Puma sneezes too much

[wayne0214]

My newly adopted Puma, the Russian blue, sneezes continually. But when I turn on the heat for the house, or when she lays in the light of my infra-red foot warmer lamp, the sneezing stops. also, when she lays on the bed with the electric blanket on, her incessangt sneezing stops. Also that her breathing passages are stopped up, just like fawn's gets at times. The vet told the shelter keeper to give her clavamox (?), which I have done since bringing her home. But it didn't seem to do much good. I am beginning to wonder if whatever she has is a temporary ailment, the same as Fawn sometimes contracts. What should be done with her as she does not act sick, no fever, and eats OK. Any ideas?

..........wayne

[emily_the_spoiled]

Good morning Wayne,

I am not sure how long you have been giving Puma the antibiotics, but they will take at lest 48-72 hours before you can really notice them working. The other thing you might want to try is to humidfy the air. Does she come into the bathroom when you shower and have you noticed if this helps? You can put on a regular room humidifer or even a vaporizer. The humidifers on the furnance might not be enough to help her.

Good luck and I hope she feels better soon :)

[jenluckenbach]

cats from shelters often have an upper respiratory infection. (mine did). The medicine is for that....but, if I understand it correctly, it does not cure the cold, it helps prevent further (worse) conditions from forming. You know, while their defences are low, they could get an different kind of infection. I would say she needs to let it run its course (just like you and I can't CURE a cold). But most importantly, make sure she does not get worse. [in other words, keep and eye on her]

[krazyaboutkatz]

Wayne, I'm sorry to hear that Puma's having sneezing problems and a stuffy nose. I went through this same thing with Pepper not very long ago. He had a bacterial infection in his nose and had to be on antibiotics which then made him sick. I sure hope that the medicine that you're giving her will help her little nose and make her feel better. All fingers and paws are crossed for a speedy recovery. Good luck. Please keep us posted.

[wayne0214]

Emily, No, i do not have a humidifier, although I can purchse a used one fairly cheap. I do keep a hygrometer in the house and it reads about 40% humidity. This, according to the face, is a normal mixture of water vapor and air. What do you think, should I get a humidifier?

Jen, thanks for the reply about shelter cats commonly having URI,,and to let it run its course. I was unaware of this!

........wayne

[emily_the_spoiled]

Hi Wayne,

If the antibiotics are helping you might want to hold off on buying a humidifer. If you want to add additional humidity to the air just place a large pot of water to boil on the stove. This will at least put some additional moisture in the air in the kitchen.

I hope that Puma feels better soon...

[wayne0214]

Puma's sneezing bouts are becoming less and less. Yesterday, I noticed that much of it has stopped, and this morning I havn't heard her seenze at all. So, perhaps the amoxicillin is working. Thanks all for your interest and concern.:)

............wayne

[Cataholic]

I hope this continues Wayne! A humidifier is a good idea. I think I will invest in one this winter...

[NoahsMommy]

Hope Puma is getting better. :)

[wayne0214]

Puma is like Amy, in that she won't eat with the others, even though she is hungry. Yesterday I gave her a can of tuna banquet cat food. She nearly ate the whole can! It looks as though I'll have to feed each one of them separately. Last night I heard no sneezing from Puma, and her breathing passages are beginning to clear up.

When it comes to humidifying the house, all I have to do is turn on the shower with hot water for a few minutes, and then open door to the bathroom, and the steam dissipates throughout the occupied house. It really works OK, which can be verified by the hygrometers.

I can't get over how affectionate Puma is. Whenever I sit next to her on the couch, watching TV, she always comes over and gives me kitty kisses and head bumpies and then curls up next to me and sleeps.

..........wayne

[Cataholic]

Originally posted by wayne0214

When it comes to humidifying the house, all I have to do is turn on the shower with hot water for a few minutes, and then open door to the bathroom, and the steam dissipates throughout the occupied house. It really works OK, which can be verified by the hygrometers.
=
..........wayne


Oh, well, as long as the HYGROMETERS can verify it....:confused: :confused: :confused:

Uh, hello, Mr. Wayne the Brain, what does this mean? Remember, lawyers DO NOT take any science or math courses...he he he...I want my hygrometer to verify it, too....:D

[jenluckenbach]

DUH !!!!!!
even if you didn't know what a hygrometer is, you should now. If it is telling you that the shower raised the humidity, that is all you should need to know.....sheeeeeesh

[wayne0214]

cataholic, a hygrometer is nothing more than a device that measures the amount of water vapor in the air. Granted, most folks do not know what they are called, but "hygrometer" is the correct name. If you watch the weather channel, which I watch almost every day because of the "storm belt" that I live in, whenever they show relative humidity in % of temperature, this is always measured with an outside hygrometer. :) BTW, it is always called "relative humidity" because the warmer the air is, the more water vapor it can hold.

..........wayne

[Cataholic]

Wayne,
Thank you for SO NICELY EXPLAINING what the hygrometer is...too bad other meanies (Jen) aren't sooo nice to me....good thing she lives way up there in snowville, or 'else'...:D

[Russian Blue]

I live in snowville, I'll take care of her!

;)

Here's a pic of my hygrometer, in case you've never seen one. It shows the temperature and relative humidity. It also can record the highest and lowest temperature and humidity level for a specific period of time.



http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid44/p677ac2c4645e6d47ffd6187fdfce01ac/fcdde0cd.jpg


And here's a pic of Nakita attacking the hygrometer. Bad Nakita! She can't leave anything alone!

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid44/p47e6414f4e1545a26c51e16c45081aba/fcdde0cc.jpg

[jenluckenbach]

Originally posted by Cataholic
Wayne,
Thank you for SO NICELY EXPLAINING what the hygrometer is...too bad other meanies (Jen) aren't sooo nice to me....good thing she lives way up there in snowville, or 'else'...:D
are you going to leave now because I was so mean to you????:eek:

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Wayne, if your hygrometer is reading 40% that should be adequate. I recently went through this all at work because of my allergies and I read somewhere that anything under 20% you should get a humidifier because it can be bad for you (especially if you have allergies, and this is how I convinced the boss to buy me a humidifier for the office), and anything between 35% and 50% is considered adequate. You don't want it more than 50% because then it gets into the "too humid" dept.

Now if we could just get the one at home fixed I'd be in heaven. I've also noticed now that we have the heat on more often that Tubby & Peanut sneeze more often too (just like their mom, how sweet :rolleyes:) and I know that it's just because it's dry. Terry just keeps putting off calling someone on it because he's not bothered by allergies....so it looks like I'll have to make the call. :rolleyes: ;) :)

Hope this helps for those of you who don't live in "snowville" and are hygrometer challenged. ;) (jk) :)

[Edwina's Secretary]

I too have allergies. We have a humidifier on the furnace BUT we have a programmable thermostat and drop the temp during the day and at night for sleeping. Consequently, it does run enough to really help me.

I bought a room humidifier for the bedroom -- at an estate sale for $10.00. It makes a WORLD of difference. We keep the humidity around 45%.

BTW -- it wasn't working well at the beginning of this winter season. Finally checked the filter and it was COVERED in gray and white fur. New filter and voila!

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Originally posted by Edwina's Secretary
BTW -- it wasn't working well at the beginning of this winter season. Finally checked the filter and it was COVERED in gray and white fur. New filter and voila!

Hmmm.....wonder how that got there......:rolleyes: :)

[wayne0214]

There are several ways to humidify the house. One, is to buy a humidifier. Another is to boil a pot of water on the cookstove, and still another is to hang up wet laundry or a blanket, used for humidification purposes, in the house and turn on a box fan on it to dry it out. Also, when I mop the hard-wood floors in this house, the humidity goes up, due to evaporation of the wet floors. When the air is more humid in the house, it takes less heat to warm up the interior. I remember in Tucson, Ariz., when I lived there, the humidity could be as low as 10% or 7%. Any heat that was placed in the house would immeidately dissipate and wouldn't stay in the air.

Puma's sniffles has stopped. I have been waiting for her to get rid of the URI, in order to get her spayed. I took in Puma for spaying yesterday. She was going into "heat" and Happy who is also un-neutered was getting rough with her. I'll have to take in Happy next for neutering. Possibly today or Monday. When I took her in to the vets office, I noticed that whe was digging at her right ear and then shaking her head. I attribute this flare-up due to the cold weather that she was exposed to while traveling to the vets office. At any rate, the receptionist said they would check this out also.

...........wayne

[smokey the elder]

Forced-air heat is extremely dry. One trick I used to use in the dorm at college was fill soda cans with water and put them on the heater. (Poor college student couldn't afford a humidifier, and there was no room in the dorm anyway!);)

[toughCookie]

wayne
maybe the cold makes her sneeze? I don't know, but it seems like when it is cold, I sneeze sometimes:confused:
anyway, how is kitty? maybe it is upper respiratory infection?

[wayne0214]

Mary, Puma is almost over her sneezing and URI. I brought her home Friday from the vets' (for spaying). She developed a stuffy nose again while in their care. I remember when they placed her back into my carrier, that she sounded like she was snoring, while trying to breathe. They gave me some kind of yellow stuff for her, something like Clavamox, and some terramiacin-type stuff for her eyes. But after getting her home her breathing began to clear up and her eyes stopped watering and oozing -without giving her any of the meds! She still sneezes once in a while, but nothing like it was when I first brought her home last month. (She is laying next to the keyboard while I'm typing this.) I have an open flame "log heater" which I place a box fan in front of in order to circulate the heat through the house. I am beginning to wonder if running the inside air through the fire is cleaning out the bacteria, or whatever is causing her sniffles. :)
Both of the vet's assistants kept telling me how much of a little "sweetheart" she is -which I already knew.:D

........wayne

[jenluckenbach]

Maybe she doesn't take well to stress. It would have been stressful when you first brought her home and it certainly would be stressful to be at the vet's. What do you think? Stress induced?

[wayne0214]

Jen, what you said about stress has certainly crossed my mind. She was sniffling when I brought her home from the shelter, and her sneezing and watery eyes continued for about a week, then all of it began to clear up, just as it is now. What I was curious about was if there is something in the vets' office and in the shelter that is infecting the cats? Although they keep the places heated, I'm sure that it is not an open flame heater such as I have, and I am reasonably sure that they do not run the inside air through it. Chris cat had the same URI-type ailment when I first brought him home also.

[jenluckenbach]

Well, like I said before, URI is VERY VERY common in cats coming from the shelter, as a matter of fact, almost inevitable. But to get one at the vet's office is much more rare. Especially since they are there for such a short time. That is why I thought stress might be playing a role in it.

Oh , NOW I understand why my Inka sneezes sometimes , without being sick at all :rolleyes: . I 've never thought it could be because of the central heating system ...!
Good on you Wayne to explain how a humidifier works ! I will go and buy one ASAP !!:D :D

[wayne0214]

lut, as humid as it is in Belgium, wouldn't be just as easy to open the doors or windows for a few minutes, to let in the humidity? Or perhaps it is too cold for that. When I come in from grocery shopping, sometimes, I will open up the house with fans in the windows when the inside air, smells of cooking odors and the like, although it might be in the 30s' F (0 to 5 deg C) outside.