Sneezing/VERY runny eye

HELP ME! I am VERY worried about my cat, Ashley. last week, she was just hiding in the corner...would not eat, drink, respond to her treat bag..nothing. I took her in. All blood tests came back ok. There was nothing physical wrong that the vet could see. I watched her for the next couple of days and she got back to herself 100%. We took her to the Humane Society on that Saturday (last Sat) to have her picture taken with Santa. She does well in the car and was the hit of the day there It was great. Now....starting like Monday or Tuesday, she started sneezing. I didn't think a whole lot about it at first because she sneezes once in a while...but it progressed. I called my vet the next day I noticed it was bad and he asked me questions if she was eating, etc. I said yes. He said to call him if it got worse towards the end of the week. I came home Thurs (today) and not only is she sneezing....but her left eye was terribly tearing. It was not just like a runny eye...it looked like a huge tear in front of her eye and when she shook her head, I felt the tear shake on me. I bathed her eye a bit, but the tearing continued. I called the vet. Again they asked me the same questions. She IS eating. She IS drinking. She IS responding to her treat bag...purring..being herself except for the sneezing and eye problem. The vet didn't see too concerned and it didn't sound like they thought she needed to go in, but I am totally freaking out. She is my baby and I feel so bad for her. Could this be upper respitory from the Humane Society? The vet said it wouldn't be out this soon if she would've gotten it. I taking her Saturday morning, but I am wondering if maybe she needs to be seen before that. HELP! PLEASE!!!

It sounds like kitty may have a cold. I don't know why the vet told you it wasn't enough time. Kitty colds can show up 24 to 48 hours after exposure. These kinds of bugs you can bring home on your cloths and such. If you start to see green or yellow in the eyes or nose, you might want to take her to the vet. She may need some antibiotics to kick the cold.

Arizona was doing the exact same thing last week--sneezy fits, runny eyes, but otherwise normal--we went to the vet, and she also thought it was probably just a cold. She was over it in about a week. Hope your kitty feels better soon!

Well, I got home from work last night (530am) and her eye was barely open. It was a little swollen and I felt soooo bad. It wasn't mattered shut, but it was VERY VERY watery. I was next to tears because I felt like I couldn't help her. I did take her to the after hours urgent care clinic and she does have a bit of upper respitory. He gave me this amoxicillian type of stuff and this cream to put in her eye. At least I know she isn't as bad as I thought she was. I was in hysterics over it. What a relief! She is like my child...sleeps with me every night...follows me around...it is just hard watching her go through this!!

URI are very common and she could of caught the virus on picture day. The amoxy drops will help her and she will kick this when the medicine runs its course. She is a beautiful kitty

Yes, she is a beautiful girl...I love her to death. She insists on drinking out of the tub faucet. She knows that "Chair" means she needs to get into her chair for treats, and she has been known to sleep on her back with all fours in the air.


I tried my first bout with this medication thing with her tonight. What a nightmare!! She DOES NOT like that liquid stuff and actually got some of it out of her mouth. The triple antibiotic cream was a little easier, but hard to get it right IN her eye versus maybe on the edge of it. Now she is just kind of underneath the table (for the past hour or so) being anti-social. As long as she gets well..that is all I care about!

This is my other cat, Angel, who stays with my parents (I grew up with her). She will be 18 in May of 2002!!!

Wrap her up in a towel so that only her head shows. Get down on the floor on your knees with them slightly apart, set her between your knees so her head faces out. Gently pry her mouth open by tickling the outside of her lip, they generally relax this way, then taking the syringe, squirt the medicine down and release her. Let her untrack for about 20 minutes before you do the eye ointment, use the towel knee trick. The cats normal reaction when threatned is to reverse and as she reverses, she finds herself caught in the wedge between your legs. Make sure to also, wrap her up in a towel during the day when you are not giving medication and just feed her a tidbit of her favorite treat. That way she won't start running from you everytime she sees the towel approach. Good luck

The towel trick sounds great hissy. I have to put cream rather regulary into Bagpuss's eyes (typical persian in breeding problems, always getting little infections) I use the cream twice a week just to keep them clean.

The best way I found to go the cream (which is slightly oily) is to sit on the toilet seat with my feet on the bath and lay her on my lap, hold her by the scruff (not tight thought) sqeeze some cream out of the tube, without her seeing - just so it hangs down a bit and then I put it into her eyes with a little squeeze to get it off the tube end and hey presto cream in the middle of the eye and then I gently close and open her eye lid to disperse it evenly and so she does not manage to rub it out....sheesh does that make sense

I tried the towel thing this morning with her drops.....that wasn't that easy because she was still able to get her feet to the ground and squirm. She DID, however, manage to get more of it down her than before!!

I will also try that tub method. The really weird thing is, though, is that she is VERY anti-social since I gave this stuff to her last night. She sleeps under the kitchen table (NEVER has done that before).....I don't know if it is behavioral or if she just doesn't feel well with the medication. Even before the meds she still always slept in my bed...sneezing, runny eye, and all. Not now, though. She won't purr for me, either. *shrug* She is still eating, though! Guess that is the main thing.

Get on your knees and cross your ankles behind you. Place her rump against the wedge created by your body and your ankles, and adminster the drops, she will scrabble backwards, but will be caught by your ankles and unable to go anywhere. Hope this helps......

I found this on a motorcycle site I go to and thought this might help. It reminded of the first time I had to give Booda a pill and thought it fit me to a "T".

INSTRUCTIONS FOR GIVING YOUR CAT A PILL
1. Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

3. Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of 10.

4. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.

5. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, holding front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold cat's head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.

6. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

7. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with its head just visible from below spouse's armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force cat's mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

8. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply band-aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

9. Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

10. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Throw T-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.

11. Call Fire Department to retrieve cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.

12. Tie cat's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Force cat's mouth open with small spanner. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Hold head vertically and pour 1/2 pint of water down throat to wash pill down.

13. Get spouse to drive you to emergency room; sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Stop by furniture shop on way home to order new table.

14. Arrange for vet to make a housecall.

Carrie,

My cat Dani came to us from a shelter 3 months ago. We discovered she had a staph infection, and 2 weeks later came down with a Calicivirus, (URI). She also had an eye infection.

What we did was, we had to give her a regimine of eardrops, eye cream, and a horsepill of Orbax, an antibiotic.

Now, she FREAKED at all of this. My husband had to hold her down, on the floor, ankles crossed, so she could not back up. I administered everything 2X a day. This went on for a month.

Dani became withdrawn, and very afraid of hubby. She associated him with the pinning down. So your cat could be doing the same thing, a bit depressed by the sudden "attacks".

Now my Dani is free from all those meds, and is not as afraid anymore. She is still cautios, but doesn't run anymore when we walk in the room

It is about Tough Love. It broke my heart to do this, but we had to treat her illnesses.

By the way, when she came down with the Calicivirus, (sneezing, eyes tearing, stuffy nose), I asked the Vet, how could she come down with the virus when she had not been exposed to anything outside my house in about 2 weeks? The Vet said it was the incubation period. She must have picked it up at the shelter, and it came out 2 weeks later, or maybe sooner, we just did not know the symptoms cause she also had the staph infecton and the eye infection.

Good luck with your baby. I know it is hard BELIEVE ME...but you are doing the right thing. Just try to reassure her as much as possible, and understand this is a change for her, and she will be OKAY.

Also, my cat tolerated the eye cream as opposed to the drops. She HATED the drops, while she only protested marginally less with the cream.

Good luck!

That thing from the motocycle site was funny as hell!!!! I laughed so hard!!

Thanks for sharing personal experiences Ashley is actually much much better. Now she is back to waking me up in the morning...crawling on me..getting up when I come home...etc. Sometimes her eye looks a little watery, but it is MUCH MUCH BETTER Getting her on the floor and crossing my ankles helped BIG TIME, although she started to learn to go FORWARD instead of backwards...lolllllll

Carrie - not only is your baby a real beauty - she is very lucky to have a good kitty mom like you! I have taken in a few kittens that suffered from upper respitory problems. The med routine can be trying to say the least. I am glad that your babe is better.