So, when do you decide you've got to take kitty to the vet with a cold?

[EFerrari]

One of my girls escaped Sunday night and was out in the cold for about an hour. She's sneezy and looks miserable. No runny eyes and her breathing seems okay, she's eating and not lethargic but something tells me this isn't going away without some help. Argh.

The upper respiratory stuff makes me really nervous. All the sick kittens I used to foster either had it or came down with it once they were bailed out of jail. And this particular kitty almost died from it when she was about four weeks old. She's five now but I wonder if her rough start just makes her a little more vulnerable than the other guys. Whom I also don't want to catch whatever this is. Double argh.

[david13]

1. I usually opt for later, rather than sooner. Too many times it's over

by the time you get in for your appointment. And I have little faith in doctors for humans. I think a lot of people would live longer with less medical care, pills, and doctors. And some studies have shown that.
The great american idea that there is a pill to cure any and everything to me just enriches the drug companies, and does nothing or harms the patient.
I don't mean, for instance, a bone break or a large laceration. A broken bone has to be properly set, and a good laceration has to be sewn up.
I had a horrible flu in 2003, near death, for a full week, worst I ever had, and 3 visits to the doctor did nothing other than a major depletion of my monetary funds.
Anti biotics are grossly over prescribed, and thus no longer have any effect, and never had any effect on a virus.
But they are a good drug sale item, and many people are convinced they cure every and anything. They don't.
But you have to exercise your judgment.
Best of luck.
dc

[EFerrari]

4. Thanks, David.

[Warpy]

6. I second that

Unfortunately, there's no Nyquil for kitties, so you're going to have to suffer along with her. She might go off her feed for a while toward the end when she's all stuffy and can't taste it--just like people do--but if she's drinking, don't worry. She'll survive a couple of days of no food and eat everything in sight as soon as her sense of smell comes back.

Things to watch out for are labored breathing and refusing to drink. Refusal to drink signals she's having trouble breathing to the point she really can't take anything in. Both those signal immediate trips to a vet.

Colds suck, but both people and kitties tend to get over them without any outside help beyond sympathy and attention.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. If she's eating and doesn't have a runny nose or eyes you probably don't need

to take her to the vet right away, but keep watching her; maybe it's an allergic reaction to something. If she does stop eating, though, or gets runny and congested it's vet time. Little animals get sick fast, but in most cases they also get well fast with prompt treatment. Clavamox (amoxycillin) is what my vet usually prescribes and it seems to work quickly.

[japple]

3. Ditto Ocelot's advice. My senior cat, Oscar, recently had a bout

with sneezing fits. I held off for over a week, but when the sneezing didn't improve, I finally took him to the vet. He was eating, drinking, had no fever, and the vet said it was probably an allergic reaction and, after lots of questioning, we decided it might be the litter I started using in the litterbox on the porch. I started using a cedar/clay mix litter because the pine nugget litter I use in the other litter boxes was making such a mess on my porch. After we got home from the vet, I emptied that litterbox and replaced the litter with the pine nugget variety, and Oscar's sneezing stopped right away.

BTW, during questioning, my vet mentioned that all kinds of things can cause allergy symptoms, including: changes in catfood, household chemicals, litterbox filler (esp. scented litter), cat treats, human foods.

[EFerrari]

5. I think we dodged the bullet. She's stopped sneezing

and is better although not well. But if anything starts running, lol, off we go.

I've been very lucky with my cats. They all got here sick and behavioral and, knock on plastic, they've all been very healthy.

[badgerpup]

7. My vet's given me some Clavamox to have on hand...

...for when one of my monsters guys sprouts an abscess or comes in with non-emergency (but still needs attention)-type wounds.

Can't always get in to see MY vet right away (read: 2-3 days sometimes), and while the clinic with the Emergency Vet is two blocks away, the staff is very kind and my cats seem to trust them, they're hard on the budget.

E.g.,
Finn (who'd seemed fine that morning) showed up in the afternoon, behaving in a manner that looked to me like he was disoriented...wanted in, but didn't seem to realize I was standing at the open door for him.
I had to go and get him out of the window.
He was very lethargic and his eyes looked 'wrong'.
HIT THE PANIC BUTTON! :nuke:

Half an hour after calling the emergency vet, they were looking him over...
Finnegan ("a very nice boy you have there") was running a two-degree temp and was a bit dehydrated. According to the vet, he had an abscess fulminating. He wasn't sure where, but he thought we could stop the process altogether without it having to come to a head, open and drain. :puke:
So...a shot of Amoxicillin, some subcutaneous fluids, pills for me to give him over the next week...$170 and we're out the door.
I shouldn't kick...that's actually very reasonable, considering it was a weekend, but still $170 is a sizeable chunk of change.

Two days later, Finnegan was himself again...and protesting being on house arrest. He had three days to go...served two and I let him out one day early for bad behavior.
A cat that can kick up THAT much fuss is not sick. :bounce:

[FloriTexan]

8. you can also give them chewable Vitamen C...

Google the dosage. I'd hate to tell you wrong.