Upper Respiratory Infection

stephanietx

stephanietx

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My new kitty, Hannah Grace, is 7 months old. We rescued her 1 week ago today from animal control. She sneezed a couple of times while we picked her out, but she was such a lovey little thing with a sweet, quiet, calm disposition, we decided to adopt her anyway. Took her to the vet on Monday and she was diagnosed with an URI. They gave her a high-powered antibiotic shot and check her out for all the usual feline things. Everything is fine. Gave me 2 meds (amoxycilin and something else....dark brown paste like stuff in a syringe-type thing.) Tuesday, she went back to the vet because she had deteriorated. They gave her sub-q fluids for 3 days, antibiotic shots plus her meds, then released her back to me on Friday evening. She is LOADS better, but is still congested and snotty. She's not sneezing nearly as much as when I took her in.

She's in a room isolated from my other cat. She's nice and comfy with a vaporizer to help her breathe better, a comfy bed, toys, food/water/litterbox. But, she still snorts and kinda makes these gagging on snot noises. The vet did tell me to put just a little dab of Vick's on her nose to help, which I've done (using the baby strength). He didn't want me to do baby nose drops yet. She's still taking her meds 2X day as well as an appetite stimulant once a day. She didn't have that yesterday because I couldn't get it down her!
She's sleeping a lot, but is very alert when we go in to sit with her. She's eating her canned food, but has quit eating her dry food, because I changed the bowl it's in. (I had to wash it!) Is there anything else I can do to help her breathe easier and get that snot out of her head?

I've never had a kitty this young and I've never had a sick kitty, so this is all new to me!

Stephanie
 
dicknleah

dicknleah

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My foster dog has a URI as well. Antibiotics and some TLC will bring him around in a couple of weeks. Good luck with little kitty.
 
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meowsersmom

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It sounds like you're doing everything possible. Uris are frustrating because there's not really much you can do. Just make sure she's still eating (you may try heating up the food as she may not be able to smell it with a stuffy nose) and drinking water. My cat's uri got worse before it got better (at the worst point, he was sleeping all day and sneezing blood). It just takes time, some cats get over it in 2 weeks, but it took 2 months (and many frantic vet visits) before my kitten was 100%.
 
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zak&rocky

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oh, memories of when I adopted rocky. Try going in the bathroom with her, closing the door, and turn the shower water on hot. The steam might help her lungs. You could try, with the permission of the vet of course, using a baby nose aspirator to clean out her snotty nose. I do this with Rocky who has a chronic problem with his nose. your Poor baby...
 
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Originally Posted by stephanietx

My new kitty, Hannah Grace, is 7 months old. We rescued her 1 week ago today from animal control. She sneezed a couple of times while we picked her out, but she was such a lovey little thing with a sweet, quiet, calm disposition, we decided to adopt her anyway. Took her to the vet on Monday and she was diagnosed with an URI. They gave her a high-powered antibiotic shot and check her out for all the usual feline things. Everything is fine. Gave me 2 meds (amoxycilin and something else....dark brown paste like stuff in a syringe-type thing.) Tuesday, she went back to the vet because she had deteriorated. They gave her sub-q fluids for 3 days, antibiotic shots plus her meds, then released her back to me on Friday evening. She is LOADS better, but is still congested and snotty. She's not sneezing nearly as much as when I took her in.

She's in a room isolated from my other cat. She's nice and comfy with a vaporizer to help her breathe better, a comfy bed, toys, food/water/litterbox. But, she still snorts and kinda makes these gagging on snot noises. The vet did tell me to put just a little dab of Vick's on her nose to help, which I've done (using the baby strength). He didn't want me to do baby nose drops yet. She's still taking her meds 2X day as well as an appetite stimulant once a day. She didn't have that yesterday because I couldn't get it down her!
She's sleeping a lot, but is very alert when we go in to sit with her. She's eating her canned food, but has quit eating her dry food, because I changed the bowl it's in. (I had to wash it!) Is there anything else I can do to help her breathe easier and get that snot out of her head?

I've never had a kitty this young and I've never had a sick kitty, so this is all new to me!

Stephanie
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How do you find the Vick's and vaporizer to be working out? My Teddy has had a URI for about a month; he's on his second round of medication and is slowly getting better. He's eating like his usually piggy self, but he is SO snotty. Maybe I should try what you're doing!
 
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URI is not a joke.. it can b fatal if not treated immediately... shud the sneezing lessens then it shud b ok.. but if she sneezes plus having watery eyes n nose, then u need to take her back to the vet... if u hv any other cats around, confined the sick fellow fr the rest coz it can be contagious...

u can use Vick vaporiser by juz putting near ur cat's nose. (Dun apply ya). juz let ur cat sniff it juz to clear the nasal blockage a bit...
 
carolpetunia

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I think drinking lots of water is the key -- because even after the infection has dissipated, the accumulated goop continues to make the kitty miserable, and with no new moisture being generated, the goop thickens and becomes more difficult to get rid of. Get some nice, fresh bottled water so you know it tastes good to her, and put the water right by her bed. If you can, hook up a little kitty fountain for her -- they just love running water.

Hannah Grace is a beautiful name! I hope she feels better soon...
 
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stephanietx

stephanietx

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Hannah's doing better every day! The vaporizer is working great! (And it gets me to clean the windows everyday since they are all foggy! LOL) I've only had to use the Vick's a couple of times, but I used the baby Vick's. I went to the health food store yesterday and bought a bottle of eucalyptus oil. I folded up a washcloth and put about 6-8 drops of the oil on it, then laid it close to where she's been sleeping. That has also helped open up her airways and get the snot out. Her little eyes are nice and bright today, she's got no discharge from her nose, and the runny nose has lessened. She's eating like a pig, drinking lots of water, using the litter box, and very alert.

Stephanie
 
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