Very Swollen Nose

Hey Friends!  I'm wondering if any of you could give me some advice or maybe a little moral support.

This is about my Foxy cat, a stray who husband and I took in and adopted in June, and her nose which is quite swollen.  I'm going to attach a pic of her at her first vet visit on June 15 and another taken on 24 Dec.  She has always had a broad nose, but I don't know if there was always a problem I didn't know about or if she just has a broad nose.  

She's been to the vet several times.  She went to the vet in June and July for her check-up and shots and boosters and all that "new cat" stuff.  In September we started noticing that she was having sneezing fits and congestion.  I did everything I read about on here to help alleviate any allergies - dust free litter, vacuum more, get rid of air fresheners, etc.  When none of that helped I tried the correct cat dosages of Claritin for 2 weeks and when that didn't work I tried Zyrtec for 2 weeks. Nothing was working, so we took her to the vet.  He said he didn't think it was herpes, but I had been giving her L-Lysine anyway.  He said it was environmental allergies, gave her a Depomedrol shot, and said to give her Benadryl.  He said the shot's effects should last a month.

For a week she was like a new cat - playing, exploring, running around with our other cat, but then the drug started wearing off and by the end of the 2nd week she was back to just eating and sleeping and laying around.  I know now that she wasn't feeling good for a long time, but since we had just adopted her, I just thought that was her personality.  Also we didn't know how to pill her back then, so giving her the Benadryl didn't go well.  I was trying to hide it in her food and treats, etc.

So about the middle of November I looked at her and one side of her nose was noticeably larger than the other.  In the close-up photo, looking at her, it is the left side.  I think the swelling is starting to move up around her eye.

So back to the vet we went.  He gave her an antibiotic injection of convenia and 30 prednisolone tablets of 5 mg each.  And he showed us how to pill her with a pet piller.  We did 5 days straight of the prednisolone and then went to every other day.  We gave her pill number 21 today.  She is very good to take the pills.  I hold her and husband administers it and the procedure is over in 5 seconds.

As you can see her nose is still swollen, even bigger I think than before and she still has congestion.  She sounds like a pig when she eats.  She sneezes 4 or 5 times in a row maybe 6 episodes a day.  Very slight on and off clear runny nose.  Eyes weep on and off, too.  She has a good appetite, but I don't think she can smell as well as she used to because sometimes she has trouble finding all her treats when we put them on the floor.  She also drinks and uses the litter box well.

Could this be something besides allergies?  Any clues/ideas/guesses as to what this might be?  Will she just have to live like this forever?  So far I am not overly impressed with the vet, but I don't have a lot of experience with vets.  I don't know what questions to ask him to make sure he's doing everything and exploring feasible possibilities.  He said it would be very expensive to find out exactly what she was allergic to because he would just have to try things one at a time.  

Does it sound like an abscessed tooth?  A fungal infection?  Am I over-reacting?  Thank you for any advice and comments.  

Your story is really strongly reminding me of this thread [thread="301442"]​[/thread]. Zander had very similar symptoms, and no treatments were providing lasting help. It turned out she had a wolf worm in her nasal cavity. Once it was identified and removed she got loads better, though will probably always have a slightly misshapen nose.

@kntrygrl256 can give you more details. If it were me, I'd definitely want to investigate this as a possible cause - especially as she was a stray.

I hope you find the cause soon

Columbine said:

Your story is really strongly reminding me of this thread [thread="301442"]​[/thread]. Zander had very similar symptoms, and no treatments were providing lasting help. It turned out she had a wolf worm in her nasal cavity. Once it was identified and removed she got loads better, though will probably always have a slightly misshapen nose.

@kntrygrl256 can give you more details. If it were me, I'd definitely want to investigate this as a possible cause - especially as she was a stray.

I hope you find the cause soon

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I had the same reaction. It's very similar.

Also agree with above posts about the Mystery Solved thread.

You are not over reacting by no means.

There IS something not right here.

I honestly do not think that the vet is experienced enough in this area to move ahead with finding the culprit.

Rhinitis and sinusitis symptoms include sneezing, facial deformity, nasal mucus/discharge/stuffy nose.

The more common causes are parasites, fungal, neoplasia (abnormal tissue growth), nasal polyps or a tumor.

There is clearly swelling of her nose in the second pic, poor thing. How uncomfortable she must be living with this.

I can't think of the name of the procedure, but it's where she is made groggy and a scope is used to see inside further than just what can be seen with a light.

Rhinoscopy, that's it!

Cryptococcus which is a deep fungal infection, or a possible tumor, since it has gone from more one side swollen to both sides now would be prominent to check for.

Something is going on though, it might be best to find another, more specific cat vet specialist at this time.

Thanks you guys for all the input!  I read through the thread and told husband about it and sent the links to him also.  He is convinced Foxy's problem is not a wolf worm/flybot.  He says they only have a life of 4 to 5 weeks and Foxy's had this problem for months and months.  He says either she would be dead by now or it would have made an air hole and we would be able to know for sure that is what it is.  I don't know if this is good or bad news.  We will definitely be taking her to the vet within the next 2 weeks as her prednisolone will be running out and I also read on here that you are not supposed to stop that drug all at once, cold turkey like.  I feel like I should give him one more try, but if he can't come up with anything then I will get referrals for other vets that may specialize more in nose and sinus care.  In the mean time I will love her all I can and keep up the L-Lysine.  It makes me feel like at least I am doing something!  And for 4 or 5 hours after she takes the prednisolone she feels better and plays some and meows and wants to be petted.  I LOVE my little fur-baby SOOOoooooo much!!! [emoji]9829[/emoji]

Hey, it's me again!  I live in a rural area and usually only get into town once a week.  Well, husband and I went in today to run our errands and while there I stopped at another vet office and was able to have a consultation with the vet.  I gave him a rundown of everything and he said it sounds like our current vet is doing everything that he would do.  He mentioned scoping her nose, MRI's, and a few other things, but said no vet in town had the equipment to do them.  We would need to take her to Atlanta or Athens to UGA and their college of vet medicine.  He said UGA would need a referral from our current vet and prices would start at least $1000. 

I am very disheartened by this.  He seemed to imply that since the steroids and antibiotics weren't working, the next step would be to see if there was an object - seed, blade of grass, etc. - stuck up there or possibly polyps.  So I'm not sure what I'm going to do.  I guess I will just hold tight till we see her regular vet next week.  And I'm not exactly sure how he knows every vet in town doesn't have the equipment needed for some of these tests.  He said the nose scoping  was so expensive because she has to be sedated. 

Thank you all for listening ~

Yup, it's true about the sedation. Can you imagine trying to hold a cat still while you cram something up their nose?! Had a rhinoscopy done for Mr Squiggles to look for polyps a few years back. They found nothing and flushed him out, I think it cost me like $300 total?

I think you need to spend the money, or convince your husband to. She is likely in a lot of pain and it's not fair for her to live that way.

KittySneakers said:

 
Hey, it's me again!  I live in a rural area and usually only get into town once a week.  Well, husband and I went in today to run our errands and while there I stopped at another vet office and was able to have a consultation with the vet.  I gave him a rundown of everything and he said it sounds like our current vet is doing everything that he would do.  He mentioned scoping her nose, MRI's, and a few other things, but said no vet in town had the equipment to do them.  We would need to take her to Atlanta or Athens to UGA and their college of vet medicine.  He said UGA would need a referral from our current vet and prices would start at least $1000. 

I am very disheartened by this.  He seemed to imply that since the steroids and antibiotics weren't working, the next step would be to see if there was an object - seed, blade of grass, etc. - stuck up there or possibly polyps.  Husband doesn't want to spend the $$$, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do.  I guess I will just hold tight till we see her regular vet next week.  And I'm not exactly sure how he knows every vet in town doesn't have the equipment needed for some of these tests.  He said the nose scoping  was so expensive because she has to be sedated. 

Thank you all for listening ~

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I would simply phone your vet and say that it has been suggested that it is fungal and it won't hurt to give itraconazole a try. Make up a convincing story even! My sister in law who is a vet tech suggested it may be fungal as she has seen this similar before, etc. You aren't stating anything for a fact but he clearly is unfamiliar with it or would have otherwise tested for it.

Likely being in a rural area is why.

What would be the harm at this point right?

As with all other fungal invasions, the ONLY med that will get rid of it is an anti-fungal med.