Lingering URI in foster kittens?

I am fostering two kittens for a local shelter. They were brought into the shelter on October 13 and their date of birth was estimated as September 6. They had a URI and were treated with eye drops and nebulization for 5 days. I brought them home on October 19. They were still sneezing occasionally (once or twice per hour) and had a little eye discharge (nothing green or yellow). I reported this back to the shelter and was told that as long as they're eating, playing, and using their box normally, there was no need to bring them back in to see a shelter vet.

I took them to my personal vet on October 26, just for my own peace of mind. Their temperatures were normal. They are negative for FIV and FeLV and their fecal tests showed no parasites. (I had dewormed them with Panacur and Ponazaril given to me by the shelter.) My vet didn't seem concerned about the sneezing or slight eye discharge, with the same caveat the shelter gave - as long as they're eating and playing, don't worry...

They are eating quite well (canned food) and play with lots of energy. They're gaining weight, averaging 1/4 pound per week, and their bowel movements are solid or very close. But they're still sneezing and have slightly goopy eyes. They actually got a bit worse after our vet visit, but I wrote that off to stress. No real difficulty breathing, but they definitely seem stuffed up. Some days they seem better, but the next day it seems like they're back to square one. My questions are:

- Is it normal for URIs to linger three weeks or longer? Should I take them to a different vet for a third opinion? I hate to stress them out again if it isn't really necessary.
- What are the chances that this is feline herpes or calici virus instead of a more garden variety URI germ? If they were only ~5 weeks when they got the URI, wouldn't they have still had some immunity from herpes/calici from their mother?
- If they do have herpes or calici, and if I end up adopting them (highly likely [emoji]128512[/emoji]) what are the risks to my older, vaccinated cats?
- Does this sound more like allergies? What would be the likely suspects for allergens?

Thanks for reading this, and I appreciate any wisdom anyone could share.

Suzanne

I am glad to hear you took your kittens to the vet for a 2nd opinion.  One thing you can try that may help the kittens feel better is to turn your shower on as hot as you can get the water. Take the kittens in the bathroom with you and sit with them in the steamy bathroom for about 20 minutes 2-3 times a day.  I adopted a kitten that had a URI and was not showing symptoms right away so my other 3 cats all caught it.  Casey and Starbuck both required vet care. Casey also had an eye infection.  Starbuck was coughing/hacking and sneezing.  Sonny and Apollo were only sneezing a little bit so I did not take them to the vet.   I did this steam treatment with all 4 of my cats and it really helped to get rid of the congestion.  None of my cats ever stopped eating, playing or going to the bathroom either.  This maybe something you can try to help your cats feel more comfortable.  Apollo does not liked to be picked up and fought with me when I went to bring him into the bathroom.  After the 1st day he would demand his steam room time.  After about a week of this treatment all 4 were completely back to normal.

If would definitely keep any eye on the discharge from their eyes.  If it does change colors then I would take them back to the vet.  I remember when Casey had his eye infection the discharge went from clear to yellow to green and the whites of his eyes had a reddish tint to them.  Also if their appetite suddenly starts to decrease it could be a sign the URI is getting worse because they can not smell their food.

Thanks for your response. It's good to hear from someone else who has gone through this.

I decided to take them to my vet again today (same practice, but we saw a different veterinarian). She gave us Clavamox and some antibiotic eye drops. About 30 minutes after giving them the Clavamox, they both threw up violently, at exactly the same time. Poor babies.

Immediately after I got that cleaned up, they wanted to eat again, so at least they still have appetites. I read that vomiting is a common side effect of Clavamox. Not sure if I should try again tomorrow or wait until after I can talk to the vet again on Monday.

Congratulations on your new kitties!! 

For a cat that's not exhibiting any signs of an upper respiratory infection, it's very common for them to develop an URI about 10-14 days after coming home just from the stress of their new environment with new people, a new routine, new sounds, new smells, and new everything.  Since your kitties weren't 100% when you brought them home, it's not surprising that their URIs are lingering.  I adopted a kitty once from animal control and it took us a good 6 weeks to get her healthy! 

For now, I would stop the Clavamox since it's causing them to vomit.  I have a cat who can take that for about 5 days and then she starts throwing up.  Keep an eye on them and monitor for any discolored discharge, extreme lethargy, or change in appetite.  If you have an ear thermometer, you can use that to check their temp.  Normal kitty temperature is about 100º - 102º. 

If you're feeding them something different than what they were fed at the shelter, that might cause upset tummies and loose stools or even diarrhea, especially if it's dry food.  Changing canned food doesn't seem to upset the tummies quite as severely.  Be sure to feed them several servings of canned food a day to keep them properly hydrated. 

One of the biggest things for sick kitties is getting them to optimal health so that in the future, their bodies can fight off any exposure to the same bacteria or virus.  Feline herpes is so very common among shelters and most kitties are exposed to it.  Some never show symptoms, while others suffer severe complications their whole lives.  It's very manageable, though.

Thanks for the response and advice. We didn't try giving them any more Clavamox. Oddly enough, they had very little sneezing and eye discharge yesterday and seem almost normal today. Maybe they turned a corner on their own, or maybe they eye drops alone helped. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

It wouldn't hurt to give them a lysine supplement also, though since their so young I would consult with your vet about dosing. Most likely it is the herpes virus and lysine is thought to stop the virus from replicating. As another poster said most cats in a shelter environment are exposed to the virus and they could have flare ups throughout their lives or never have another one. As far as your older cats are concerned, most likely they've already been exposed and as long as their vaccines are kept up to date they should be fine. I have a cat with severe herpes (confirmed by the real PCR test) and she gets corneal ulcers and severe sneezing fits. None of my other cats have ever gotten sick and they share food dishes and litterboxs.