Advice on long-lasting URI please

Hi everyone,

I would really appreciate some advice. I adopted two kittens (Not Littermates) from the animal shelter on 6-7. They both were thought to be about 3 months old. One of them, Isabelle,  came home sneezing. A couple days later Sam started sneezing too. We went to the vet and they were diagnosed with URI, given clavamox and lycine. We returned to the vet about a week later with no improvement. Both still sneezing - very light/clear nasal discharge and occasional raspy breathing. Vet said continue lycine and let things run their course. So today was third vet visit. Isabelle still sneezing but her chest sounds clear. Sam still has congestion in chest, nose, and sneezing. Once again was told to let it run it's course. Just wondering if 5 weeks with not much improvement is normal? Am I being too impatient? Some additional info: they have never run a fever during this illness, they are eating and drinking (in the last month Isabell gained 1 pound Sam gained 1.5 lbs.) I have been taking them in the bathroom for a steam every day. Sam


Isabell


Thanks for listening to my long post. Just worried about these babies and wondering if there is more I should be doing to help them.

What adorable babies!

I just got back from the vet with my 13 week old kitten (part of a litter of 3 I found). My little guy has been sneezing for a while. Vet put him on L-lysine and I opted for no Clavamox at this time to see if the L-lysine does enough (at vets suggestion, also no fever and chest is only slightly congested). My guy was so stressed out after being neutered the vet thinks he likely lowered his own immune system with the stress making him more likely to pick up the URI (his sisters are fine). Anyway, we also added rescue Remedy drops to help him relax and feel less stress so his immune system can build back up. Maybe that could help your babies? I got it at GNC- the human version- pet version not necessary. There is lots of info online about it. I put the drops directly on his ears and paws.

SimonSchuster said:

 
What adorable babies!

I just got back from the vet with my 13 week old kitten (part of a litter of 3 I found). My little guy has been sneezing for a while. Vet put him on L-lysine and I opted for no Clavamox at this time to see if the L-lysine does enough (at vets suggestion, also no fever and chest is only slightly congested). My guy was so stressed out after being neutered the vet thinks he likely lowered his own immune system with the stress making him more likely to pick up the URI (his sisters are fine). Anyway, we also added rescue Remedy drops to help him relax and feel less stress so his immune system can build back up. Maybe that could help your babies? I got it at GNC- the human version- pet version not necessary. There is lots of info online about it. I put the drops directly on his ears and paws.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll try the rescue remedy. Maybe it will help with the introductions to my other cats as well. (whenever they get over this URI).

Congrats on your new little family and I hope all are feeling well soon!

Kittens that come from a shelter often have URI's. If it's viral (and sounds like your vet thinks it is) then there's not a whole lot you can do but wait it out. Monitoring is important to make sure you don't get some bacteria as a secondary infection (in which case antibiotics will be needed).

If you give them any homeopathic remedies (including rescue remedy) please make absolutely sure it contains no alcohol. Alcohol can be absorbed through the skin and even a small amount can damage a cat's liver. Even more so with kittens. Use only preparations intended for cats that contain no alcohol. Use a fresh bottle and then throw away what's left because without the alcohol as a preservative it's likely to become contaminated after you open it.

(Just to clarify - I would not use homeopathy, myself. I'm just pointing out the risks in case you do choose to use it).

Here's an article about common ailments in shelter cats - 

 [article="29716"]Identifying Common Ailments In Cats Adopted From Animal Shelters And Rescue Groups​[/article]  

It was written by the awesome @StephenQ  who's a TCS member and former team member!

I am currently fostering a kitten that had a really bad URI, that I guess spread into an eye infection. When I got her she had an ulcer on her eye because the previous foster must have touched her eye with the application tube. I have had her three weeks and the URI has stayed the same, the eye is better. She has been on three different antibiotics but nothing has worked, the vet just recently recommended Lysine, so I am hoping it helps! Three+ weeks of this has seemed like a long time to me too! And we are waiting for her to get better so that she can be transported to a different rescue and still nothing! Fingers crossed for your baby!

Oh your poor foster baby has been through a lot! Hope she is feeling better soon.  It's frustrating and scary when a "simple cold" just lingers. It makes me worry there is something else going on that the vet is missing. To be fair though, I am sort of a worry-wart.

There are additional medications that can address a viral infection.

1.) Famciclovir. This is an oral antiviral. A prescription is needed, but price check around at smaller independent pharmacies as they likely sell it cheaper than your vet (and certainly cheaper than the big name pharmacies!)

2.) Idoxuridine. This is an antiviral eye drop. Can be used as often as every 4 hrs, but most cats respond with drops administered 2-3 times a day.

3.) Cidofovir. Another antiviral eye drop. This is typically our go-to if Idox does not work.

4.) Doxycycline. This is an antibiotic, though it also has anti-inflammatory properties. Works well with kitties that have chronic herpes outbreaks. **Our vets and veterinary ophthalmologist prescribe this even when the discharge is not colored**

5.) Azythromycin. Another antibiotic that also has anti-inflammatory properties. This is our go-to when Doxy doesn't work. **Our vets and veterinary ophthalmologist prescribe this even when the discharge is not colored**

6.) Veraflox. This is an antibiotic specifically formulated to combat secondary bacterial infections associated with Feline Herpes Virus.

7.) Polyprenyl Immunostimulant. This has been our go-to when all other treatments either fail or symptoms return quickly once medication is stopped. I call PI "liquid gold" as it is expensive, but has resulted in 100% alleviation of FHV symptoms in the 2 cats we have used it with. These 2 cats had *horrible* cases of FHV.

Note...I am not a vet, nor vet tech, but I help run a cat rescue and work very closely with vets that try to stay on the forefront of feline medicine.

In my opinion, it is not "normal" for them to have symptoms for so long without any improvement. This being the case, my opinion would be that they need additional medication.

If there is a veterinary ophthalmologist in your area, I think it would be well worth an appointment with them.

CatPack said:

There are additional medications that can address a viral infection.

1.) Famciclovir. This is an oral antiviral. A prescription is needed, but price check around at smaller independent pharmacies as they likely sell it cheaper than your vet (and certainly cheaper than the big name pharmacies!)

2.) Idoxuridine. This is an antiviral eye drop. Can be used as often as every 4 hrs, but most cats respond with drops administered 2-3 times a day.

3.) Cidofovir. Another antiviral eye drop. This is typically our go-to if Idox does not work.

4.) Doxycycline. This is an antibiotic, though it also has anti-inflammatory properties. Works well with kitties that have chronic herpes outbreaks. **Our vets and veterinary ophthalmologist prescribe this even when the discharge is not colored**

5.) Azythromycin. Another antibiotic that also has anti-inflammatory properties. This is our go-to when Doxy doesn't work. **Our vets and veterinary ophthalmologist prescribe this even when the discharge is not colored**

6.) Veraflox. This is an antibiotic specifically formulated to combat secondary bacterial infections associated with Feline Herpes Virus.

7.) Polyprenyl Immunostimulant. This has been our go-to when all other treatments either fail or symptoms return quickly once medication is stopped. I call PI "liquid gold" as it is expensive, but has resulted in 100% alleviation of FHV symptoms in the 2 cats we have used it with. These 2 cats had *horrible* cases of FHV.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. No feline opthamologist here, but I am making another vet appointment for next week if still no improvement and I will be taking this list of meds with me to see what she says. I see that most of these meds refer to FHV. Is there a test the vet can give them to see if that is indeed what we are dealing with? This vet hasn't tested for anything yet, just listened to their breathing. She is kind of making me feel like a foolish overprotective parent. She didn't even schedule a follow up appointment - just said to bring them back when they are better for booster shots.

There is an upper respiratory panel that can be done. The test requires eye, nose and mouth swabs be taken. I think it takes 3(?) days to get results. The test looks for Feline Herpes Virus, Caliciviris, Clamydia, Mycoplasma and I think one or two others.

The test is done by Idexx.
The test code is: 2512—Upper Respiratory Disease (URD) RealPCR Panel—Feline

From Idexx regarding this particular test:

"The IDEXX Feline Upper Respiratory Disease (URD) RealPCR Panel dramatically increases your chance of accurately identifying the origins of feline URD"

Honestly, with your vet showing little concern, I would be seeking another vet. I have little patience for vets that show a disinterest in caring for my pets. It also doesn't appear that your vet is very up to date on feline medicine.

I notice you listed your location as Florida. Can you give us a city that you are close to? We have several members that live in Florida and they might be able to suggest a vet to you.

Try steaming them in the bathroom to help with the congestion.  You can use baby saline drops in the nose to help loosen up any congestion.  If it persists, ask the doctor for some Gentamicin drops.  The stress of being in a new home often causes outbreaks of upper respiratory infections.  It can take awhile for them to recovery. 

I have had great luck with Lactoferrin.  Recently using lysine in cats has come under some controversy, but lactoferrin never has.  I would highly recommend it  There has been a lot of discussion about it and a lot of people like myself have seen it work when nothing else will do.  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/267703/stubborn-herpes-infection-add-lactoferrin-in-addition-to-lysine

I will quote from my own last post (#211) responding to someone who asked if anyone has kept their cat on lactoferrin indefinitely:

"YES.  My cat will be on lactoferrin indefinitely.  Lactoferrin is definitely the key here.  Using only lactoferrin, sprinkling the contents of the capsule into the food and mixing well, seems to work great for my kitty with the post-herpes runny eye.  When I run out of lactoferrin like I have now, the eye does start to run again, not as badly as it used to, but it is still running some clear liquid.  I will be ordering the lactoferrin again!  Since it is not a medicine but more of a food, being derived from bovine colostrum, it will not interact with any medications like antibiotics or antivirals a cat might be taking.  Google it and you can read some of the research on it. 

"Research has found out that lactoferrin possesses a potent anti-viral activity and may be useful in preventing certain types of viral infections in humans” (Hasegawa) Therefore bovine colostrums lactoferrin and its other beneficial components may help people suffering with herpes."

Hasegawa, K, et al. Inhibition with lactoferrin of in vitro infection with human herpes virus. Japanese Journal of Medical Science and Biology 47:73-85 (1994). Both human and bovine lactoferrin inhibit infection with human herpes simplex virus and human cytomegalovirus in cell cultures."

I use the Jarrow brand formula which has 250 mg. capsules.  I give her 1/4 capsule per day now as maintenance.  The powder doesn't appear to be water soluble so I mash it in some soft butter and then mix with her food.  As long as she gets the lactoferrin, her eye doesn't run.  When I have run out of it for awhile (it costs about $25 a bottle on Amazon) her left eye will return to having clear discharge from the corner of her eye down beside her nose.  She was one of the kittens in a group of 3 mamas with 6 babies each which we pulled from death row at Animal Control three years ago ast April.  They were all very sick for about three to four weeks but all but one kitten pulled through with lots of support and nursing care. Clavamox antibiotic, terramycin eye ointment, and both lysine and lactoferrin supplements were used.  One mama rejected her kittens while she was in the worst part of the sickness and I had to bottle feed them for about a week.  The one with the leftover runny eye is the only one who had any permanent residual from the infection, which is amazing to me, and she is one of the ones who was bottle fed during the sickest time.  (I still have two of the mama cats and four of the bottle fed kittens who are now 3-year-old adults.)

I was in a very similar situation last year. You can read the details in my post, Lingering URI in Foster Kittens:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/309022/lingering-uri-in-foster-kittens

I couldn't believe a URI could go on for longer than three weeks! George and Alice were seen by a total of three vets, and nothing the vets prescribed seemed to make any difference. I tried various lysine treats but they refused to eat them. I was so afraid they had herpes and that they'd grow up with chronic health problems.

As it turned out, the sneezing and mild eye goopiness lasted about 2.5 months. I clearly remember the first day that neither sneezed! George seemed to get over it about a week before Alice did. Alice's sneezes were more, ahem, productive, and I kept finding snot on my walls. [emoji]128563[/emoji]

During this time, people kept saying that as long as the kittens were eating well, playing, and okay in the litter box department, they'd be fine eventually. So far that's turned out to be true. George and Alice are now perfectly healthy, happy, and coming up on their first birthday. I didn't have them tested for herpes, but so far they haven't had any flare ups since they kicked the original infection.

I hope my story eases your mind a little bit. One of the things I like best about this site is that it allows you to connect with people who have had similar experiences.

Last note: I believe that stress has a huge impact on feline health, so whatever you can do to reduce stress for Sam and Isabelle (who are adorable, by the way!) is probably going to help them get better faster.

Hi @weebeasties! (Love that name BTW.) How are Sam and Isabelle doing? We'd all love an update. On a completely differnt note, though, I wanted to share a picture of my Isabelle, who I believe looks an awful lot like your Isabelle:


She's the only long-haired cat in my family, and mostly gets called Fuzzy Belle or just Belle. :-)

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for all of your advice. It is greatly appreciated.

I'm feeling optimistic that the babies are on the mend. Isabelle's eyes are clear and she just sneezes occasionally. Sam is sneezing a bit more than she is, but at least when he does there are no ...um... projectiles anymore. They both are eating well and full of energy. I am hoping they continue to improve so that I can wait until the second week of August to return to the vet. That's when my regular vet comes back from being on FMLA.  In the meantime I bought a few feliway plug-ins in the hopes that would reduce any stress they are feeling. I think they are pretty happy kitties. Sam had lived in a cage at the animal shelter from the time he was a couple weeks old until I adopted him at 3 months so having 2 rooms to run around in is awesome for him. I can't wait until they are better and I can allow them to explore the whole house. That's when the "fun" of introducing them to our other cats can begin!

SuzanneF said:

She's the only long-haired cat in my family, and mostly gets called Fuzzy Belle or just Belle. :-)

Click to expand...

Awww... Your Isabelle is so beautiful! I do love long-hair cats. My Isabelle's coat is so short it's like velvet. She's long and lean and slinky and makes me think of that old song by the Hollies "...She was a long cool woman in a black dress.."

Oh my! Kieth is absolutely gorgeous! Now THAT is a long-haired cat! How many other cats do you have? It's great that you've kept the new ones segregated. I kept George and Alice segregated for a few weeks, but then let them join the general populace. Not smart of me, I know. I had 5 other cats then and 3 out the 5 developed mild URIs - mostly eye gunk - but they all recovered in their own within a few days. I felt horribly guilty. :-(

SuzanneF said:

Oh my! Kieth is absolutely gorgeous! Now THAT is a long-haired cat! How many other cats do you have? It's great that you've kept the new ones segregated. I kept George and Alice segregated for a few weeks, but then let them join the general populace. Not smart of me, I know. I had 5 other cats then and 3 out the 5 developed mild URIs - mostly eye gunk - but they all recovered in their own within a few days. I felt horribly guilty. :-(

Click to expand...

It's hard keeping them separated when everyone is so curious about what's on the other side of that door! We have a big cat family too - 7 other cats. They are all former strays/ferals that showed up in need of a home. They range in age from 7 to 22 yrs.In order to keep illness from running through the whole household we are keeping these babies isolated and we Purell our hands every time we walk through the door so we're not spreading germs. It's really getting old. I completely understand you wanting to rush the introductions. I'm glad everything turned out ok for your babies. So how did the introductions go? All these individuals each with a different personality makes me think the introduction process is going to be very long! I know Kieth will be a big help because he will accept the new ones easily. He loves everyone and everything. He would have made a great mommy!

weebeasties said:

It's hard keeping them separated when everyone is so curious about what's on the other side of that door! We have a big cat family too - 7 other cats. They are all former strays/ferals that showed up in need of a home. They range in age from 7 to 22 yrs.In order to keep illness from running through the whole household we are keeping these babies isolated and we Purell our hands every time we walk through the door so we're not spreading germs. It's really getting old. I completely understand you wanting to rush the introductions. I'm glad everything turned out ok for your babies. So how did the introductions go? All these individuals each with a different personality makes me think the introduction process is going to be very long! I know Kieth will be a big help because he will accept the new ones easily. He loves everyone and everything. He would have made a great mommy!

Click to expand...

Kieth sounds a lot like my oldest guy, Jack. He's 8 and loves other cats, especially kittens. My others are all around 1 year old, give or take a few months. We started by adopting Ivy as a kitten last summer, and it went so well we adopted a litter of three (Max, Isabelle, and Delilah) a month later. Max is called Max because my husband and I joked that we'd reached our lifetime maximum for cats. :-) Then we foster-failed with George and Alice. They were just such a good fit with the other cats, and we knew we could give them a great home, so there was no good reason not to keep them.

That brings my to our latest adopted babycat, 8 week old Henry, who was brought into the shelter with a badly broken leg at only 4 weeks old. He's on cage rest which is making it easier to take introductions slowly, though everyone is very curious about him. So nervous...just don't want any of my other cats to be unhappy, you know?