I have a question about my cats health…?
About 3 and a half weeks ago my cat began sneezing. I did some research and felt that I should take him to the veterinarian as I learned upper respiratory can be very serious. He went to the vet and they gave me some antibiotics and after about a week the sneezing had stopped. Then about a week later he wasn’t acting like himself, hiding in the closet and under the bed all day, walking around really sluggish, and finally stopped eating. When I felt him he was really hot. So off to the veterinarian we went again. The said he had a fever of 105 (a normal high temp in cats is 103) and he had lost a pound. They ran some blood tests and found nothing, they gave him a baby aspirin and broke his fever and he was then back to his normal self. Well another week goes by and he begins to exhibit some of the above behaviors again. So again off to the vet but this time a different one our old vet as we had recently moved in the last 3 months. This vet then says he had a fever again and they ran a Feline Leukemia and Aids test and they were negative (thank god). He is coming home today; they plan to give me some meds for him for 2wks for infections as they think he had a residual infection from the virus (sneezing) he had earlier. As a side not about a month again we bought a Bamboo Palm and he has been nibbling on it. To keep him from doing this I put a product called Bitter Apple on it. Also about two weeks ago we bought one of those cinnamon brooms used as a decorative item to scent the house and noticed he was nibbling on that as well. My question is has any one had an experience like this with their cat and did you ever get a clear answer as to what was wrong with your pet?
Well the vet kind of ruled out allergies as he never gave me steroids for the cat but just gave him Clavamox and he stopped sneezing and hasn’t sneezed since. Although he may not have allergies (watery eyes, sneezing) he may be "allergic" to something… hmmm… I just read that some allergic side effect to Clavamox is a fever and a side affect is a loss of appetite … hmmm…
Filed under: Pet Insurance
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This sounds very familiar. We built a new house in 2005 in a rural area and moved my at the time 3 year old cat. We moved in in September and near the end of October my cat became very ill with sneezing and trouble breathing. Went to the vet and she was diagnosed with allergies and asthma. The vet gave her a shot of steroids and penicillin and a prescription for clavamox for 2 weeks. She got over that spell and no problems until the next fall, same thing again. Then this year it has gotten much worse with swelling of her face and eyes and extreme difficulty breathing. It is something that will progressively worsen as she ages and the vet says there is nothing they can do to prevent these outbreaks from happening just treat her once they do. So it maybe allergies / asthma that will require constant monitoring. I know it is scary. I hope everything works out for you and your kitty.
It sounds like he’s getting into something, or at least allergic to something!
I have had cats over the years, I have been quite disciplinarian. Meaning, I’d stay on top them so they did not get into things. They have all been indoor cats. As they became adults, for the most part, they pretty much left stuff alone. They kind’a knew what to leave alone.
You may want to keep a closer eye on him until to can find a root cause.
Upper respiratory infections in cats can be caused by the feline herpes virus – which almost all cats have been exposed to, but it usually lies pretty dormant with no symptoms. It can flare up if the cat’s immune system is weakened at all (could be caused by stress, etc). I have two cats who had really bad, raging upper respiratory tract infections due to feline herpes before they were rescued. Sometimes one of them will get runny eyes and phlegm in his throat (it’s nasty when he hocks up a loogie of it).
The universal treatment is very simple and inexpensive – I give them 250mg of L-Lysine daily, which boosts the immune system. 500mg can be given a day if they are having a flare-up. It comes in a powder form (or capsules which can be ground into powder with a pill crusher) and is easily mixed with some canned food. It just helps their immune systems suppress the virus, and any other illnesses. Really, they rarely show any signs of sneezing/coughing/runny eyes as long as I keep them on it.
It’s something a lot of people give to all of their cats, healthy or not, and of course, a lot of people take it (you buy it in the pharmacy section of any grocery store, walmart, walgreens, whatever). It doesn’t harm them at all and is safe to give long-term. It could help your guy stay healthy as well.
Just food for thought – you could ask your vet about this at your next visit.