Need Help Or Any Suggestions

[fodder]

Back in December last year i started this thread about my cat reverse sneezing.
Reverse sneezing and sneezing

It is now July, more than a year has past since he started doing this and i can not find a reason for it. I have tried every thing i can think of to cure this but it just keeps coming back! It is so stressful for both my cat and for me. I was just hoping someone out there might have some idea for something i could try that i haven't thought of already.

The things i have tried are:
Full sinus flush under anesthetic.
Full blood panel that showed no abnormalities.
Culture tests done on nasal discharge that again showed no signs of abnormalities.
He has had an endoscopy to check his nasal cavity and esophagus with no signs of any problems.
He has had xrays done with no signs of any problems found.
Lysine which had no effects.
Asthma inhaler which had no effects. My other cat has asthma and it is different but gave it a shot anyway.
Numerous diet changes to rule out any food allergies to no avail.
Zyrtec antihistamines for 2 weeks with no effect.

The only thing that has worked has been antibiotics. He has now had almost a whole year on clavamox with only a few 10 day breaks. During these breaks the reverse sneezing returns.
My vet is not keen on keeping him on the antibiotics and neither am i because it is hard on the liver and kidneys etc. Last thing i want is for him to get more problems. Also, if they were going to work long term they would have by now.
It just doesn't make sense to me that antibiotics work but no infection is present in the blood tests etc.

Anyway, i just wanted to start a new thread in hopes someone might see it and have some ideas for me to try. Thanks in advance to anyone that can shed even a little bit of light on where i might go from here. All suggestions are very welcome.

 

[Draco]

that's frusturating! To me sounds like allergies. It seems you've done everything you can for the cat.. but did you look around his surroundings to find out what may be causing it? I'd find the source and eliminate it if possible.

Check his food, maybe there's something in there he's allergic too. How about dust or certain fabric (wool?) that may be causing allergies? Does he go outside? pollen could be causing allergies too.

 

[fodder]

Thank you for your response. I have tried many things like that. I have changed his food numerous times to no avail.
I currently have an air purifier in the room he spends most of his time in which hasn't seemed to help. He is also on his second trial of zyrtec which is an antihistamine that is good for pollen allergies etc. Iv tried changing washing powder, dish washing liquid, floor cleaners and other various cleaning products with no results.
I haven't totally ruled out allergies yet, the zrytec seems to reduce the symptoms for a short time but i am running out of things to eliminate in that sense. One thing i haven't been able to change is the carpets so not sure what i can really do there. I have been curious about increasing the dose of zyrtec to see if it helps but he is currently on 5mg a day which is the recommended dose for a cat so im not sure if it would be a good idea. he is a big bugger though so maybe he needs more.
The thing i can't get out of my mind is always how the antibiotics work. They eliminate the symptoms totally but why would they not cure the problem and why would the infection(if there is one) not show in blood tests.

Thank you again so much for your reply. I appreciate every thought anyone has.
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[valentine319]

Ask the vet for a different allergy med. Maybe zyrtec just isn't working. Chlortabs (vet calls them CM) are another option. You can get allergy testing done. Food allergies take forever to narrow down. My cat has food and environmental.

I'm just throwing this out there. I have no idea if it's possible. Could the antibiotic be suppressing the immune system some causing clearing of whatever the allergy or allergies are.

 

[valentine319]

As far as cat food change. Here are a couple common allergies: fish (even as fish oil it's in most cat foods), chicken and poultry. I've heard some cats are allergic to mites on dry kibble.

The reason I mention is if you've tried different dried foods but it's storage mites you would be stuck with allergies to dry cat food.

 

[Lalka]

could it be the litter? if its clay, maybe the dust in it.
Make sure there is no soap left in their bowl when you clean then.

 

[fodder]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I will ask my vet about getting allergy tests done next time im there which will be soon. And also about the Chlortabs. I had never thought that it could be possible that the antibiotic might suppress the immune system a little which could be reducing allergies. I have no clue if that can happen but just the fact that you thought of that is genius!

The food allergy thing is a tough one. Lately iv been thinking chicken might be a cause, even though it was never a problem before i know how these things can just start happening out of the blue. At this point it has been so long that i can't remember all the things iv tried to give him. Currently im switching him to an all raw meat, no chicken, no fish diet to see if that helps but he also has to have at least some of a prescription diet that keeps his bladder ph levels in check.
I will ask the vet about specific food made for cats with allergies also next time im there.

My cat is an indoor and outdoor cat. He goes to the toilet outside in an area that is clean topsoil. I keep it clean all the time but he doesn't ever use litter. Thank you so much for your idea though. It is really great to get these new ideas from people to consider. I appreciate any and all ideas

 

[haleyds]

I'm just throwing this out there as a wild card...possibly an autoimmune disorder? I'm a nursing student so I know they show up in humans in funny ways and often go unchecked for years because you often have to specifically look for it on panels or else you miss them. Antibiotics treat them because it's your body attacking itself, so although no infection is really present, the body is on alert as if it is.
It's not very common so I don't know, but I also didn't know cats could reverse sneeze until this post lol.

 

[kashmir64]

My beagle does this and I have never quite located the source. It happens most frequently when it's hot and he leaves either my bed or his bed and lies on the kitchen floor or carpet. I have mopped with hot water only and vacuumed until I'm blue. It doesn't help.
Putting him off the ground and giving Benadryl does help a little.

 

[valentine319]

Raw can really help. It can take months to get the allergen out. Here's a webpage with general info.
Allergies

When going raw here's a good fish oil (it helps their immune system). There's details under the raw Board but the oil is molecularly distilled removing all the fish protein molecules to get rid of an allergy response.Iceland Pure Unscented Pharmaceutical Grade Sardine Anchovy Oil For Dogs and Cats.Bottle Size 8.75oz
I have to agree I would look at auto immune.

 

[haleyds]

My beagle does this and I have never quite located the source. It happens most frequently when it's hot and he leaves either my bed or his bed and lies on the kitchen floor or carpet. I have mopped with hot water only and vacuumed until I'm blue. It doesn't help.
Putting him off the ground and giving Benadryl does help a little.

Yeah I forgot to add to my original reply that our mini schnauzer hasn't horrible reverse sneezing this time of year but it's allergy related 100%. She gets a Zyrtec everyday and it helps immensely- so that's why I kind of leaned away from seasonal allergies since you said those forms of medication did not help.

 

[kashmir64]

Yeah I forgot to add to my original reply that our mini schnauzer hasn't horrible reverse sneezing this time of year but it's allergy related 100%. She gets a Zyrtec everyday and it helps immensely- so that's why I kind of leaned away from seasonal allergies since you said those forms of medication did not help.

I only mentioned when it's hot because that's when he's on the floor. In the winter he is almost always on my bed and it is less frequent. He's very old and sleeps a lot.
I think it's something in the carpet and since the OP's cat is probably also on their carpet.......

 

[fodder]

Thanks again for all of the suggestions.
If it were an auto immune disorder would there be other symptoms? weight loss, lethargy etc? He has had this going on for over a year now and i haven't noticed much more than the sneezing going on. At times i thought his temperature was a bit high but i think that might have just been paranoia. He has also had blood tests done a couple of times now with no signs of anemia or anything out of the ordinary. Regardless, i will add that to my list of things to ask the vet about while im there so thank you very much for the suggestion.

I also have two small dogs that reverse sneeze but it's far more common for dogs to do so, especially the smaller ones. It's also a bit different from what my cats doing as he seems to have a blocked nose,snoring,sneezing and reverse sneezing where as the dogs just do it randomly, usually when they are excited. Also my cat started doing this randomly at about 12 years old where as the dogs have done it since they were puppies.

What ever it is it's definitely not a seasonal thing. This will happen any time he is not on antibiotics. Rain, sun, sleet or snow he's sneezing away in the background if he's not on the meds.

Thanks for the allergy info Valentine. I will have a read through it now.
I have been reading a bit about antibiotics and the effects on the immune system and it seems that they do not effect the immune system at all. They only target bacterial cells in the system so the mystery as to why they are working when no bacterial infection is detected unfortunately remains.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

 

[valentine319]

While this is listed as a possible cause of reverse sneezing ciliary dyskines it would need to be a mild form and extremely rare . Mites in the nasal cavity, no clue how a vet would get a sample. I'm sure nasal tumors have been checked. I believe auto immune in cats would be lethargic and lose weight. I know some of the human side but not cats.