emergency!Anyone could tell the difference between "nasal discharge" and "wet nose"

stephymeow

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Emergency, please help, it's nigh for me now.

What's the difference between  "nasal discharge" and "wet nose" please?

My old cat is suffering from eye ulcers, and he caught flu in winter.

It seems that he has nasal discharge now! If I use a paper to wipe his nose, the paper became wet.

How Can I tell if it's normal wet nose or a nasal discharge? the water from his nose didn't drop, but his nose is really wet!

the water from his nose can stain on my finger!

I'm waiting on line

thanks
 

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It sounds to me like your cat's nose is wetter than the usual wet cat nose although it''s hard to tell without actually being on the spot..  Since your boy has recently been sick, it's probably a good idea to have him checked by a vet. Eye ulcers can be caused by a herpes infection, as can an overly wet nose. This doesn't sound like an emergency,however.  You can wait until regular vet hours to take him in.  
 
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stephymeow

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He caught flu in winter without treatment, the sneezing and nasal discharge disappeared themselves.

But he breathes with noise.

And then in January the eye problems till now

I don't know if it's a outbreak or something serious

he's on lysine and famciclovir now,  i really worry it means bacterial infection
 

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He caught flu in winter without treatment, the sneezing and nasal discharge disappeared themselves.

But he breathes with noise.

And then in January the eye problems till now

I don't know if it's a outbreak or something serious

he's on lysine and famciclovir now,  i really worry it means bacterial infection
What does it sound like when he breathes?  Snorting?  Does he mouth breathe?  

So he's seen a vet who put him on lysine and famciclovir?
 

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My cat is being treated for eye ulcers-please get kitty seen at vet today. They will let you bring them in for eye emergencies=they dont mess around. They will use a stain to see what is on the cornea of the eye-then go from there.

At home you can get lysine and add to wet food or babyfood and start getting it into him=Amazon sells a brand called NOW! and its a lb bottle. it lasts me a year.

Daily dose is 1/4teaspoon but they told me I can up it to 1/2 teaspoon for outbreaks.

Lysine is an amino acid that is not stored/made by the body. It scrambles the RNA of the herpes virus so it doesnt necessarily KILL it just stops it in its tracks. I have seen big improvements with adding lysine. I forget to do it daily sometimes and have noticed more eye goops etc.

I would get that looked at and try to keep kitty hydrated-you can run a hot shower and close the door with kitty in there-this helps break up mucus in his nasal passages..the nasal passages and sinuses wrap around the face and can cause swelling-the wet air helps break it up.

I don't know about the wetness. Is the discharge clear, green, yellow or none? IT used to be that if its turned color then it could be infection. Now because the flu is a virus-it gets complicated-the virus can make the environment in a way to let oppurtunistic bacteria in and cause problems. So in the beginning of a viral infection there is nothing that can kill it-we have to use supportive care-food-fluids-rest-steam treatments etc. Then if a fever starts or signs of infection then can treat but its really hard sometimes to tell the difference from illness from a virus or bacteria as both feel pretty crappy.
 
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stephymeow

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hi Ginny,
thanks for the help!
He breathes with sounds,but not all the time. It depends on his position. For me, it seems it sounds louder when he turns his head to left and up. I jut found out it may be something wrong with his frontal bone of his nose or what. I searched for the methods to diagnose but like for his eye problem,we can't do those tests In our country. It seems I caught him seezing once when he put his head near his food bowl.but I heard it just once.im not sure if it's sneezing.and it seems his nose is wet,I can see its wet,and I put a paper on it and the paper became wet,so I wonder if it's discharge! I'm so nervous! Our vets put him on topical antibacterial for a long time,utill like 2weeks+ ago,we began to put him on antivirus medications.so he's on lysine and famciclovir these days,and no sneezing and nasal discharge at that moment.so I'm really worry if it means his respiration problem is caused By c felis!we don't have swab tests.I know many people will ask me to take him to see the vet. But I still need to ask here.because we don't have methods to diagnose,and I'm not fully trust our vets.he has a drop of blood from his nose in December, our vet said it's the dry weather.but now I think it's May be swollen of some part of his nose and it's due to the flu in November.he was on oral doxycycline for 13days final February till March.and normal dose of famciclovir and eye drops. The drops hurt him so we finally stopped. And we go higher dose with famciclovir,because there's some ulcers in the middle of his eyes too,no veins.and at meantime,we stopped doxycycline. And I can always feel his lymph nose on his neck.i don't know it takes how many days to see progress of his eye ulcers.a white line under on of his ulcers is gone when he was on 4medications I mentioned.but that ulcer's still not clear,like could, and suken.and the other shallow ulcers are still there too.he's on high dose for 7days now. Shouldn't the shallow ulcers be gone by now? I'm so afraid that we stopped the right medications,the doxycycline.which won't help with the ulcers without veins but will help those who have veins.can a chronic situation be just viral?or it must combine with other things? And dice the lymph node is still here, I think that means the inflammation is still here. If his sounding breath means upper respiration problem's chronic and it's still there. shouldn't we add antibacterial medications too?but I really worry about his kidney,if we add that too.so much burden for a old cat. I really don't know what to do.im lost.and I feel so alone.but I have to work it out to help him!the old cat is my brother. I have to help him. He's in so much pain. Dose anyone know if his chronic respiration problem is still there and bacteria is part of the problem, can his eyes heal with antivirus famciclovir? Or can we make the virus stop first and see if there's are bacteria too and deal with the bacteria later? Sorry for the long post, I have to treat every post seriously,I'd like to have all the opinions and stories I can get, so that I may figure out the problem.
 
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stephymeow

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Thank you very very much for the long reply foxxycat! The discharge is clear like water. I'm not sure if it's discharge, it makes his nose wet, but it didn't drop off. I want to know how to tell a discharge from normally wet nose, maybe it's the key to help him! Since he's on lysine and famciclovir, if the discharge began, can that means c felis is envolved? im so despair! Since there's no tests to tell.
 
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stephymeow

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Thank you very much mister whiskers! I'll read the link now. My vet can't read English and I don't think they will do that for a cat. He was on topical ganciclovir, not effective.most ulcers are not deep so we can't use prednisilone now. But it's chronic. And there's no way for us to find out what's in his eye. Except I saw the dentritic thing. But I know it can combine other thing. And if his respiration problem is still there? I can always feel his lymph node on his neck. Do you know if takes how long to see a shallow dentritic ulcer healing?they are still there, since we already go higher dose with famciclovir 40mg/kg three times a day, for a week now. The shallow ones should gone by now right? I don't know.and I don't know how to tell if it's healing.they are still ulcers,but how can we tell if they are healing?
 

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The Famciclovir alone will not cure the eye ulcers. He really needs to be on an eye drop specifically for that.

Is C. Felis a common virus in your country? It is not that common here. Most cats have Feline Herpes Virus (rhinovirus is the cause.) If FHV, steroids should not be used as it will appear to make the symptoms improve and then a massive flare up occurs several days later.

I would discuss the use of another antiviral eye drop with your vet.

As for the wet nose...
Do you see droplets coming out of the nostrils (like when you have a runny nose) or the cat licking his nose frequently? This would indicate nasal discharge.
 
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thank you very much catpack, for all the help these days!

His dose for oral famciclovir is 40mg/kg three times a dag, for 7 days now.

and he was on ganciclovir for 3 weeks, i dont know if we can continue it.

and for trifluridine, i ask about it, they said they did experiment to prove it doesnt work, so they dont have it. i dont know how they did their experiment, it's no like what i read on internet.

all topical medications seem to hurt him, he closed his eyes everytime after I put it in his eyes.

We are in Beijing China, poor medical condition for cats, no tests for c felis, no good vets, i dont know if c felis's common, because they can rarely diagnose it.

But I think the virus's there, because I saw something like we described on internet the dentritic thing. but his first ulcer is oval, at the first time I noticed it. and with a few white deposits point on it.

now there are several ulcers in his both eyes. most are dentritic for me.

after what our vets contribute to make it's chronic since november, I dont think I can trust them.And they wont give me any advice useful.

the only good thing is when he's on famciclovir+ doxycyline+erythromycin+ganciclovir a white line under the deepest ulcer is gone.

but after that I dont know how i can know if he's healing. the shallow ulcers are still shallow ulcers, 7 days since he's on high dose of famciclovir 40mg/kg three time a day, So i begin to doubt.

now since i augment the dose of famciclovir, i stopped the doxycycline for the sake of his kidney, but i regret it. I ask it about our vet, he said I can stop it.

I dont know if it will work again since we stopped it once. and if i use it again, it should last at least 3 weeks i think

or maybe I can try with amoxicillin to see if his lymph node will gone, since it needs less time to make it work,maybe 5-7 days?according to what I found

then go doxycycline, if there are bacterias that amoxicillin wont kill, it likely to be c felis or mycoplasma?

His nose is quite wet sometimes, it wont drop off, but it make a paper wet, and i can see his nose is wet. I ll keep a close eye on it, see if there are droplets later.

he doesnt lick yet

since he's on famciclovir and lysine, can we say a break out it's due to other thing than virus? which means he has other things combined with virus?

he began with low dose of famciclovir since 25th february, and then we augment the dose like twice later, it's 3 weeks altogether, I think it's time to make the virus dormant in his body? if it's the only problem.

and the lymph node should be gone? am i right? I dont know
 

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Hi there, I am trying to find the names of the drops my vet prescribed for the ulcers on her eyes. Looks like both Herpes and C Felis can cause ulcers on the eyes and that most places dont test to see which it is as the treatment plan appears to be the same thing.

Basicly there are two different drops=one of pain and one for infection. One for pain is every 12 hours and the other is 3 to 4 times a day. They recommend every 4-6 hours but most people don't have the time-my vet says 3 times a day is what we need..the name of the pain one I think is Atropine Ophthalmic Ointment, distributed by Bausch & Lomb Co. The other one is Tobramycin-this is the one that is put on eye 3 times a day. I didnt know that the atropine causes dialated eyes so now I know why my cat likes the dark after these drops. Poor girl. I also have to space them apart 15 minutes which makes it extreemly difficult as she takes off and hides after the first round. Cats!

I wonder if you can get these drops? This site says that the drops are made for human use but vets use it offlabel. here is the link for the Atropine Ophthalmic Ointment (treats pain/)

http://allvetmednews.blogspot.com/2014/05/atropine-ophthalmic-ointment.html

I couldnt find an article about Tobramycin but I did find interesting facts about how the drops treat directly whateve bacteria is causing problems. There is no blood supply to the corneah from what my vet told me so the only way to treat ulcers is direct application of antibiotics. She said we don't use steroid drops because it makes the infection take much longer to heal. So for now I have these two to give for the next 10-14 days-we go back for a recheck in a week which is this friday but may not be able to get her in until monday-but I have definately seen her eyes improved already-she was blinking all the time and just uncomfortable. And the eye drops are human drops but used off label-so make sure to tell the vet this-it is really the only way to treat it since oral medications dont reach that layer of the eye so its not helpful to give oral meds for ulcers as how my vet explained it to me..hope this helps!
 

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I would continue the lysine and not sure about that other med you listed-you would have to discuss with vet for why they want it-I have to read back your earlier posts but is the cat eating and drinking and poo/pee ok? My vet said to watch for lethergic, sleeping more than usual, not eating, feeling like they just want to hide thats the only way they signal to us that something is wrong. my cat stopped wanting to go outside and hide under a chair in a cave of blankets I built for her-so I knew she was feeling crappy=she has arthritis as well which we are treating with laser treatment which is working but only for 3 days-we go back 3 times this week-but she went outside yesterday for quite a bit of time-she is a barn cat-is almost 13 yrs old=she stops eating if we dont let her out-she is VERY independent. Loves pets but not laps. So I dont recommend allowing cats outside with the je\rks out there who want to hurt animals.
 

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hi Ginny,
thanks for the help!
He breathes with sounds,but not all the time. It depends on his position. For me, it seems it sounds louder when he turns his head to left and up. I jut found out it may be something wrong with his frontal bone of his nose or what. I searched for the methods to diagnose but like for his eye problem,we can't do those tests In our country. It seems I caught him seezing once when he put his head near his food bowl.but I heard it just once.im not sure if it's sneezing.and it seems his nose is wet,I can see its wet,and I put a paper on it and the paper became wet,so I wonder if it's discharge! I'm so nervous! Our vets put him on topical antibacterial for a long time,utill like 2weeks+ ago,we began to put him on antivirus medications.so he's on lysine and famciclovir these days,and no sneezing and nasal discharge at that moment.so I'm really worry if it means his respiration problem is caused By c felis!we don't have swab tests.I know many people will ask me to take him to see the vet. But I still need to ask here.because we don't have methods to diagnose,and I'm not fully trust our vets.he has a drop of blood from his nose in December, our vet said it's the dry weather.but now I think it's May be swollen of some part of his nose and it's due to the flu in November.he was on oral doxycycline for 13days final February till March.and normal dose of famciclovir and eye drops. The drops hurt him so we finally stopped. And we go higher dose with famciclovir,because there's some ulcers in the middle of his eyes too,no veins.and at meantime,we stopped doxycycline. And I can always feel his lymph nose on his neck.i don't know it takes how many days to see progress of his eye ulcers.a white line under on of his ulcers is gone when he was on 4medications I mentioned.but that ulcer's still not clear,like could, and suken.and the other shallow ulcers are still there too.he's on high dose for 7days now. Shouldn't the shallow ulcers be gone by now? I'm so afraid that we stopped the right medications,the doxycycline.which won't help with the ulcers without veins but will help those who have veins.can a chronic situation be just viral?or it must combine with other things? And dice the lymph node is still here, I think that means the inflammation is still here. If his sounding breath means upper respiration problem's chronic and it's still there. shouldn't we add antibacterial medications too?but I really worry about his kidney,if we add that too.so much burden for a old cat. I really don't know what to do.im lost.and I feel so alone.but I have to work it out to help him!the old cat is my brother. I have to help him. He's in so much pain. Dose anyone know if his chronic respiration problem is still there and bacteria is part of the problem, can his eyes heal with antivirus famciclovir? Or can we make the virus stop first and see if there's are bacteria too and deal with the bacteria later? Sorry for the long post, I have to treat every post seriously,I'd like to have all the opinions and stories I can get, so that I may figure out the problem.
The reason why I asked so many questions is because it kind of sounds similar to what my kitty Gracie had.  I don't think I would keep him on an anti-viral medication especially if it seems to not be working, or the eye drops if they aren't working too.  Unnecessary meds don't help the kidneys or the liver at all, especially for an old man kitty.  :(

It does sound like a bacterial infection from what you've described except I would expect there to be a yellow or green color to the nasal discharge, not just wetness.  If there is a lymph node in his neck that does mean infection, but it could mean cancer too.  The only way to know is to take him to a vet, one that is recommended by others who've had cats with similar problems treated successfully.  That would be ideal, but you know this is not a perfect world.  You can't diagnose the kitty yourself, but you do need to find a very competent and compassionate vet to properly diagnose him and treat him.  Good luck and keep us posted please.
 
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stephymeow

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Hi

@foxxycat

 
Thank you very much for sharing your information.

I asked one of our vets about Atropine drop for the pain, he said it will delay the healing, so he don't want to give it to me. and I searched online,  It seems this drop prevent the production of tears, which may bring medications to the cornea. But I think I can get it if necessary.

And I think Tobramycin is the same thing as Tobrex, we've tried it for 2 weeks at the beginning, It's for all kinds of bacterium, except some special bacteria without their cell wall, like Mycoplasma or C Felis, according to my study.

I agree with your opinion on steroid drops too, we should be careful about it. And it seems this drop can make the inflammation go deeper.

"it is really the only way to treat it since oral medications dont reach that layer of the eye so its not helpful to give oral meds for ulcers as how my vet explained it to me"

That is what I read on Internet too, and I believe in it. If the eyes is the only problem, we need topical medications only. Most oral medications won't reach the cornea.

And later I found a study about oral Famciclovir, we need about 40mg-90mg/kg three times a day to make enough Penciclovir go into tears, which may let the virus go sleep. And a vet told me to try with 90mg/kg, tid.

I don't know what to do since the topical ganciclovir didn't seem to work well for my cat, I agree to go higher dose with it for 2 weeks, he's on his 8th days today. And I keep a close eye on his pee and how much water he drinks. But I don't know what to do after 14 days, it's not a vet we can go visit, just a kind foreign vet who reply me several times via mail. So I'm not sure if he'll always reply me or he'll give me other advice.

I think everything seems to be ok with his poo( once or twice daily), pee(1 or 2 at night and 1 or 2 during the day), drinking and eating. Sometimes he drinks more than usually, which makes me quite nervous about his kidney, and I try to touch his kidney to see if he's in pain. 

Mine sleeps a lot, especially the day before yesterday and yesterday, when I suspect the nasal discharge, I don't know for today yet.

And I think he has chronic respiration problem which caused his eye problems. Two of our vets said it's unusual for a old cat to have eye ulcers, so I think it may be the chronic respiration problem, which is mild and chronic, and continue to bring things into his eyes. I don't know if everything will be fine again with his eyes, if we can't resolve the respiration problems. I keep thinking about the oral antibiotics. I'm not decided yet. The blood won't tell much for a chronic situation, and we can't do the swab test, it makes me pull my hairs off.

My cat used to try to get out too when he was young, we don't have a house, just a small apartment, when I was little I thought I could give him a better place to live when I grow up, now I feel so guilty and so useless. He gives me his whole life, and so much happiness, but I can't give him much and I can't even relieve his pain, like now. It's dangerous to go outside, I agree with that too! 

How is your cat's eye? is it caused by flu and FHV?Can you see the dentritic thing in his eyes? Mine has many ulcers in his both eye now, and it's still cloudy with those dentritic things in it, I don't know he needs how long to heal. Are the ulcers healing? It takes such a long time, and even the shallow ulcers are still there.

It's usually easier to treat when it's a outbreak, and I wish good luck for yours.
 
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stephymeow

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Hi @Ginny

Thanks for your reply.

I agree with you! So we stopped those who didn't work. But it seems i may made a wrong decision about oral doxycycline.

I still try to contact with more and more vets at the same time, the most famous one( we already visited) may not be the really good one for him, so I still keep trying.

I think the discharge is often yellow or green when there are bacterium too. 

But I also read on Internet, that it's often a mild case for the old cats, you may not notice any symptoms, So I still worry about it, I don't know if I'm right to think like this?

It seems that Bordetella, feline leukemia and cancer can cause lymph node all. so do virus and other bacterium.

The first time I ask about the lymph node to one of our vets, she touched it and said, it's nothing...after we fall ill we'll keep it.

It's so wrong to believe in her,at that moment he hasn't got the eye ulcers. 

I'll update his situation for sure.

How is your Gracie? Is she ok now?

how is it like? ulcers in the eyes, caused by virus or bacteria? do you have photos of her eyes?

It seems that most cases are outbreaks here, I don't know how a chronic one heal TT
 

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I really wish they would let you give the atrophic drops=it is a pain reliever. you dont give it together with the tobramycin. I wait 15 min. the pain drops can cause eyes to dialate so i try to keep the lights low. they told me that we will be doing the antibiotic drops for at least 2 weeks. sometimes 3 weeks. I dont see the ulcer in her eye=its at the very beginning stage. but also I did find information that says the tobramycin needs to be applied every hour to four hours in the first day=there was a theory that this helps kill off the bacteria faster. then after a day of this constant treatment go to eveyr 4 hours. my vet didnt say to do this-this is only what I found yesterday. She says 4 times a day is ideal but 3 times will work. I bet that eye will heal better if you can get those drops again and try every 4 hours=just for 24 hours. and see if it improves..

as far as living in an apartment you have to live somewhere right? I dont think you should feel guilty. you are here looking for answers. Thats more than most people. We have people in America that dont even get their cats looked at when they are sick. They just say its an animal who cares...sad but true. So please be kind to yourself. It sounds to me-like he is doing really well except for the eye issues..he is eating and drinking no problem.  Does he play at all? Mine love playing with my shoe laces. I have spent too much on toys and theydont like them..a plain ol leather shoelace they will bat at for a good while-just make sure not to leave these string type toys out so they dont eat it. My youngest loves eating string things..no thank you we keep them locked up when I am at work...I am glad you have someone to answer your emails. And these drops are human grade so they at least can be purchased..keep us posted and be gentle with yourself.
 

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Hi @Ginny

Thanks for your reply.

I agree with you! So we stopped those who didn't work. But it seems i may made a wrong decision about oral doxycycline.

I still try to contact with more and more vets at the same time, the most famous one( we already visited) may not be the really good one for him, so I still keep trying.

I think the discharge is often yellow or green when there are bacterium too. 

But I also read on Internet, that it's often a mild case for the old cats, you may not notice any symptoms, So I still worry about it, I don't know if I'm right to think like this?

It seems that Bordetella, feline leukemia and cancer can cause lymph node all. so do virus and other bacterium.

The first time I ask about the lymph node to one of our vets, she touched it and said, it's nothing...after we fall ill we'll keep it.

It's so wrong to believe in her,at that moment he hasn't got the eye ulcers. 

I'll update his situation for sure.

How is your Gracie? Is she ok now?

how is it like? ulcers in the eyes, caused by virus or bacteria? do you have photos of her eyes?

It seems that most cases are outbreaks here, I don't know how a chronic one heal TT
I do have a video I took of her the night before I had her PTS.  Go to the forum called Crossing The Bridge.  I think my title was "My Sweet Gracie Girl - 2001 - July 23, 2015."  I can't watch it.   I hope your kitty doesn't have the same thing.  
 
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@Ginny

Oh God! Crossing The Bridge? does it means...?

I'm so sorry to hear that. I really want to give you a hug.

My sister's waiting for me too at the other side of the bridge, She just gone due to misdiagnosis, We thought it was her heart and it turns out to be the same cause as my brother's.

I could have saved her, if we knew the cause! I can't stop blaming myself. If I didn't trust our vets that much, I may have a chance to save her.

It breaks my heart. I understand your feeling. I saw her go, and it left a huge hole in my heart.
 
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