Strange breathing problems

I have a 3 month old kitten that I adopted from a shelter 2 weeks ago. She sneezes alot, and seems like her nose is congested. Her third eyelids show most of the time (not all). She does not have any discharge from either her eyes or her nose and she has no sores in her mouth. Also she has no fever. Im wondering what could be causing this. Could she just have allergies? Or could it be worse? I took her to the vet and he said something about feline herpes but she doesnt have most of the symptoms of that disease. She has a healthy appetite, eats and drinks very well, is very energetic. Sometimes she will be affectionate and sometimes she will run and hide from everyone in the house. She does not behave as if shes in any pain and shes going to the litter box regularly and her stools are normal.

Any input on this would be great..

Stephanie Cato said:

 
I have a 3 month old kitten that I adopted from a shelter 2 weeks ago. She sneezes alot, and seems like her nose is congested. Her third eyelids show most of the time (not all). She does not have any discharge from either her eyes or her nose and she has no sores in her mouth. Also she has no fever. Im wondering what could be causing this. Could she just have allergies? Or could it be worse? I took her to the vet and he said something about feline herpes but she doesnt have most of the symptoms of that disease. She has a healthy appetite, eats and drinks very well, is very energetic. Sometimes she will be affectionate and sometimes she will run and hide from everyone in the house. She does not behave as if shes in any pain and shes going to the litter box regularly and her stools are normal.

Any input on this would be great..

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It sounds like your vet is right, or at least she has some type of URI (cold).  A cat who came from a shelter that is sneezing and has a congested nose has a URI.  It's not an allergy or anything else.  Many if not most kittens who come from a shelter will come down with a URI after getting home.

 The kitten should be on antibiotics to prevent a bacterial infection moving into her lungs and you should monitor her eating in case she loses her appetite if the cold gets worse which it may.

If it is feline herpes then L-Lysine in her diet daily for life can help to manage it as herpes can return, but it could be a more basic cold than herpes.  Also see this article (by me) on identifying common ailments in cats that come from shelters.  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/identif...dopted-from-animal-shelters-and-rescue-groups

Lastly, you should contact the shelter and/or review your adoption agreement to see if they provide any post adoption medical care.

Keep us updated.

Ok thanks. Shes been on antibiotics for a week now and seems to be breathing a little better although her nose is still a little congested. Is she contagious to other animals? Like if you had another cat that was up to date on all his shots could he get what she has too?

And welcome to TCS!

The FVRCP vaccine provides protection to cats from colds like this, but it may not be 100% protection.  By now it's probably pointless to separate them, so i would just watch the other cat for any cold symptoms.

You can help relieve your cats congestion by giving her a 15 min sauna in the bathroom twice a day with the shower running hot water (and you supervising) and you can also give her a squeeze up each nostril of non-medicated saline nose drops - thats plain salty water.  There is a version for young children in the drug store called "Little Noses".

She will be healthy again soon!