[marijun]

welp. crap. 5 out of 6 cats have been sneezing the past couple of days. i thought it was just allergies at first, seeing as i was sneezing like crazy too but i think the puddies might have a cold.

the one cat who isn't sneezing has been on clavamox for a bladder infection, so i think he's immune :lol:

i couldn't find ester c powder, so i got it in pill form and have been crushing it into powder myself and sneaking it into their food and water. anyone know how long it takes to start working? its been almost 3 days now.

poor woody and lint seem to have it the worst. their sneezes sound like launching bottle rockets sometimes, poor things! i think their noses are stuffed up too, because i see them breathing through their mouths often. i listened to their bodies and i don't hear anything rattling in their lungs, it just appears to be in their sinuses.

if it doesn't clear up by tomorrow or if it gets worse, i think i'm just going to take them to the vet. they've had a cold before, but it still makes me nervous.

here's my questions...what could it be? also, what kind of medication is usually given for this sort of thing?

 

[marijun]

screw it :lol: they have an appointment at 10:30 am this morning, i can't wait. woody is just miserable. she can barely breathe through her nose. i think she's got a fever, her head and ears are burning up.

 

[Zalensia]

Let us know how she gets on!

 

[marijun]

i shall! lawd, i'm nervous. last time lint went to the vet, the vet and his assistants wouldn't even go near him because he was so violent. i had to drag him out of the carrier and weigh him myself. i went home bleeding :lol: and he doesn't even have any claws...

i betcha $10 they have to sedate him just to take his temperature :twisted:

poor woody. as if being sick isn't bad enough, she's gotta go to the vet alongside psycho cat.

 

[marijun]

update:

respiratory infection!

amoxicilin 2x a day.

this is just awful. i am covered in sweat, cat hair (that combo alone is bad enough...), kitty snot, kitty spit, scratches, bites, and pink bubble gum flavored amoxicilin.

lint was his usual "pleasant" self at the vet again. he bit me as i was taking him out of the carrier, and again when i weighed him. they thought it was best to not bother examining him ( :lol: ) since they both obviously have the same sickness. i'm wishing now that i didn't even take him...

woody was an angel, as always. no fuss whatsoever. she had a temperature of 104! she was drooling like crazy by the time i got to the vet. poor little thing drooled and snotted all over herself and the examination table. not her usual pretty self at all. i feel so bad for her.

giving these two cats liquid medicine twice a day is going to be ****. lint refuses to take medicine of any kind, i only managed to squeeze about a half a dose in his mouth before he shook his head around and flung it all over the bedroom (and me).

woody is usually good about taking medicine, but she's so sick and shook up...there was no cooperation. she's still drooling a lot, so just getting her to swallow the medicine was hard. the first try...she sneezed it all right into my FACE! ack! second try...she let half of it ooze out of the side of her mouth onto my arm before she nearly tore my arm off trying to get away from me.

so both of them have each gotten a half dose of meds. ugh. these next few days are going to suck. i'm going to bed!

 

[sentimentalgirl]

Oh my god, I 'm so sorry! I hope you and your kitties will get well. Drink lot of tea with lemon! That always helps me. Giving medication can cat really hard. Just keep on trying! Good luck!

 

[kitkat]

I am happy you took them to the vet early on. Good luck with the medication. One thing you may want to try is just putting it in your hand to see if they lap it up. I had to give Sugar medicine and one time she just lapped it up voluntarily. Try it, maybe it might work.. :lol:

 

[marijun]

ugh this is awful. i managed to get them both to take a full dose of meds this morning, but woody is drooling so much its really freaking me out. everywhere she goes there's a trail of drool drops behind her. she freaks out when i give her the medicine, and she's not eating or drinking much. she just wants to sleep or hide.

 

[drjean]

You might want to see if the vet can give you tablets instead of liquid; sometimes they're easier to manage. Also, you can crush them up and mix with strong-flavored canned food or meat baby food.

This is likely to be a viral infection, possibly with a bacterial component that caused the fever. You might want to take a look at http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?a ... unctivitis
for some other ideas on how to treat upper respiratory viruses.

If you have a bite wound of any depth at all, please get checked by your own doctor right away--you may need antibiotics yourself! Last time I neglected a bite wound (bitten at 9 a.m., waited to go to the ER till 6 p.m.), I ended up hospitalized for 5 days on IV antibiotics.

Good luck!
Dr. Jean

 

[marijun]

yeah, if i run out of the liquid and need more meds, i think i'll try the tablets and just put it in their food. they seem to have a complex about being restrained and having their mouths forced open. i can't really blame em :!:

woody was walking around looking a bit more chipper earlier, so i gave her some wet food and she nearly ate the whole can. i guess that's a good sign! she drank some water too. i'm pretty sure her fever has gone down, she doesn't feel like a hot water bottle anymore.

i've been doing a lot of reading about respiratory infections today. i haven't heard of that "willard water" before, that's very interesting. are the effects the same on humans and other animals too?

when the vet checked woody's mouth and eyes, he said she was all clear. i guess she's lucky as far as that goes. her eyes have been watering a lot, but so far there's no goop or sores. her main grievances are drooling and sneezing, and of course the overall just feeling like crap!

i don't think i have any bites of significant depth, lint knicked me a couple of times but barely broke the skin. i've been putting neosporin on it, hopefully it'll be ok! its been over 24 hours now.

the other cats seem to be ok. ::knocks on wood:: no sneezing from chester or reeko today, and only a couple tiny ones out of yoshimi. they must have amazing immune systems!

 

[marijun]

just an update...

the liquid medicine was making woody sicker (i think it was just nausea or something, she'd drool like crazy and fight and whine when i tried to give it to her, and then she wouldn't eat for the rest of the day) so i went back to the vet and got the meds in pill form. she's been taking them with little fuss and is feeling much better!

the others are feeling a lot better too, there hasn't been much sneezing at all. lint has a small sore on one of his nostrils, so i've been dabbing neosporin on it once a day.

 

[kitkat]

Glad to hear they're getting better :wink: