Bless you
June 16, 2011 5:08 AM Subscribe
My cat is sneezing in relatively violent, rapid-fire outbursts of 5 - 10 seconds. The nose and eyes are not discharging anything. She'll just sit up from where she's taking a nap, sneeze a whole bunch of times in a row really fast, then lay down again. This cat has an auto-immune disorder and has taken prednisone for the last year or so. I took her to the vet a week ago for a checkup and I told the vet about the sneezing, which at the time wasn't that bad. The vet said if it got worse, I should bring my cat back in and she'd give her a round of antibiotics to see if that knocked it out, though there was nothing to indicate it was a virus. I wasn't impressed with that answer. In the last couple of days, the sneezing has become slightly more frequent. Any idea what I should do or what this might be? If the advice is go to the vet, would you recommend another vet?
Response by poster: Antibiotics work on bacteria, not viruses.
Yes, thanks. My fault. To be precise, the vet said that it could be bacterial or a virus, and that she could give my cat a round of antibiotics with the hope that whatever it was, it would go away.
And also: I know the policy is that cat questions must be accompanied by pictures, but we shaved our cats about four weeks ago and they look absolutely ridiculous. They would hate us forever if strangers saw them in such an undignified state.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 5:18 AM on June 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
Yes, thanks. My fault. To be precise, the vet said that it could be bacterial or a virus, and that she could give my cat a round of antibiotics with the hope that whatever it was, it would go away.
And also: I know the policy is that cat questions must be accompanied by pictures, but we shaved our cats about four weeks ago and they look absolutely ridiculous. They would hate us forever if strangers saw them in such an undignified state.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 5:18 AM on June 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
Aww, all the more reason to post photos!
My cat does this in the early spring every year and it eventually goes away on its own. I think she just has hay fever. If your cat doesn't seem otherwise ill it might just be allergies.
posted by orrnyereg at 5:40 AM on June 16, 2011
My cat does this in the early spring every year and it eventually goes away on its own. I think she just has hay fever. If your cat doesn't seem otherwise ill it might just be allergies.
posted by orrnyereg at 5:40 AM on June 16, 2011
yeah if it's not too distressing and doesn't progress to breathing difficulties (which is the thing with cats, upper respiratory infections just suck) I would go with allergies as well.
As my vet has said repeatedly, you know your cat best. If you cat is truly sick, you are the best judge of whether your cat is sick. (However, to the vet's offer of antibiotics, sometimes instead of giving a series of crazy tests, it's just as easy with cats to treat the symptoms as a process of elimination.)
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:29 AM on June 16, 2011
As my vet has said repeatedly, you know your cat best. If you cat is truly sick, you are the best judge of whether your cat is sick. (However, to the vet's offer of antibiotics, sometimes instead of giving a series of crazy tests, it's just as easy with cats to treat the symptoms as a process of elimination.)
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:29 AM on June 16, 2011
IINAD, but I know that dosing with antibiotics without a clear plan can yield hardier bugs and that seems like exactly what you wouldn't want in an immune compromised kitty.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 6:42 AM on June 16, 2011
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 6:42 AM on June 16, 2011
i have heard that respiratory viruses can sometimes lead to secondary bacterial infections, which is possibly why the antibiotic was suggested. this is what my vet told me when my kittens were sneezy, etc. so...just a data point that your vet may not necessarily be full of it.
posted by apostrophe at 7:04 AM on June 16, 2011
posted by apostrophe at 7:04 AM on June 16, 2011
One of our cats has allergies and does this, it generally clears up within a week or two. He does not have an auto-immune disorder though, so you might just want to take your kitty back to the vet.
posted by Kimberly at 7:16 AM on June 16, 2011
posted by Kimberly at 7:16 AM on June 16, 2011
Not trying to scare you, but it could be feline herpes — which is an respiratory infection. It flares up every once in a while, and is common in shelter/rescue kitties. There's no real treatment if the discharge (whatever she's sneezing out) remains clear; mostly you wait it out. If she does have a change in discharge, they'll prescribe antibiotics to take care of the secondary bacterial infection.
One of my boyfriend's cats has it, but we just found out a couple months ago because she had a flare up — and she's 9 and he's had her since she was 2. Took her about three weeks to get over it fully.
posted by clone boulevard at 7:26 AM on June 16, 2011
One of my boyfriend's cats has it, but we just found out a couple months ago because she had a flare up — and she's 9 and he's had her since she was 2. Took her about three weeks to get over it fully.
posted by clone boulevard at 7:26 AM on June 16, 2011
Yeah, my cat has had sneezing fits her whole life, and she has feline herpes.
posted by greta simone at 8:21 AM on June 16, 2011
posted by greta simone at 8:21 AM on June 16, 2011
One of my sister's cats went through a day or so of sneezing a lot, until the owner realized that he's somehow snuffled up a blade of grass. He sneezed it partway out and she pulled it out. So you might take a look and make sure your kitty isn't trying to sneeze something out.
If the kitty doesn't seem lethargic (that is, more lethargic than usual) and is eating and drinking like usual, I would wait a few days and see how it goes.
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 1:18 PM on June 16, 2011
If the kitty doesn't seem lethargic (that is, more lethargic than usual) and is eating and drinking like usual, I would wait a few days and see how it goes.
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 1:18 PM on June 16, 2011
My Zuzu has latent feline herpes (not a big deal -- the majority of cats do). She was on pred for a skin allergy and ended up with a very mild upper respiratory infection that mostly manifested itself in serious sneezing fits like the kind you're describing. Prednisone lowers the body's immune response, making it easier for them to pick up little bugs, or for the latent ones like herpes to start displaying symptoms usually suppressed by the immune system.
In her case, the options were going off the pred or going on antibiotics. We discontinued the steroids and the sneezing stopped within a day.
Take your cat back to the doc. If the antibiotics don't help, you make have to look into an alternative to the prednisone.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:35 PM on June 16, 2011
In her case, the options were going off the pred or going on antibiotics. We discontinued the steroids and the sneezing stopped within a day.
Take your cat back to the doc. If the antibiotics don't help, you make have to look into an alternative to the prednisone.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:35 PM on June 16, 2011
Warning - alarming cat story follows. Do not be alarmed, but it might be worth considering.
Our cat started sneezing. A lot. For no reason. Otherwise, he didn't seem unwell at all. Vet asked the usual questions - do you smoke? Is there dust? No, no. Eh, don't worry about it.
Eventually the sneezing turned to what we said was coughing, but what the vet said was probably still just sneezing. The cat wouldn't do it in front of the vet, so we video taped it and showed the vet on the camcorder screen. He ordered chest x-rays - emphysema. With an athsma inhaler (seriously) and pred tablets a couple of times a day we got to be with him for another year or so, but in the end he couldn't breathe and we had to put him down.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 5:48 PM on June 16, 2011
Our cat started sneezing. A lot. For no reason. Otherwise, he didn't seem unwell at all. Vet asked the usual questions - do you smoke? Is there dust? No, no. Eh, don't worry about it.
Eventually the sneezing turned to what we said was coughing, but what the vet said was probably still just sneezing. The cat wouldn't do it in front of the vet, so we video taped it and showed the vet on the camcorder screen. He ordered chest x-rays - emphysema. With an athsma inhaler (seriously) and pred tablets a couple of times a day we got to be with him for another year or so, but in the end he couldn't breathe and we had to put him down.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 5:48 PM on June 16, 2011
If you suspect a herpes-induced upper respiratory infection, you should supplement her food with powdered lysine. Studies have shown that lysene will suppress FHV in cats.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 11:30 AM on June 17, 2011
posted by ereshkigal45 at 11:30 AM on June 17, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
Antibiotics work on bacteria, not viruses.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:13 AM on June 16, 2011