our kitty is 10 months old, all his shots and neutered and had a severe URI when we found him and he has had 3 rounds of antibiotics(2 kinds of meds), 1 round of antiviral medication, an immune booster and some other meds and he still has water eyes, running nose, sneezing, and an occasional cough! The vet has said the last resort is surgery but we really don't want to go done that path. Any ideas what this could be?
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any ideas!!!
- Thread starter meupoonus
- Start Date
Some cats are just more prone to respiratory infections. My boy Munchie is one of them. I have him on Lysine and Lactoferrin as well as we sedated him and did a sinus flush at the recommendation of an internal medicine specialist. It took 2 liters of fluid to flush out all the snot he had which is insane! He then went on Zithromycin for 5 days then gets it every 3 days for 2-3 months. That was also the specialists recommendation. I would recommend having a culture and sensitivity ran which will tell you exactly what bacteria it is and which antibiotic it responds to.
Oh gosh! This sounds very similar to what we went through with Hannah. Sometimes URIs can be a booger to get rid of and it takes the body a month or more to recover depending on the severity of the infection, the body's built up resources, and if there are any underlying conditions such as a secondary infection or feline herpes. Also, kitties who have been malnourished seem to take longer to recover since they don't have the resources stored up in their bodies to fight the infection.
Before any surgery, I would recommend he be tested for Feline Herpes using the PCR URD panel. (Upper respiratory diseases) It not only tests for Herpes, but several other common respiratory diseases. You can read more about the test on the IDEXX website: http://www.idexx.com//view/xhtml/en...menu/innovative-tests/real-pcr.jsf?SSOTOKEN=0 It wouldn't surprise me if he tested positive for herpes.
Secondly, if he has any discharge, have that tested via a culture and sensitivity test. It takes about 10 days to get results, but it's possible you're dealing with a secondary infection that's not being effectively treated by any of the medications you've tried. The culture will tell the vet what kind of infection you're dealing with (viral or bacterial) and the sensitivity test will tell the vet which medication will most effectively treat the infection.
Thirdly, he could be having a food or other allergy. It's not totally uncommon for kitties to have airborne allergies or be allergic to a food ingredient or even be irritated by their litter. Right now, I would suggest focusing on the tests above and the only food change I would suggest is changing to a grain-free wet food, supplemented with a grain-free dry food. He's pretty much able to be on regular adult food, but I know Wellness makes a grain-free kitten food you could give him. If you change dry food, do it gradually over the next few weeks. Canned food doesn't usually require a gradual change.
Lastly, I would encourage you to start giving him Lysine, 1000mg a day. Divide the dose into 2 dose (500mg 2x a day). You can pick up Lysine tablets at the store and crush between 2 spoons. Add a bit of water to wet food, stir in the lysine, and serve. Also, I'd suggest at least 1 feliway diffuser to help him destress. Even though you've had him for awhile now, the stress of being sick just drains his body. This should help him destress so he can heal better.
Before any surgery, I would recommend he be tested for Feline Herpes using the PCR URD panel. (Upper respiratory diseases) It not only tests for Herpes, but several other common respiratory diseases. You can read more about the test on the IDEXX website: http://www.idexx.com//view/xhtml/en...menu/innovative-tests/real-pcr.jsf?SSOTOKEN=0 It wouldn't surprise me if he tested positive for herpes.
Secondly, if he has any discharge, have that tested via a culture and sensitivity test. It takes about 10 days to get results, but it's possible you're dealing with a secondary infection that's not being effectively treated by any of the medications you've tried. The culture will tell the vet what kind of infection you're dealing with (viral or bacterial) and the sensitivity test will tell the vet which medication will most effectively treat the infection.
Thirdly, he could be having a food or other allergy. It's not totally uncommon for kitties to have airborne allergies or be allergic to a food ingredient or even be irritated by their litter. Right now, I would suggest focusing on the tests above and the only food change I would suggest is changing to a grain-free wet food, supplemented with a grain-free dry food. He's pretty much able to be on regular adult food, but I know Wellness makes a grain-free kitten food you could give him. If you change dry food, do it gradually over the next few weeks. Canned food doesn't usually require a gradual change.
Lastly, I would encourage you to start giving him Lysine, 1000mg a day. Divide the dose into 2 dose (500mg 2x a day). You can pick up Lysine tablets at the store and crush between 2 spoons. Add a bit of water to wet food, stir in the lysine, and serve. Also, I'd suggest at least 1 feliway diffuser to help him destress. Even though you've had him for awhile now, the stress of being sick just drains his body. This should help him destress so he can heal better.
