Congestion, Meow Problems for My New Kitty

nobafett

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Hi all...first time poster, and for that matter, first time cat owner (always been a dog owner). I recently got a 7 month old kitty from a local animal rescue shelter, and had a few cat newbie questions.

The first is my cat's meow. He has this raspy, almost grating meow that is both quiet and uneven. A lady at the shelter mentioned it, so I know it's not a recent thing (I've only had him for 3 months). Poor little Cheddar almost always has to open his mouth real wide, almost as if he is hissing, just to get some volume to it. What comes out sounds almost like a human "Ack" with the little "ow" on the end (the closest phonetic version I can give is "aeeeruh"). Additionally, his purr sounds like he's hyperventilating, and his whole body usually heaves a little bit.

I'm tempted not to be bothered by these problems and just shake them off as personality traits...but I think they're connected to what his real problem is. Cheddar has a fair amount of congestion it seems, which has been confirmed by my vet. He said that it's a herpes-like kind of virus that Cheddar is likely to have his whole life off and on. The only other symptoms is he usually has a small amount of brown goo in the corner of his eyes, not much different than what we all get. Other than that, he is happy and healthy from what I can tell, and has warmed up nicely to his new home and me.

I guess my question is, even if this affliction can't be cured, isn't there something I can do about his congestion? I'd hate to think it's merely something he has to live with forever, and if it's related to the other two problems, that just says to me that it's affecting him in many ways, which would seem to indicate it's not completely benign.

Any thoughts? Is there a connection between these? Is it not unusual for a cat to have a different meow? The animal shelter woman said it was almost if he had never learned to do it right. Love to hear what you guys think.
 

gayef

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Coming from someone whose cats don't ever seem to shut up, I almost envy you the problem you have! *grin*

In the way of what I hope will be assistance, the Herpes may be helped with L-Lysine. Talk to your vet about the dosage and frequency - but I have heard from sources I trust that it helps to 1) lessen an outbreak's severity and 2) lessen the frequency of the outbreaks. I have no personal experience with Herpes, but there are those I know and trust who have - they have all gotten good results with the L-Lysine.

Hope this helps,

Gaye
 

yosemite

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I'm not sure this is the same as you are experiencing, but our daughter's kitten Mika has a birth defect to her voicebox and she has barely any voice - just this little sound sort of like a soft human sneeze.
 

turtlecat

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Our Paige is also almost Mute. she can growl and sort of make this aeeeruh meow as well.. sounds very simmilar.. also her purring is almost silent, but her whole body vibrates. NOT heaves. Ghibli is suspected to have feline herpes (all his panels came out normal though) but even without it, the L-lysine DID help him get better. It helps break the replication of the cold virii as well as with herpes delimits outbreaks. you can get the l-lysine at your local organic grocery and mix it in with some wet food. (it comes in those gelatine capsules like our amox. ) I quite like it, but only use it with the gibbers when he's feeling sickly.
 

dozen2luv

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I thought I would tell you a little about Emma. Emma was diagnosed with herpes when she was 4 months old she is now 2 1/2. She has a chronic case. She rumbles like a truck when she purrs and squeaks too. She has eye and congestion issues. I clean her eyes once or twice a day which is down from the beginning and the congestion seems to be getting a little better. Now the meowing...I adopted Cue from the pound when he was 12 weeks old hardly anything came out of his month when he meowed. I thought he was broken...but one day when he was about seven months old he was sitting there talking to me and this great big meow came out. Talk about a cat in shock. He was totally surprised and ran off to the other room to try his new voice out.

Regina
 

cloud_shade

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I've heard that L-Lysine can help. My vet also suggested interferon, which can help slow the replication of the herpes virus. Steamed up bathrooms might also help alleviate some of the congestion.

How old is your kitty? I've noticed that sometimes older kitties lose their meows or they try to meow but the sound doesn't always come out.
 
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