Sneezing after 3 weeks on prednisolone?

[Cupcakecrazy]

Hi everyone,

My 13 year old male cat has had trouble peeing off and on for the last month. He had a urinalysis with sedimentation that came back clear so my vet suspects cystitis. He took a week of amox-clav just to be safe, and he's been on prednisolone for 3 weeks.

Just in the last two days he's started sneezing his full head off and it's not something he's ever done before. Could it be from the prednisolone? I read that it can weaken the immune system and cause him to be susceptible to illnesses and infections. He's had a couple of antibiotics in the last few months and I'm worried his immune system is already poor.

Our vet is on vacation and I worry about taking him in for an appointment at all, the last appointment for the urinalysis seemed to worsen the suspected cystitis. If the sneezing could be from the prednisolone causing a URI or something like it, should I start tapering him off of it? Will the sneezing go away on its own?

Thanks for any insight!

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. Is the pred only for the cystitis? If so, that is not a treatment I am familiar with for that problem.

You shouldn’t discontinue or wean him off the Prednisolone without speaking to your vet or getting him an appointment at another vet and talking to them first.

He should be eating a canned only diet for his urinary issues. Is he on a prescription diet? That being said, he does need to eat and it is extremely bad for a cat to stop eating. So always make sure he eats.

I am sure you are aware that, if at any time, he cannot urinate, it is an emergency and he must be seen immediately as it is a life threatening condition.

It is important to reduce stress for your cat and try to get him to drink as much water as possible. This can be encouraged by adding water bowls to locations he frequents and considering getting him a water fountain.

Make sure he has clean litter and the rule of one box per cat plus one is a good one to follow.

is he an only cat? Are there any other animals in the house? Children? Does he go outside? Is he generally a content cat?

It is possible that he caught an upper respiratory virus at the vet. He may also be having a flare up of a virus he already has like herpes virus, which many cats carry but don’t show symptoms until they are stressed.

I am unsure why antibiotics were used if there were not signs of an infection in the urine. Urinary infections are not common in cats and really you should culture the urine to determine what kind of antibiotics to use.

Your vet is the one with the license, and the one who has examined your cat. So, they may have reasons for what he, or she is doing. But it would not be unreasonable to get a second opinion at preferably a feline only hospital, if you have one in your area.

Please keep us posted on what happens or what you decide.

 

[Cupcakecrazy]

Yes, the prednisolone is to help his bladder inflammation go down. He refuses to eat any wet food I give him, I feel like I've tried every brand in the world and he turns his nose up at all of them. We tried Hills science diet urinary stress dry food but it made him sick.

He's started drinking less water the last few days and I'm not sure how to help him. Taking him to the vet for fluids is sure to be stressful and worsen the cystitis. He has four water dishes cleaned constantly. Adding water to his kibble hasn't worked. He won't eat baby or wet food. And we've tried six styles of water fountains but he's afraid of them all.

He is our only cat now and he has three litter boxes which I clean a few times a day. We do have a dog which he doesn't like but they generally stay away from each other, they haven't interacted in days. He is an indoor cat and hasn't been around anyone but our dog for about a month which was his last visit to the vet.


She gave the antibiotic just in case because it was the long Christmas weekend when everyone was closed. There aren't any feline only vets in the area, it would be a few hour trip to get him to one that would really stress him out.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me!

 

[Alldara]

Is there any discharge when he sneezes? If yes, what colour.

 

[Cupcakecrazy]

Is there any discharge when he sneezes? If yes, what colour.

No, I haven't noticed any discharge so far.

 

[silent meowlook]

Did they give him anything for pain regarding the cystitis? It is a painful condition that leads to stress.

Take a look at the below article regarding tips to transition a cat from dry food to canned.
https://catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

Also, if vet visits are stressful, talk to your vet about using Gabapentin before a visit to help with the stress.
Below is a link to helping cats not be stressed during visits.
https://catfriendly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/AAFPGettingCatToVetWeb.pdf

 

[Alldara]

Is there any discharge when he sneezes? If yes, what colour.

If it becomes colourful, he will not be able to wait until your vet's return. If it stays clear, and he doesn't have any new or worsening balance symptoms then you could make an appointment for when your vet returns unless your vets office suggests otherwise. (Assuming of course someone is there to make the appointments and it's not fully closed, in which case I would call a different office and check with them.)

 

[Cupcakecrazy]

Did they give him anything for pain regarding the cystitis? It is a painful condition that leads to stress.

Take a look at the below article regarding tips to transition a cat from dry food to canned.
https://catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

Also, if vet visits are stressful, talk to your vet about using Gabapentin before a visit to help with the stress.
Below is a link to helping cats not be stressed during visits.
https://catfriendly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/AAFPGettingCatToVetWeb.pdf

Thank you. He was on gabapentin for the first week, but he hasn't had anything but the prednisolone for a few weeks now. I appreciate the articles, I'll check them out.

 

[Cupcakecrazy]

If it becomes colourful, he will not be able to wait until your vet's return. If it stays clear, and he doesn't have any new or worsening balance symptoms then you could make an appointment for when your vet returns unless your vets office suggests otherwise. (Assuming of course someone is there to make the appointments and it's not fully closed, in which case I would call a different office and check with them.)

Thank you. The vet who is on vacation understands his condition and we do most of his care over the phone. The other vets insist on him coming into the office every visit which worsens the cystitis which I would hate to do.

 

[Alldara]

Thank you. The vet who is on vacation understands his condition and we do most of his care over the phone. The other vets insist on him coming into the office every visit which worsens the cystitis which I would hate to do.

I understand. Sometimes it's good and important that he's in person though.