Recurring respiratory symptoms.

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi Maria and thanks for your question! This sounds like a frustrating case.

I have a few patients in my clinic who have recurrent problems like this and it can be difficult to treat these cats. The most common culprit to cause recurrent upper respiratory infections is a herpes virus. Herpes can stay latent and then appear from time to time.

Giving lysine regularly has been shown to help cut down the symptoms and the occurrences of herpes. There is no harm in giving this all of the time.

It is also possible that there is something else going on such as a foreign object up the nose or a fungal infection. These can sometimes be difficult to diagnose. If you wanted to go further with diagnostics you can ask your vet about additional tests such as a culture of the nasal discharge or even a rhinoscopic exam (but this can be expensive).

We don't commonly see allergies that cause respiratory symptoms in cats. Additionally, nasal sprays are not usually recommended for cats.

One other thing that I usually do if I have a cat that is having trouble shaking an infection is to test for feline leukemia and fiv. These are viruses that can affect the immune system. The test is a blood test that your vet can do.

While she has a snotty nose you may be able to give her some relief by putting in the bathroom next to a steamy shower for 10 minutes as necessary. This well help to loosen up the congestion.

I hope she feels better soon!
Dr. Marie.


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Dr. Marie replied:

You're very welcome! Unfortunately it is usually tough to see an object in the nose with an xray. If the object is really dense (like metal) then it shows up well.

However, if it is something like plant material or something else that isn't really dense then it is hard to detect it because we can't tell the difference between a soft object and "snot" in the nose.

It's certainly worth a try to take some xrays. If the xrays show that there is a density of some sort in just one nostril then we are more likely to be dealing with a foreign object than a virus. However, if there is something in the nose often rhinoscopy is needed to get it out.

Hope all goes well!

Dr. Marie