Does a viral respitory infection go away on its own?

Hi fellow cat lovers. So Shrimp one of my 4 cats started coming down with what seemed a kittu flu. His breathing got really bad i decided to take him to the vet and the vet said his heart and lungs sounded perfect. He suspected it was just a viral respitory infection. He gave him an anti inflammatory and was supoosed to give him antibiotic to prevent it from becoming a seclmdafy bacterial infection but they were out. Any way shrimp is doing so much better hes his usual self again however my other 3 are starting to sneeze and breath through their mouths and having the same symptoms as Shrimp initially did. I called the vet to see what they thought and of xourse they are only seeking their best interest. So they recommended i bring them in. What do yall think. I feel like it may go away on its own but then again i love them so much i cant stand them seeing like that. I should mention their appetite is good. Energy is lower than usual though.

URI's are really common in cats, and unfortunately very contagious! Usually in a healthy cat, their immune system can fight them pretty well on their own. If the cat was especially young, old, sick, or weak for any reason, or their symptoms start to get worrying, I would bring them in, but otherwise they will probably be fine. Appetite is usually a good barometer for health. You help the symptoms a bit by sitting them next to a hot shower, because the steam helps clear them up. Lysine powder can also be added to their food and supposedly reduces the symptoms.

The bad news is that the most common cat URI's are caused by a member of the herpes virus family, which is a virus that remains in their system forever, so they will probably be susceptible to bouts in the future, especially in times of stress. This is why many owners add lysine to daily meals as a preventative measure.

Are all of the cats eating, drinking and going to the bathroom normally? What are the ages of your cats? Are any of your cats showing signs of eye discharge? Sorry for all the questions but this information would be helpful in terms of deciding about a vet visit.

One thing that may be helpful short-term is to do steam treatments. Run the hot water from your shower as hot as you can and steam up the bathroom. Sit in the bathroom with the cat for 15-20 minutes 2-3 times a day.

If you notice green or yellow eye discharge please take them to the vet. This could be an eye infection along with the URI.

If anyone sounds like they coughing then I would also do a vet visit.

If anyone stops eating that is also a sign a vet visit is needed.

Hope this helps. I went through a URI with four cats. The youngest had eye discharge that was green. My oldest one was coughing. They both went to the vet. My other two cats were just sneezing a little bit. No one stopped eating. Everyone got steam treatments. If the two that were just sneezing seemed like they were getting worse they would have gone to the vet too.

I work at a shelter and respiratory infections are extremely common. We don't take the cats to the vet or give them antibiotics unless they have green eye goop or stop eating, drinking, peeing, or pooping normally.  Or if their breathing gets really terrible. 

catlover73 molly92 NewYork1303 thank yall so much for the replies. I apologize for replying so late i didnt get any alerts so i decided to see if i had any and what do you know... so my babies are eating and drinking fine for the most part. I have noticed their appetites has decreased a bit. No green or yellow discharge but one has red runny eyes. Their ages are 6 years, 2 years, 10 months, and 6 months, i also have a 2 year old foster. Full house i know! Someone said that recent adoptee who is 6 months now may of brought the viral infection but i adopted him in mid July so idk.