Chronic Upper Respiratory Infection what to do when nothing works (ah!)

We have a five year old neutered male Maine Coon mix. I got him as kitten when he was around 4 months old from a shelter. When I got him from the shelter he had an upper respiratory infection that was quickly "cured" with clavamox. Ever since, he has a flair up at least once a year. The issue is that he has had the most recent flair up for close to three months. We have tried clavamox, doxycycline, tetracycline, azithromycin, and famciclovir. He gets 500mg of L-Lysine twice a day with his wet food (he has dry food free choice) as well as 6mg of Allegra twice a day. I'm a concerned because his weight has dropped and he just doesn't seem himself. He was a healthy boy at 13 pounds (not fat at all, probably from the Maine Coon) and is down to 11 pounds. We just moved to a different state, and I haven't found a good vet yet. Before this recent flair-up the Clavamox always worked very well, but there is just something about this one that it didn't do the job which is why we moved to something stronger. He only has discharge from his nose (nothing from his eyes) and it is only when he sneezes. It is probably one of the most disgusting things I had seen, it is a chunky greenish yellow discharge. The most disgusting thing is the length, which he will usually eat... ICK! 

I'm really getting to the end of my rope, I'm not sure what else we can do to treat it and he is TERRIBLE at the vet so I try not to take him unless he really needs it.So, my question is to all of those fellow cat parents whose cats suffer from this, what has worked for you to help alleviate the symptoms.  Any advice?

I'm really sorry to hear this, I recently went through a month long URI with my young kitten - so I can't even imagine what it would be like to have to deal with them so often!! It's good that you have him on the L-lysine, but have you ever checked to see if he has herpes? Another suggestion would be to possibly start him on something like this -> http://www.theanimalhouse.net/herbal-tinctures/earth-animal-cough-wheeze-sneeze-2-oz/

I started my kitten on this when he first started to show signs, so it might be worth a try. I got it from my local health pet store. Good luck!
 

My cat Pheobe has the same problem and the only thing that works is Prednisolone. I usually keep her on a low dose for a few months then wean her off for a few months. I also was at the end of my rope and I went to an internal mediciane specialist and she said steriods in low doses are unlikely to cause serious side effects and Pheobes quality of life has been so much better.

Ask the vet to test for Herpes and also to do a culture and sensitivity test of any drainage or discharge.  You could be dealing with a secondary infection that causes the flare ups.  Of course, it could also be seasonal and doing some other things to maintain health might be a tactic to try.
 

Please have him tested for felv.

This may very well be why.....

Has your vet ever mentioned this?

I would also up the l-lysine dose a bit, but have him tested.

Good luck.

When several of my cats had bad URIs at once that the other meds weren't working on, my vet suggested a nebulizer with medication. However she knew I already had a nebulizer (from when I had a rat with pneumonia) so it was not a big deal to just get the medication for it. That helped a lot though.