Kitten with a cold...question...

[huskerlaw]

I got my kitten (7 months old) a month ago from an animal shelter. When I got him he had a cold and was immediately placed on antibiotics. He took the antibiotics for 10 days and was significantly better. No more sneezing, no more snot...but ever since (for the past 3 weeks) his breathing sounds like he's got a stuffed up nose.

Yesterday I noticed that one of his eyes was goopy. I wiped it off...it was goopy again a few hours later. That seems to be better today, but this morning he had a snotty nose (light green snot) and sneezed a few times. That cleared up this afternoon. He's been a bit more lazy than usual (though he's still playing, eating, drinking), and the symptoms have gone away for now...except for the stuffed up nose breathing.

So the question is, should I call the vet tomorrow or just watch it for a few days? If I call the vet, should I schedule an appointment or just ask for more antibiotics? Thoughts?

[IndyOp]

1. The safest bet is always to ask for an appointment and many vets won't

give more of anything without your making an appointment - at least not mine. And, as I remind myself, while it is time consuming and expensive to schlep them to the vet a correct diagnosis and timely treatment is less stressful and less expensive than waiting and having to deal with complications.

As for his respiratory issues -- the green snot makes it sound like he has something bacterial going on again.

You might also ask about testing/treating him for herpes. The female cat I adopted from a shelter sneezed a lot and had occasionally goopy eyes - when symptoms got intense I took her to the regular vet who prescribed eyedrops that helped, but when the drops ran out the symptoms were back. I took her to a veterinary opthalmologist who diagnosed her and prescribed drops to kill the herpes virus. Apparently a *lot* of kittens get the herpes virus in their eyes as they come down the birth canal and the herpes causes eye and upper-respiratory problems. After she was treated she never had another re-occurence.

If your kitty has herpes it might make him more susceptible to bacterial infections and such...

Just a thought.

Good luck to you and kitty! :hi:

[meti57b]

2. My friend's poor pooch has a fungus infection of the nose .....

lots of goopy pooch snot. The pooch is getting treatment for it. Perhaps your kitty has something other than a cold.

I don't know much about kitty colds but people colds are caused by a virus, Antibiotics are not effective against virus.

[kestrel91316]

3. This isn't any zebra here - NOT a fungal infection, IOW........

It is most likely a garden variety Feline Herpesvirus rhinitis and conjunctivitis. I treat these with L-lysine primarily, which interferes with herpesvirus replication. It's an amino acid (a nutrient) and use of this has been one of the niftier innovations I have seen in my 24 years in practice! Works real well in most cases.

I also put these cats on Terramycin opthalmic ointment in case Chlamydophila is involved, and if the kitten has a fever or isn't eating well, antibiotics might be indicated, though secondary bacterial infections with FHV are not as common as we once assumed.

Kitten needs to see the vet for a recheck, and the eyes need to be stained to check for corneal ulcers, and to discuss the above treatment options.

[meti57b]

5. So then, there is a treatment for kitty colds. That's good to know.

Mine occasionally sneeze and I do get concerned it might be a beginning of a cold, but it hasn't been so far.

[huskerlaw]

6. Thanks

for your response.

I was all set to call the vet this morning, but now most of the symptoms are gone. His eyes are clear, his nose isn't running, and the sneezing has stopped. All that's left is the "stuffy nose" breathing...and even that seems to be less.

So now I'm not sure what to do. I hate to drag him to the vet and have the vet go "uh, ok...but he seems fine now..." but if you think there's something more than FHV, I want to get it diagnosed. :shrug:

[huskerlaw]

4. That's true

from what I understand, the antibiotics are given because kitty colds often lead to infections...it's a preventative measure rather than a cure.