Kitten Wheezing? Concerns

ihighjinx

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So I have recently gotten a kitten from the shelter a couple of weeks back and I have noticed that this kitten sneezes a couple of times a day. Not only that he occasionally does this weird  wheezing I am not sure what it is, and I have taken him to the vet and the vet thought nothing of it (since she hasn't seen it herself and thought it was just a hairball). I was able to record a video of it, but it was towards the end of him doing it. When these episodes occur they normally last around ~30 seconds.

Here is the video it is only at the very start he does this, then after he is normal and just sits there. I am worried that he may have feline asthma (Ignore the Pokemon Music lol).

 

catlover73

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When I adopted my youngest cat Casey a little over two years ago he came home sneezing once in a while.  He acted completely like a normal energetic kitten other than that.  About a week later I noticed yellowish green discharge from his eyes and took him to the vet for the issue.  I also mentioned he was sneezing a little bit.  He had a Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) and an eye infection which were treated with antibiotics. Two weeks after I got him my other three cats also wound up with URI's.  I can't really hear him wheezing in the video but when my oldest cat Starbuck caught Casey's URI it sounded like she was wheezing.  It reminded my of an old roommate that had asthma.  I took her to the vet and they told me she was coughing. She was treated for her URI and the symptoms went away.

Is there any way you could try another vet for a 2nd opinion.  I am not a vet but what you are describing sounds like the sounds Starbuck was making when she caught Casey's URI. I was able to get the vet to listen to the sounds she was making on the phone.  My vet advised me to do a steam treatment immediately since I was waiting for hubby to get home with the car.

You could also try doing the steam treatments.  Run the shower as hot as you can and steam up your bathroom.  Take the kitten into the bathroom with you and sit in the steam for 15-20 minutes two to three times a day.  This may help break up congestion if this is the beginning of a URI.  If this does not help with the wheezing then please get a 2nd opinion from another vet for your baby.

I hope your baby feels better soon.
 

momenzie

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My cat had the same problem and we treated her for an upper respiratory infection and eye infections; however, in many shelters, it's feline herpes, not upper respiratory infections that is the issue. My cat was just diagnosed now that she is a little older. The stress from having my sister's dog at our house made it flare up. Here's a link to read about it. Maybe ask about it, my cat is 9 now and this is the first time I'm hearing about this. The treatment is easy, any time they have a flare up you sprinkle powdered meds on their food for a few days. It's apparently a huge problem in shelters where they treat many animals because it is highly contagious.

http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/feline-herpes-symptoms-treatment
 
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ihighjinx

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Thank you both so much for your time and suggestions. I just hope Oliver gets well soon =(
 
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ihighjinx

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So I was able to catch a better video for him and now I can at least show the vet what I was talking about. If anyone has any insights of what it can possibly be though.

 

pipperoo

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My shelter kitten had the exact same thing!  I never did get a definitive answer as to what it could be, but she seems to have outgrown it - there were several episodes during her first year that gradually tapered down to nothing.  She did have feline herpes - lots and lots of sneezing, runny nose and goopy eyes.  I used l-lysine to treat the herpes and at age 16 months she is virtually symptom free.

The wheezy-hacking thing I could never figure out - was it asthma?  hairball (even though she has never coughed up a hairball)? or related to the feline herpes?

I'm listening with great interest to see what your vet says and what the other Cat Site members say..............
 
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