Need help asap! My cat is sick...

Hi! My name is Lana & i have a 2.5 y.o. cornish rex cat. I got him from breeder & he sneezed & coughed since the day one. It gets better or worse from time to time, but he feels really bad lately. He used to be very energetic cat. Now he acts more like an old kittie. Sits on the window all day with his eyes closed. I got a new cornish rex kitten recently from the same breeder. He was very interested in her at first, they played together a lot. Now he doesn't know how to get rid of her. Not because he doesn't want to play but because he is really sick & weak. First he had watery eyes & i started to notice that probably like 3-4 month ago before i got new kitten but it wasn't bad, just like 1-2 times a week. Now He's got this yellow discharge coming from his eyes, sneezes all over like 30-40 times a day (it's yellow, sometimes even kind of reddish in color, i think there might be blood in it), he is shaking sometimes & seems dehydrated to me. He eats & drinks though. It's been like that for about a month now. He never had eye discharge before. This morning this yellow discharge was just streaming from his eyes dripping down. Its watery so it doesn't clog his eyes. Eyes are pink. When i first got him 2 years ago i started to worry about him sneezing & coughing so my vet did x-rays on his chest, some tests but didn't find anything suspicious. He said next step would be biopsy to check for cancer. I didn't do this test though. Back then we tried different antibiotics treating URI i guess. He would feel little better but sneezing always came back eventually. He also caught ones i a while. We did allergy shot ones which seemed to help back then & took care of most sneezing for like 2 weeks. This time i took him to different vet who gave him antibiotics again. After finishing the course Tima felt the same way. Became little more active though. I also treated him with eyes Ointment that vet gave me. Vet suggested to do x-rays & blood work again but i'm afraid it won't show anything as it didn't before.

On monday he gave him allergy shot (steroid) cuz we thought that might be an issue again. Tima got little more active the next day but now he's all back to the same condition...It really hurts for me to see him suffer like that but no one seem to be able to help me figure out what is wrong with Tima & how can i ease his pain...he gets worse day by day. He is an indoor cat but new kitten seems to be in a perfect health. They are in constant contact.

Please help me cure him, or if you can suggest some kind of test that can help finding the cause of problem i would really appreciate it! He's got skinnier & his fur is not shiny as it used to be. He looks very sick now. I can e-mail you some pictures if you need them, just let me know! I did some on-line research & i'm totally confused now. Cat herpes, URI, asthma, allergy...all has same symptoms i can see...i don't even know what kind of tests needs to be done...Please help! Thank you in advance!!!
Lana

Can you get him tested to see what his allergies are? Then you could work on eliminating the source, rather than just treating the symptoms. It does sound like allergies to me, but that's probably because I am an "allergic person" myself.

I'm guessing your vet would have checked for FIV, etc., but did they?

Have you spoken to the breeder you got him from, to see if any other the other kittens have this?

i'm not sure if he was ever tested for FIV, would check on that. I think he might have allergy but after giving him anti-allergy shot this monday i don't think that's the cause of his condition right now. His eyes are not just watery but there is also a yellow discharge. Plus this shot never seemed to help this time. i think it is more serious then that. I will have him tested for allergies but at this point he gets worse every day so it's kind of urgent for me to find out what makes him suffer right now. Plus he is still in the same house, same environment, i don't use any chemicals, same litter, same food....everything is the same as it was since day one i got him...thank you for your reply!

Can you take him to another vet for a second opinion???

i did, i had 2 vets check him, give him same antibiotics, same allergy shots...They both said they can't here anything wrong with his lungs...he is having breathing problems but its because of his sneezing...i don't know what to do anymore...i've spent a lot of money already, i will get money for treatment but i don't want to keep trying without any guarantee....

I really don't have any words of wisdom for you, other than to suggest strongly that you find another vet as soon as possible.

Hoping you can find someone that can come up with a solution to your kitty's problems.

Keep us posted please.

you all are probably right, i need to find another vet. Can anybody suggest me one in Orange County area? I don't trust on-line reviews anymore cuz those 2 were highly recommended... I would take him to LA too but i don't think whole 1hr trip will be good for him now...thank you all for your concerns & advises!

As a human with allergies, I can vouch for the fact that left alone, allergies can lead to things like eye infections and sinus infection - both of which may be what he has now, and ear infections in my case. They need antibiotics, the allergy meds won't touch them.

We do have several Los Angeles area Pet Talk folks who are cat people, let me send a PM to couple and see if they have a recommendation for a good vet for you.

Thank you so much! I can hardly believe antibiotics will help because like i said i've tried a few already, last one was really strong (wish i could remember the name of it) but didn't seem to help at all...Yes, if i can get referred to a good vet that would be great! I'm gonna get all the paperwork from previous clinics & have him/her look at it too. I also tried to give him kid's benadril (i found few suggestions on-line for allergic cats) and it didn't help either.

You could try a hypoallergenic diet. Look for "limited ingredients" cat food that doesn't have grain in it, which is the cause of many feline allergies.

Also, chlorpheniramine has been proven safe in cats. It comes in 4 mg tablets for humans - cut one in quarters with a knife, then grind one piece up with water and mix it into a little bit of particularly tempting canned food, and see if that helps until you can pinpoint the allergen. Make sure you get JUST chlorpheniramine, not with anything else mixed in (it's usually just called "allergy relief tablets" in the drugstore).

And I agree that you probably need a new vet.

Love, Columbine

Also, with a new vet do explain which antibiotics he's already been given, they can lose their effectiveness after a while. And not every antibiotic will work with everyone. When I had my first-ever ear infection as an adult, I went through 3 courses of different kinds of antibiotics before they had any effect at all - they said it was a "fractious" infection, and kept asking was I sure I hadn't had "X" antibiotic before. I explained that I had never ever taken any antibiotics for anything ... and thankfully the fourth different one actually wiped it out.

The company that made the good allergy med I took for ten + years stopped manufacturing it, so now, if I don't add a decongestant to my allergy meds from March - November, I end up with ear infections. No fun, so tell you baby I can empathize.

another detail i want to mention. Since i got this cat he always has access to food. Cornish rexes gain weight easily so i was suggested to keep his food bowl always filled so he can stop as he's full. Since i got new kitten i try to do the same with her. I feed my alder cat with Royal Canin adualt food. Kitten gets special kitten food of the same brand. Then i noticed that Tima (older cat) prefers kitten food, and kitten would it Tima's food insted of her's. First i tried to feed them separately but it didn't seem to work well cuz they will steal food from each other as soon as they get chance. So I came up with strange "solution". I mix their food 50%/50% and they can eat anytime again now. Do you think that could be a reason for Tima to get so sick?

also...Tima has been on the same Royal Canin diet since day one. I started him with the food that i give to the kitten right now till he turned 1yo. So he used to be fed with same kitten food as he gets to eat from new baby now...

So sorry to hear about Tima. I agree with columbine: try a limited ingredient diet. Royal Canin uses corn and corn is high on the allergen list. One of my cats cannot eat anything with grains.

Currently I use Innova, and Wilderness and Spa Select, both from Blue. Right now both brands are good. Vetrinarian's Formula is also excellent.

Spunky has leaky eyes that are sometime reddish, and the vet gave me a steroid/antibiotic ointment to use. It doesn't cure the virus but does keep it in check. I apply it on a regular basis.

My thoughts are with you.

I had the same kinda thing going on with my Havoc for several months last year. He'd get the respiratory thing, I'd take him to the vet, they'd give him some antibiotics, and he'd get better. Within a week of being off of his meds he'd start sneezing again and the whole process would start over. This went on for most of the summer. 2 vets said the sneezing was a result of a respiratory infection, but a 3rd finally said the opposite: allergies caused irritation, irritation caused mucus, mucus led to infection. I finally put him on a slightly-longer than usual round of antibiotics to knock the infection out, then switched to allergy meds (as needed). I also got a tabletop air purifier since it seemed that he was allergic to something in the house. He started getting sick off and on in May or June and it finally went away for good around last November. I don't currently have him on any meds but the air purifier is still going and I haven't had any sinus issues at all so far this year.

to the first 2 vets it looked like an ordinary (but very persistant) upper respiratory infection. I used to work at a vet and I know that URIs are really contagious and I kept explaining that Toby never so much as sneezed once, but they insisted that was Havoc's problem and gave antibiotics, because they did seem to help a bit. Thank goodness I got tired of the same old routine and saw vet #3. Months of misery got resolved in a couple of weeks. They're closer to me and have better hours anyway!

Welcome to PT.:) I'm so sorry to hear about your cat.:( Hopefully you'll be able to find a vet that will help Tima. It either sounds like allergies or the herpes virus which can't be cured. If it is herpes then giving him lysine powder in his food is supposed to help boost his immune system. I'd also look into changing his diet to a grain free one if possible. I was using Innova Evo dry, then Nature's Variety dry and now I'm using Natural Balance Green Pea & Chicken. Good luck.:)

Good luck with your kitty, Lana. I went through this with my Cornish Rex, Buddy, who sadly died a few weeks ago. We did the steriod shots, the rounds of antibiotics and the chlorpheniramine. He'd sneeze a lot and the mucous seemed dark (and splashed the walls, the windows and sometimes me) and sometimes his eyes would be weepy with a brownish red tint which made me think of blood. There was a spell where he'd have asthma attacks. The steriod shot would help a bit, but it can weaken the immune system and after one he got really sick and had to take another round of antibiotics. I know the vets say allergy, but I keep wondering if this has all been caused by a virus and that's why they feel okay for awhile and then it comes back. Keep close watch to make sure he's eating okay and getting enough water. Pinch his skin and if it stays "pinched up" he's dehydrated.

When I first adopted my now 16 yo Siamese, he developed bug eyes, runny nose, sneezing, etc. I wound up taking taking him to an eye specialist where he was diagnosed with feline herpes. Try a specialist or maybe one of the veterinary schools.

Good Luck

Was he checked fot nasal polyps? I adopted out a kitten with persistent sneezing (bloody) and vet said it was a nasal polyp. She said it would need surgery. However, the adoptive parent, who was Morrocan made up some kind of herbal potion that she gave to the kitten and claimed it cured him. (Never found out what herbs she used)

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Originally Posted by DethEna

So I came up with strange "solution". I mix their food 50%/50% and they can eat anytime again now. Do you think that could be a reason for Tima to get so sick?

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I doubt that the food mix had anything to do with him being sick, however those foods are balanced for different age ranges for a reason. Kitten food has alot more protien and calories in it than an adult cat needs, and adult food doesn't have enough for a kitten.

Your better bet is to do 2 or 3 feedings a day where you can measure out the food, and make sure each cat stays in it's own bowl with it's own food. I have 7 cats and have to feed them that way because of special diets for some of them.

A few years ago, my kitty starting sneezing and acting like she too either had a URI or allergies. For over a year I went back and forth to the vet's trying to find out what was wrong with her. A year or so after her symptoms started - she started having this large mass growing on the bridge of her nose. Long story short - it ended up being nasal lymphoma. We had to take her to a teaching hospital 5 hours away for a definitive diagnosis. Unfortuntaely, her cancer had also spread to other organs, so radiation therapy was no longer an option. We ended up doing a 6-month protocol of chemotherapy which successfully put her cancer into remission for two years. If none of the other suggestions work - you may want to consider getting an ultrasound or biopsy to rule out cancer. Good luck with your baby. :love::love::love:

I read it here and it CURED my kitty!

Orbax. 22.7mg pill once a day for a month cured nanu. Forever grateful to a thread on this website for the answer. Orbax is a relatively new drug and may not have been available to you when you posted last. I hope your kitty managed to overcome the illness.....