Hey guys! I've never had to nurse a cat with a URI, so I thought I'd turn to the boards for help.
Finn came down with a URI shortly after I adopted him, so he's had it for almost three weeks now. He's only seven months and I understand that URIs can take up to a month to go away, but I'm getting concerned. The first vet I took him too was not great. They prescribed him antibiotic eye drops and told me to come back in a little over a week for his vaccine. I brought him back in, expressed that he was still showing symptoms, and the vet gave him his distemper and said it might "boost his immune system." It did not. Finn had to be rushed to the hospital with a 105 fever, which went down overnight. I've since contacted my former vet about my disappointment, so hopefully he'll be more cautious about this in the future. I have also switched Finn to the animal hospital's vet. They gave him an antibiotic shot and said to keep using the eye ointment. I'm giving it to him 3x a day, but honestly I'm not seeing much improvement. He sneezes from time to time but there's no drainage from his nose. He's energetic and still eats and drinks plenty. Both of his eyes are affected however, and when he's playing they'll be wide open, but otherwise they get squinty and have discharge. The discharge is usually clear, but sometimes there'll be a little bit of green.
Can someone advise me on URIs? I was worried and called the vet this evening and they said that 3 weeks is a little atypical, so I'm bringing him in, but the next opening they have is two weeks from now. They said to call if things become an emergency, but if he's still energetic and eating/drinking, he should be fine waiting. I just will be really worried if his URI hasn't cleared up in 5 weeks since he first got it. Has anyone else had a cat that's had a URI this long? Is there anything else I can do besides the eye ointment and wiping the discharge away?
Thanks so much!
Finn came down with a URI shortly after I adopted him, so he's had it for almost three weeks now. He's only seven months and I understand that URIs can take up to a month to go away, but I'm getting concerned. The first vet I took him too was not great. They prescribed him antibiotic eye drops and told me to come back in a little over a week for his vaccine. I brought him back in, expressed that he was still showing symptoms, and the vet gave him his distemper and said it might "boost his immune system." It did not. Finn had to be rushed to the hospital with a 105 fever, which went down overnight. I've since contacted my former vet about my disappointment, so hopefully he'll be more cautious about this in the future. I have also switched Finn to the animal hospital's vet. They gave him an antibiotic shot and said to keep using the eye ointment. I'm giving it to him 3x a day, but honestly I'm not seeing much improvement. He sneezes from time to time but there's no drainage from his nose. He's energetic and still eats and drinks plenty. Both of his eyes are affected however, and when he's playing they'll be wide open, but otherwise they get squinty and have discharge. The discharge is usually clear, but sometimes there'll be a little bit of green.
Can someone advise me on URIs? I was worried and called the vet this evening and they said that 3 weeks is a little atypical, so I'm bringing him in, but the next opening they have is two weeks from now. They said to call if things become an emergency, but if he's still energetic and eating/drinking, he should be fine waiting. I just will be really worried if his URI hasn't cleared up in 5 weeks since he first got it. Has anyone else had a cat that's had a URI this long? Is there anything else I can do besides the eye ointment and wiping the discharge away?
Thanks so much!