Maine Coon, Upper Resp, no meds work

My 7 month old Maine Coon, Mick Shagger, has had an Upper Respiratory infection since I got him at 3 months old from a breeder.  He sneezes and then a yellow, green mucus comes out of his nose, primarily his right nostril but the left has discharge too.  I've been to 3 vets,called the breeder, had my vet call breeders vet and they said Azithromyacin should have cured him but the first vet only gave him a dosage like a domestic cat and Maine Coons have a much stronger immune system and need a stronger medicine.  So, after Azithromyacin for 2 weeks, Clavamox for 1 month with Lysine chews and then now Azithromyacin again for 6 weeks, nothing is working other than keeping it at bay.  If he's not on something he sneezes more regularly.  He does not have anything coming out of his eyes.  His appetite is good, he plays well with my other cat.  He is 14 lbs and 31 inches long.  The breeder thinks he needs something now much stronger since his body has become immune to what he is on.  After doing some online research he could have Feline Influenza and maybe Famciclovir could work.  I don't know that he would have herpes since he doesnt have eye problems.  He coughs only rarely.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  I am taking him to the vet this week again to try to determine a stronger med that would work.  Also, they may do a second culture to see if they come up with a different virus.  The first culture said he has Pasteurella

Welcome to TCS - I'm so sorry  Mick Shagger isn't feeling well. btw, love the name.

I personally don't have experience with this type of feline illness, my girl was on Clavamox but for other reasons.

Honestly, I'm pushing your post up hoping that other members who have the medication experience will see this and chime in with some advice and tips for you. 

How is the sweet boy doing today?  It's nice to hear he's playing and eating.  That's a biggie.

Please let us know how he is.

Warm regards, Hope & my gal Chestnut

Hey lamblittle, I've had good luck with lysine and apple cider vinegar on my cats with sneezing and respiratory issues.  You can crush a lysine pill (I use 500mg) and put it in their soft food 2x a day and put apple cider vinegar on their fur so they have to lick it off.   They will hate though, but it does work.  I had a cat with similar symptoms and this cleared him up in a few days.  After losing a dog to side effects from a vet Rx once, I tend to always try to do safer, economical home remedies whenever possible.  You can check out earthclinic for more info.   Good luck!

I'm also having similar issues.

I have a 10 year old Himalayan who has come down with some kind of uri. Runny eyes, head shaking, sneezing, swallowing, and occasional coughing. He still plays, eats, etc. no nasal discharge, no green or yellow. No sneezing fits, just one sneeze here or there.

He's had a steroid shot, a clavamox shot , amoxicillin for 10 days, and has been on l lysine ( 500 mg twice a day) since the start of the issue ( around August 15)

It seems like he's a little bit better after this last antibiotic ( or it may just be the course of time?) but doesn't seem to be able to fully kick the problem.

Webmiss, it stinks to high heaven and your cat will probably not enjoy it, but I really recommend adding apple cider vinegar to your regimen.  You want the kind with the mother in it, like Bragg's, and you can get it at walmart.  Just put it on their feet or their sides so they have to lick it off and it does wonders.  It's an excellent product to just have in the cabinet in general for tons of things.  Google it if you don't believe me.  I've used it for various things for my cats, dogs and myself numerous times and it has always worked well. 

@lamblittle    

@WhatsOneMore

@webmiss

Hey Guys - I'm curious, my gal has upper chest issues on occasions, and I was wondering what are you all feeding your wee ones?

PS - I'm going to try the apple cider vinigar

I feed mine Nature's Logic.  I have 6 cats, so I feed the dog food version, but it's the same formula (I've confirmed with the company) because it's cheaper that way.  We rotate between their two favorites, chicken and rabbit so no protein allergy is developed from feeding the same protein too long.  They'll send you a sample if you request it.  Chewy has the chicken the cheapest on autoship and amazon has the rabbit the cheapest on Prime. (for the 13 oz. can version).

On the apple cider vinegar (ACV) I think you'll find it will help.  I usually do a treatment 2-3x a day, depending on how bad they are.  Earthclinic is a good resource.  Good luck!

Thank you all for giving me some ideas for my Maine Coon kitten.  I will get some of the apple cidar vinegar and try it out.  I have a vet appt this Friday so I am hoping to get something strong to kill whatever virus he has.

If it is just a respiratory virus, you should see results very quickly with the ACV.  I've had more bad experiences with vets than good, so please double check the side effects for anything the vet ever gives you.  Sometimes the side effects are worse than the initial problem.  A few years ago my vet prescribed my otherwise healthy, yet slight/moderate arthritic senior dog a drug that had a side effect of death and didn't warn me or give me the option of refusing it, either due to recklessness or she just didn't know.  After a few doses of it, my dog stopped eating and ended up dying a slow and painful death that the drug maker is aware of, and actually discontinued the human version of the drug due to deaths, but continues to let veterinarians prescribe it to their trusting clients.  Reading through hundreds of other stories about perfectly healthy much younger dogs also being killed by that drug really changed how I feel about vets and their just prescribing meds without really knowing (or caring) how dangerous they are.  If you mention treating anything naturally, they look at you like you are a pathetic pet owner or try to discourage it.  There's no money to be made by them or the drug companies if their patients are healthy.  Sorry for the rant, this is just something I'm very passionate about after having lost my sweet and trusting dog under such awful and avoidable circumstances with no remorse or apologies from my vet.

My cat Scoo had what I thought was just a virus, but it was actually a sinus infection. It was a 10 day regimen of Baytril that finally kicked it. He's no Maine Coon, but a large boy.