My instincts vs vet advice

Maybe some of you look up to your vet as god to your cats, but with my experience I can't help taking their recommendations with a grain of salt.
Joji has URI. I took her to my vet. She has no fever and it's really only a stuffy nose. The vet taught me how to apply nose drops and the other yucky process of sucking out the snot with that rubber thingy. I asked for a decongestant but he didn't give me one. Then he adviced antibiotics. I researched about URI and it is the usual practice to give but it is a preventive move (the vet said so too) and it doesn't help cure the URI since it is viral. So I'm not giving Joji antibiotics at all... Am I making a mistake?

Hi Yayi, my kittens caught the bug too. It's really hellish. I think it would help if you give Joji antibiotics. 2 of my kittens are on Zithromax and it has helped. They're not sneezing as loud (hehehe) as before, but they still have it. Best advise would be to isolate Joji from the other cats because they get it REALLY FAST. One of my kittens (who was vaccinated against URI) caught it too. All in all, I have 11 kittens who have URI. It's mad. Our vet prescribed Bromhexine HCl (Bisolvon), but not decongestant. I once asked the vet about this, but I think they advised against it. In lieu of decongestant, we use (pediatric) nasal saline drops to alleviate stuffiness.

Hope our cats get well soon!

Tough call. Just like doctors do with people, vets give antibiotics to cats who have viral infections because the virus weakens their immune system, making them more susceptible to a bacterial infection. The flip side of that, though, is if you give your cat antibiotics too often, she will become resistant, and the meds won't work anymore (also just like with people). Only you can really judge how sick Joji is and, regardless, it's hard to say how much the virus is weakening her immunity. I don't necessarily think you're making a mistake, I just think it's a judgment call. Also, it's my understanding that some URIs can in fact be bacterial, so you might also take that into consideration, although from your post it seems the vet believes Joji's infection is viral. Sorry, I'm not being very helpful--I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't think there's a clear-cut "right" answer to your question, just your best judgment, whatever that may be.

I work at a cat shelter and see URI's all the time and I suggest you give the cat the antibiotics. Cats are much more likely to have secondary bacterial infections in conection with a viral URI. Another poster mentioned resistance from over exposure to antibiotics, but this should be the only URI you cat gets, so antibiotic treatment should be a rare event. Please don't wait until the cat is sneezing blood and refusing to eat. I've seen this too often.

I took my brand new kitten to the vet because he was sneezing often, the vet said that he did not sound congested and was otherwise healthy. They gave me the antibiotic anyhow. I gave it to him as directed for 7.5 of the 10 days. When he was on the medication he was very lethargic and not very playful. On the 7th day all he wanted to do was sleep, and when he did sleep it was almost like he was comatose! We would pick him up to try and get him to eat, drink, or anything, but he really did not want to get up. We decided to stop the antibiotic and he has been fine ever since. He is finally acting like a normal kitten and is very playful.

So I am cautious now of when I would give him antibiotics since what happened. We are going for a follow up visit tomorrow, I am going to bring this up and see what the vet says, but I am glad that I stopped giving him the medicine. He scared us for awhile when it was going on.

Hi Yayi
I have 10 cats that I rescued and about 5 weeks after I got them home they were all sneezing even my cats inside and my Basset Hound, I called the vet and told them they were all sneezing, the gal told me they had many many calls about the Cats sneezing, they are saying that they think it is something airborne, I did have 1 out of all of them that really didn't look to good so I took him in left him over night so they could treat him, being a LITTLE FERAL and all lol, I had him nutered 2 weeks before, so I asked for something I could give them all I sure couldn't afford to have 13 snotty animals, fingers crossed they didn't get anymore then the sneezes, the dog wasn't feeling to great though, I also got stuff for her, but she's actually thinking these cats are hers lol, maybe it was the stress from trying to keep the 2 little ones that I am keeping from playing, eating, and everything else, she acts like a go between for the 2 little guys, I think she thinks they are hers because she had a false pregnancy not to long after I got them all taken care of at the vet and brought them in the house. I guess it does depend on what you think to, I have heard that alot of vets don't treat them unless they think its bad, but I felt I had to get them something, what on earth would I have done if it would have gotten out of control, and they all really got sick, I would have had to shoot MYSELF

I've only had to deal with URI's with Hans and L.S., and both were special conditions where I agreed that an antibiotic would be a good idea.

Hans was sick when I brought him home, and was sneezing green stuff. Between the stress of being in a new place with new roommates, and him being at least 14 years old, I thought it was best to prevent a secondary infection. If he had become more ill, it could easily have gotten dangerous.

L.S. had a bad cold and was wheezing, but by the time I got him to the vet's office he was almost back to normal. He was, however, in between his kitten series of vaccinations. If he were to get sick from something else due to a weakened immune system, then the second set of vaccines would have been worthless, and we would have had to start from scratch. So again I agreed to an antibiotic.

Mer has had the sniffles and sneezes before, but they've always passed in about a week. Unless the cats have discoloured discharge, I don't call the vet.

Originally Posted by wodesorel

Mer has had the sniffles and sneezes before, but they've always passed in about a week. Unless the cats have discoloured discharge, I don't call the vet.

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I would have done the same except that Joji's sniffles (clear ones) and sneezes have lasted more than 2 weeks. Maybe the humid weather has something to do with it.