Vet time?

February 5, 2016 1:28 PM

My cat seems to have a cold -it seems like she has really bad nasal congestion and eye discharge. Should I take her to the vet? On the one hand I think no, because last time she had these symptoms (July) the vet said there was nothing she could do, and I don't want to stress her out for nothing when she's already uncomfortable and possibly prolong this. On the other hand "Making bad noises when breathing= doctor" seems like a pretty good guideline to follow in general.

This has been going on for I think 3 days. I think she's about 17 years old and generally in good health otherwise. She's eating, drinking, napping, patrolling the house, and litter boxing as usual (like a champ). I'm running the humidifier for her, making sure she has enough water and giving her extra wet food. But she seems really uncomfortable (she has a particular kitten-like mew for these times) and it's stressing me out. That's why I'm not sure if taking her to the vet would be more for her benefit or mine.

posted by bleep to Pets & Animals (11 answers total)

Best answer: My cat (age 11) is pretty susceptible to respiratory infections with nasal congestion and eye discharge as well, and I take her to the vet to make sure it's nothing awful. Never has been, but they've been able to give her antibiotics that seem to chase the infection away pretty quickly. More to the point of your question, my vet also mentioned during one of these visits that the two things you really have to watch out for in cats is breathing with the mouth open or the nostrils moving noticeably in and out when the cat breathes. He said both of those were basically emergency situations. So if you see either one of those things, yeah, take her.
posted by holborne at 1:34 PM on February 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: How stressful are vet visits for her? This would be a real consideration for me in a kitty that age.

Are you able to take her temperature? (If you haven't tried this, look for online videos, and definitely get a quick-results thermometer).

L-Lysine: If she's one of those kitties who gets periodic viral colds, you might consider giving her L-Lysine. I've been told that it actually does help inhibit the herpes virus that causes periodic symptom resurgence in rescue/shelter cats who got herpes virus "colds" as kittens. Sniffles and runny eyes are classic symptoms.

Is there any chance she's getting additional irritation from dust or other allergens? If you decide not to go to the vet, maybe reducing those might help. Besides, kitties usually love clean blankets and towels...
posted by amtho at 1:36 PM on February 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Just saying, I had a kitten with those symptoms a few years ago and she died within two days... I'd take her.
posted by Huck500 at 1:38 PM on February 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Ok good enough for me. Made an appointment for today. Thanks!
posted by bleep at 1:42 PM on February 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

Yeah - we lost a beloved kitty a couple weeks ago - those symptoms were the only clue about systemic cancer. Hope your kitty is ok!
posted by leslies at 2:17 PM on February 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

I was going to suggest you at least call the vet and ask, but I'm glad you're going in!
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 2:27 PM on February 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

We had something similar happen with our cat, elderly like yours. She had a massive infection in her teeth, and it had spread to her tissues. She would have died quickly without surgery. Hope your cat will be okay.
posted by cartoonella at 11:25 PM on February 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Doctor checked her out, seemed satisfied it was just a nasal infection and gave antiobiotics. Thanks for your concern.
posted by bleep at 12:00 AM on February 6, 2016 [2 favorites]

Glad to hear your kitty is doing fine, but also seconding lysine for cats prone to URIs. Most of our cats are reformed street kittens and have a host of weird health issues. The vet once recommended, and they respond well to, lysine treats that you can buy online and elsewhere. The chews smell like marmite to me and the cats seem to like them.
posted by Hal Mumkin at 5:47 AM on February 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you could get your hands on a nebulizer you could really help her with getting the snot moving. Easiest way to do this is confine her in covered carrier or plastic tub with holes. Run saline in the nebulizer. The mouth attachment(?) is open on both ends, plug one end to direct the mist into her tub or carrier. They panic some at first but the hum of the nebulizer seems to settle them. This helps a lot, they breathe better and have an easier time eating afterwards.
posted by txtwinkletoes at 5:49 AM on February 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

One more data point (and not to scare you, just informative). Our cat had similar symptoms at first, and ended up with a complicated medical history. It turns out she had URI from feline herpes (which we knew about), stomatitis, and MRSA (which we didn't). The MRSA infection became pretty serious, and was initially confused with the feline herpes because the symptoms look very similar. The surgeon didn't discover the actual MRSA infection in her nasal cavity, however, until she was operating on her and pulling out her teeth for stomatitis.

Our kitty has a compromised immune system, though, so she's susceptible to all kinds of things. A low dose of prednisone 3x/week has kept the stomatitis and symptoms of feline herpes at bay. Hopefully it won't ruin her kidneys over time.

Our general vet is excellent and saw right away that the stomatitis was beyond her scope of practice, so we were referred to an excellent feline dentist. It cost us some money, but she's alive, very active, and relatively healthy all things considered. Good on you for taking care of your kitty! Good luck!
posted by onecircleaday at 12:29 PM on February 6, 2016 [1 favorite]