something I use when one of mine is having an episode and I know it helps. You could also give her a more intense dose by running a hot shower to create a "sauna" effect and staying in there with her for +/- 20 minutes at a time.

That "steaming" treatment can be done another way - and you can use a simple-ingredient nasal drop too - both of these are described right here

http://www.harpsie.com/cat_flu.htm#steaming Those drops should only contain buffered sterile saline, and only be used for 3 days.

I hope some of this may help - I'd really urge you to speak with that Vet, though...the fact that s/he recommended L-lysine tells me s/he knows a thing-or-two about cats - and, would hopefully have the compassion to see her.

Please keep us posted!

How is she doing today?  Other than putting her in a steamy bathroom, the only advise I can give is to slightly warm her food (assuming it's wet food) to intensify the smell, since her nose may get stuffy.  And just give her lots of blankies to snuggles up in 'cause it's cold where you are.  Can you at least CALL your Vet and tell him what's going on and see what they say?  They shouldn't charge you for a phone call, and could at least tell you whether or not gaving her that extra Baytril is ok to use.