Allergies?

Looking like I'm going to have to take Artemis to the vet, but no hurry.

From day one, when I brought him home, he has been sneezing. With an 8 week old kitten they are going (and did) say URI (and stress). Well, he is now 8 months old and has never stopped sneezing. I mean juicy sneezes.

Tonight when clipping his front claws (love that he is now displaying his Ragdoll mellowness) I got a good look at his nose (I need to wear headlamp to see what I'm doing) and both nostrils had some small, crusty stuff wet with a bit of what looked like mucous.

Another thing is that he has always had a bit of red around his eyes... I don't know how to describe "around," but if you pull back a bit it is on the skin surrounding his eyes, NOT his eyes. I've seen this on other cats, so I thought maybe it was just normal (blood vessels near surface), but tonight I examined Jessie's eyes and no such thing.

Sigh. I'm guessing he may be allergic to something at my place (suspect ancient carpet, don't have money to replace now, on my to do list) - he doesn't seem to be suffering, but I think it does affect his sense of smell a bit. Sigh.

Rest assured I will be taking him to the vet within a month or so (I decided to do a 9 month check up). So, what do they do about allergies? Lifetime antihistamine? I don't want a zonked out kitten/cat. But, it is what it is.

Just want to know if anyone else has a cat with allergies that affect the nose and eyes and what has helped.

Obviously, I could be wrong and it may not be allergies, just looks like them, but I do not feel any urgency - his behavior remains normal, and he has always sneezed and had slightly red around his eyes. 

The herpes virus infection can be chronic. Allergies in cats usually manifest as itchy skin.

Well, when I adopted his "sister" I was given a bottle of lysine as a precaution - she has never shown any signs of it so it sits in the closet. Eh - couldn't hurt to sprinkle on his food.

If this is what it is, how long before I see changes (on average)?

Since it'll be 4 to 6 weeks before I take him in for a checkup, I'll just go get some l-Lysine and give it a try. I see 250 mg twice a day is a safe dose (although higher seems also safe when needed)

Because it is harmless (as long as the cat gets enough Arginine - which is in animal protein), I figure, why not (with my expensive pure bred buddy)?

I have a kitty who has allergies and she sneezes all the time.  She gets a daily antihistamine once a day.  As long as your kitty's nasal discharge isn't greenish or yellowish, he's not got an infection.  It's actually common for kitties to have airborne allergens with symptoms similar to humans (itchy eyes, itchy ears, and sneezing).

I've gotten a couple of good, close looks - crusty snot forms on his nose. I've cleaned it off and notice that there is a think layer of mucous film (sort of like what happens with an allergic person).

Nothing crusty or unusual with the eyes except for redness around them. So I'm still thinking allergies, but trying Lysine. All that money for a pure bred (who I love, of course) and, well, no guarantee  (sigh). Turning into a handsome fella. 

Well, I've been giving him Lysine for about 4 days now and I haven't heard a sneeze. His nose looks better, so.... ??? Seems pretty fast, though.

Breaks my heart because he gets half of a pill just before mealtime - and although it isn't too hard to pill him, he still tries to keep me from doing it and I'm concerned that the "sharp" edge of the half pill might injure his throat, or I might slip up. I doubt he would eat the same quantity in powder form, but I will try it sometime (he always eats about half of his meal then comes back within the hour - problem is so does she, and she thinks the grass is greener in the other bowl even when she has exactly the same thing).

For now I'll just keep on trying it out.

Like I said, I'm concerned with pushing a halved pill down his throat every day ... so what about the following: dissolving the requisite amount of Lysine in Tuna juice (the water from water packed Tuna)? Or in chicken juice (same)? Odds are he would lap that up.*

If there is no sneezing for a week and his nose looks clear, I'd say we nailed it (in the 7 months I've had him he has sneezed a couple of times a day that I've seen, and his nose wasn't clear).

*I also bought the powdered form, just in case.

I think most people use the powdered form, or the capsules and open them up.  Actually, i've never heard of pill form   I think you'd be fine to dissolve it in tuna juice or even water and add that to his food, or do they eat dry food vs. wet?  (kind of hard to mix into dry food)

Morning and evening are wet food, free feed dry left out for daytime.

The problem with putting it into his food is two fold... his "sister," who always thinks the grass is greener in the other bowel, will eat some of hers and push him aside to eat some of his (she is very assertive and he is mellow)... and neither of them finish their wet food right away (even when it is a fraction of a can). They eat some, share some, walk away, play, come back and eat some more, shampoo/rinse/repeat until it is either gone or they decide: Meh, not really enthusiastic about this (food I loved yesterday!) tonight.

That's why I thought of giving him "juice" separately. Of course the Lysine wouldn't hurt her, just can't control how much he gets. That's why I went for the pill form (there very well could be capsules, I just didn't notice them - probably better idea!).

Thanks.

You can crush the pill and put into wet food.  Guard his food and don't let your other kitty get to it.

stephanietx said:

 
You can crush the pill and put into wet food.  Guard his food and don't let your other kitty get to it.

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ROTFLMAO. She is VERY assertive, and get this, when I put her in another room (she then calls out in a cute, mousy voice), he'd rather go to find her and play paws under the door than anything else. Totally enamored of her, LOL.

Thanks, though....

I have the powder, measured out the correct amount and mixed it with some sardine juice (water) - and THAT was enough to distract him from her calling out. But now that I think about it... yeah, that could work. I would just have to stand over them while they are eating and keep pushing her away from his food once she decides to share. The only problem is, like I said, they never finish a meal straight up... whereas he lapped up all of the (small amount) of sardine water and Lysine. Ah, kittens.

Right, you have to train them not to horn in on the other's food.  I used to sit on the floor and read the paper while my kitties ate just to keep everyone at their own bowl.  It was hard to be consistent, but that's what it takes.