How do you make a cat sneeze? :-)

Buddy is prone to frequent upper respiratory infections, and I was wondering if there's anything I can do to help him sneeze the mucous out a little faster so he can feel better faster.  Well, besides turning the bathroom into a sauna for him 24/7.

It usually takes a few days for any meds to kick in, and my heart always breaks into a million little pieces in the meantime when I can hear the snot rattling around in his nose, and I can't help him to sneeze it out.  Sorta like when my son was two years old, and didn't understand the concept of 'blow'. ;-)

The vaporizer and humidifier don't put out enough steam to help, and I've tried putting saline drops in Buddy's nose (as well as using a bulb syringe to try to suction out the mucous).  But so far, the only thing that seems to trigger a good sneeze is when he poops in the litter box, which really seems to open up this sinuses.  Hee!

Any suggestions?

I am not aware of any specific act to induce a sneeze. However, if he is prone to URIs, have you considered putting him on L-Lysine and maybe a probiotic to help boost his immune system?

CatPack said:

I am not aware of any specific act to induce a sneeze. However, if he is prone to URIs, have you considered putting him on L-Lysine and maybe a probiotic to help boost his immune system?

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He's been on L-Lysine ever since we took him in a couple of years ago, and started him on Lactoferrin (Jarrow) last week.  But I have to confess, I'm not that familiar with probiotics.  Is that something I should probably give him in addition to what I'm already mixing in with his food, or would I need to swap something out?

I'm afraid the vets haven't been particularly helpful re: advice about nutritional supplements and preventive care, and I'm on a bit of a learning curve. ;-)

cheeser said:

 
He's been on L-Lysine ever since we took him in a couple of years ago, and started him on Lactoferrin (Jarrow) last week.  But I have to confess, I'm not that familiar with probiotics.  Is that something I should probably give him in addition to what I'm already mixing in with his food, or would I need to swap something out?

I'm afraid the vets haven't been particularly helpful re: advice about nutritional supplements and preventive care, and I'm on a bit of a learning curve. ;-)

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It can take a month for L-lysine to kick in....

StephenQ said:

 
It can take a month for L-lysine to kick in....

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True.  But he's been on L-Lysine for two years, and with his FIV/FHV, nasal scarring from chronic URIs before he decided to adopt us, and hayfever, he has some kind of upper respiratory problem almost all the time.  Argh!  That's why we recently added the Lactoferrin, in the hope that it might help to boost his immune system so he wouldn't be as prone to these sorts of things. :-)

However, since three vets suggested putting Buddy down just because he's has FIV, I figure anything I can do to help would be better than what they recommended. ;-)

Ok, then you have definitely covered the basics. =)

Probably the most beneficial thing I have used with cats with chronic herpes/URIs is the use of Polyprenyl Immunostimulant (PI). For the most recent cat we used this with, we also used Veraflox, which is an antibiotic designed for cats with FHV.

The cat came to us at the age of 6 wks and was essentially blind due to the severity of her infection. We had used a combination of treatments off and on for months, getting things in remission, only to have another flare-up 5-14 days later. We had to keep putting her spay off due to her being sick. Finally, at 10 months, we bit the bullet and had her surgery and put her on the PI/Veraflox to help address a potential flare-up as a result. It's been 2 months since and she hasn't had a reoccurrence yet (::knock on wood:

CatPack said:

The cat came to us at the age of 6 wks and was essentially blind due to the severity of her infection. We had used a combination of treatments off and on for months, getting things in remission, only to have another flare-up 5-14 days later. We had to keep putting her spay off due to her being sick. Finally, at 10 months, we bit the bullet and had her surgery and put her on the PI/Veraflox to help address a potential flare-up as a result. It's been 2 months since and she hasn't had a reoccurrence yet (::knock on wood:

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Thanks much for the info!  And best of luck to you and your kitty.  I'll keep my fingers crossed for y'all...and my toes, and anything else I can cross. :-)