Sounds Congested

My recently adopted cat (see picture above) has been living with me for about a week now. Yesterday and today I finally convinced her to play with me with toys and such and she really enjoys it. She's going on 1 year old and is up to date on all her shots with her last vet visit recorded at the beginning of May.

However, I notice more that she sounds like she has a stuffy nose when she tries to sniff stuff, occasionally puffs out a loud, quick exhale, or will sneeze occasionally. Her nose will whistle occasionally or just sound like she has a stuffy nose.

I notice it mostly when we play and I'm running her around a bit. She does it occasionally when she's just hanging out under the bed. Otherwise, she's eating and drinking (with a big appetite), using her box, no eye or nose goop that I can see, and she loooooves to play.

Is this something to be concerned about? I know the internet says it could be anything from upper respiratory to asthma to allergies to narrow nasal passages and that's quite a spread. It could be nothing or something that will pass. Any insight is helpful!

Thank you!

EDIT: She has an appointment with the vet this evening. 

Me personally, I'd be looking to a vet.  I saw your other thread about the hissing and hiding, and I can certainly understand not wanting to upset any progress, but a phone call may be all that's necessary.  Or, the vet may need to see her.  Health comes first. 

One thing you can try is giving lysine.  Many here swear by it for flare ups.

I would be just concerned enough to get a vet exam.  Most upper respiratory infections have related symptoms, mucus, more sneezing, eye goop, but she may have a low grade chronic URI, or possibly a nasal obstruction.  L-Lysine is helpful for the long term management of one URI, feline Herpes, but that requires that specific diagnosis and there are several types of URI's.

It's not uncommon for newly adopted cats to come down with an URI, and when one gets a  new cat in the home its smart to get a vet exam, get baseline measurements and establish the relationship between animal and vet.  And in your case there is a greater need.

peaches08 said:

 
Me personally, I'd be looking to a vet.  I saw your other thread about the hissing and hiding, and I can certainly understand not wanting to upset any progress, but a phone call may be all that's necessary.  Or, the vet may need to see her.  Health comes first. 

One thing you can try is giving lysine.  Many here swear by it for flare ups.

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She has an appointment this evening with the vet. 

StephenQ said:

 
I would be just concerned enough to get a vet exam.  Most upper respiratory infections have related symptoms, mucus, more sneezing, eye goop, but she may have a low grade chronic URI, or possibly a nasal obstruction.  L-Lysine is helpful for the long term management of one URI, feline Herpes, but that requires that specific diagnosis and there are several types of URI's.

It's not uncommon for newly adopted cats to come down with an URI, and when one gets a  new cat in the home its smart to get a vet exam, get baseline measurements and establish the relationship between animal and vet.  And in your case there is a greater need.

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I saw a similar statement online while reading about URIs. That she may have had it before and it comes out again when she's under stress (i.e. her adoption and move). She has an appointment with the vet this evening. 

timbertember said:

 
I saw a similar statement online while reading about URIs. That she may have had it before and it comes out again when she's under stress (i.e. her adoption and move). She has an appointment with the vet this evening. 

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Fantastic, let us know what they say.

I don't know if anyone who replied to my thread will see this, but I took September to the vet. I had to have my father come help me because I couldn't wrangle her out from under the bed. She got very angry and stressed and ugh, it was terrible. But we got her in the carrier and got her to the vet. I must have good instincts because I was right to take her. She had a decently high fever and therefore wasn't feeling well at all (probably why she went berserk; sick and then getting her in the carrier made her really hateful). The vet said she probably has a viral URI but gave her an antibiotic shot just in case it would morph into a bacterial (and then we wouldn't have to bring her back). She did really well for them at the vet. I thought for how she freaked the ---- out at us, she would bleed them out. She was timid. Siiiiigh. So she got a shot and a once over and besides a viral URI, she's the picture of good health. She should start feeling better in a few days.

I think this was more traumatic for me than her. haha I'm still all anxious and a titter.   She's back to hiding under the bed.

Be careful if they gave her the Convenia shot.  One of the negative side effects is extreme lethargy.  Keep a close eye on her and make sure she eats and uses the box.  Keep us posted on her progress.

I'm glad you took her to the vet.  Make sure she eats, drinks, and pees.  If she stops doing those things, it's back to the vet.

I took Mason straight to the vet for neutering when I adopted him.  A few days later, I noticed a little pus from the incision and him sleeping a little more.  I took him to the vet, and he was running a high fever.  I was so shocked, and I felt like an incompetent cat mom.  Then again, I was still a little emotional from euthanizing my dear Grey from end stage renal failure.  He ended up on antibiotics and fine, but I learned something:  when the cat is new to a home and showing mild symptoms, worry!  Cats don't show symptoms if they can help it.

peaches08 said:

 
I'm glad you took her to the vet.  Make sure she eats, drinks, and pees.  If she stops doing those things, it's back to the vet.

I took Mason straight to the vet for neutering when I adopted him.  A few days later, I noticed a little pus from the incision and him sleeping a little more.  I took him to the vet, and he was running a high fever.  I was so shocked, and I felt like an incompetent cat mom.  Then again, I was still a little emotional from euthanizing my dear Grey from end stage renal failure.  He ended up on antibiotics and fine, but I learned something:  when the cat is new to a home and showing mild symptoms, worry!  Cats don't show symptoms if they can help it.

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She was quite active last night and did eat, drink, and use her box (I heard it and there was evidence this morning). lol

timbertember said:

 
She was quite active last night and did eat, drink, and use her box (I heard it and there was evidence this morning). lol

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Is she "speaking" to you yet?  Or are you still on her list of people to avoid? 

peaches08 said:

 
Is she "speaking" to you yet?  Or are you still on her list of people to avoid? 

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What do you mean by speaking? She isn't sociable with me yet, if that's what you mean. She still generally avoids the sight of me. 

timbertember said:

 
What do you mean by speaking? She isn't sociable with me yet, if that's what you mean. She still generally avoids the sight of me. 

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I was teasing, since she hasn't been sociable as you put it.  She'll come around!

I know that it was very traumatic for you to take her to the vet !!! Worse for you and in my experience - she will trust you more now because YOU brought her back home to safety. :nod: It was very good that you trusted your instincts and took her to the vet. The covenia (I assume) injection will help tremendously and there probably would be no way for you to pill her right now - so the injection was the way to go.

You could also add L-Lysine to her wet food. It is not bitter and has no taste. You can start with 1/8 tsp. (250 mg.) twice daily but usually I suggest people to go a bit more 1/4 tsp. (500 mg.) twice daily for 10 days then drop to the 250 mg. Actually, my specialists for my Herpes kitty says that 500 mg. twice daily is the maintenance dosage. It is totally safe and I actually keep my Perla and Pipsqueak on Lysine all the time. Here is the one some of us use on TCS. It is inexpensive and comes in the powder form.
Keep us posted on September. LOVE THAT NAME !!!!!!!!!!!!! :heart3:

Feralvr said:

I know

that it was very traumatic for you to take her to the vet !!! Worse for you and in my experience - she will trust you more now because YOU brought her back home to safety.

It was very good that you trusted your instincts and took her to the vet. The covenia (I assume) injection will help tremendously and there probably would be no way for you to pill her right now - so the injection was the way to go.

You could also add L-Lysine to her wet food. It is not bitter and has no taste. You can start with 1/8 tsp. (250 mg.) twice daily but usually I suggest people to go a bit more 1/4 tsp. (500 mg.) twice daily for 10 days then drop to the 250 mg. Actually, my specialists for my Herpes kitty says that 500 mg. twice daily is the maintenance dosage. It is totally safe and I actually keep my Perla and Pipsqueak on Lysine all the time. Here is the one some of us use on TCS. It is inexpensive and comes in the powder form.
Keep us posted on September. LOVE THAT NAME !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I feel like maybe a lot of her hesitance with me so far could be attributed to the fact that probably since I adopted her, she was brewing this infection which made her irritable and such. Do you think that's a possibility? Anyway, I've been giving her her space to feel better and calm down. She has been eating and using her box so I hope she's on the mend.

The vet didn't mention anything about L-Lysine. What does it do for the kitties? Is it sort of like a supplement?

Thank you for your comment! I'm doing my best to not get discouraged.

I think it's definitely not helping that she's been unwell since coming home with you, so now she's probably associating feeling bad = you. Very unfortunate timing. And vet visits are always so traumatic!
Hopefully she'll be getting better soon and once that happens, I'm sure she'll come round and start being more sociable. She's had a lot of stress in her life recently and some cats need longer to adjust than others.

L-lysine is a powder that you add to their food. It cats with chronic herpes by binding to an enzyme that the virus needs in order to reproduce. Some people find it makes a big difference in suppressing their cat's symptoms.

Absolutely September not feeling well has been the underlying factor to her being slow to trust and acclimate. Good that you are such an astute meowmy and brought her to the vet!! Hard to know when we adopt new kitties if they are truly sick OR just really scared OR a little of both. So excellent on your part and soon she will be feeling SO much better.

Yes - the Lysine is a very safe amino acid supplement - and helps to boost the immune system of kitties with viruses. I think it would be a good option for September right now but certainly you can ask your vet. Most vets are very aware of L-Lysine and it's benefits.