Questions about Cats with Allergies

***this is the best his eyes have looked, but you get the picture, always watering****

I don't know if I am just an over worried fur-mama or what, but my poor Cezare (3yr old male cat) has had a few rough weeks. We had a few visits to the vet over a month period because he seems to be allergic to flea bites. He got a hot spot that he licked and made worse, leading him to have to have an antibiotic and steroid shot 2 weeks ago. That's just about healed and now his seasonal allergies are acting up tremendously. 

I heard him snoring the other night and then the next day he was sneezing a lot and his eyes were watering. We had our follow-up appointment with the vet and she didn't seem too concerned about it, as it is allergy season and this week a lot of people and animals are having problems. Last night and the night before, he'd wake up with what I thought was sneezing episodes, but realized were him trying to clear his nose (In other words, excuse my graphic-ness) but trying to blow some serious snot rockets :O                 to clear his nose so he could breathe better. 

I've been giving him antihistamine morning and night but it's either not helping or not helping enough. Today, his eyes are watering constantly, and they almost seem sensitive to the sunlight (or just super irritated by pollen.) He tries to clear his nose a bit during the day, but not as much as at night when sleeping. He also seems a bit unenergetic bordering on lethargic. When he walks he does it slowly. Playtime is a bit of a bust. And he's sleeping (or trying to sleep more.)

The only thing he is doing the same is eating. He does that well.

I guess, what I'm asking is two things:

One- has anyone ever experienced a cat with similar allergies and symptoms? Do you think it's normal for home to be sleepy/not energetic with his allergies?

Two- Any advice? I'm going to start trying homeopathic options rather than put him on steroids Any experience with this?

I don't want to bring him back to the vet again just for them to say- yeah, that's allergies, good luck. Nothing really to do.

Any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated!

darlenam8 said:

 looked, but you get the picture, always watering****

Any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated!

Click to expand...

As a rule, cats don't get eye allergies like people do.  They get allergies in their skin, and sometimes have allergic reactions to food that show up as GI issues. Everything you describe with respect to eyes and nose sounds exactly like an upper respiratory infection, quite possibly a chronic one like feline herpes.  Seeing a vet and discussing this would be the first thing.  Next, wiping the eyes and flushing them out gettly with a few drops of non-medicated Genteel Moderate to Severe eye drops is another good thing several times a day.  A steam bath in the bathroom twice a day can help the nose as can a drop or 2 or non-medicated saline nose drops like Little Noses in each nostril once or twice a day.  Your vet might also want to start antibiotics if they suspect its bacterial.  But, many cats have feline herpes and it comes and goes depending on stress levels.  Clear discharge from the eyes is more indicative of a viral infection (herpes) than if it was really goopy which is more likely to be bacterial.  All the above to be discussed with a vet.