Allergies or URI?

[cocoanlace]

My 14 yr old cat Sister has been vomiting pretty regularly the last year. Probably every other day, rarely with a fur ball. Sometimes just mucus. Sometimes food and mucus. I hoped that once she had a dental, which was done in October, the delay hinged on getting her diabetes regulated first, she would improve. (They did two crown amputations due to resorptive lesions.) Current vet suggested allergies and prescribed pills. Sister is impossible to pill but when she did get a dose, she stopped eating and drinking for 18 hours immediately after. For a cat that is addicted to water, that really scared me. Sometimes she acts nauseous, chews on some cardboard or paper.
She rarely sneezes. There's no scratching. But all of her life she has had a runny nose from time to time, clear stuff that she removes with her tongue. Never goopy eyes.
Do you think she could be swallowing mucus causing her to vomit? When I asked for chest x-rays in June to rule out possible asthma, the vet listened to her lungs and said it was not needed. She was treated for upper respiratory and it resolved. Her pre-dental bloodwork looked pretty good with possible signs of very very early stages of kidney issues.
I guess my question is, for those of you who have allergy kitties, does it sound like that? By the way, she is no longer on insulin. And her gums look fine. Thank you.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

So the Vet thinks it's possible allergies that is making her vomit? So food allergies? What medication did they prescribe that caused her to stop eating and drinking? Could that medication have caused nausea and thus those side effects?

For the lifetime runny nose, has she been diagnosed with Feline Herpes, or what did they say causes that? That could also be allergies, Pollen type allergies. But what did they say to do about it?

Sorry need more info here.

 

[cocoanlace]

The vet just suggested allergies. Did not specify food or pollen. She's a strictly indoor cat and she gets these bouts in all seasons. Prescribed chlorpheneramine maleate, 1/2 a 4mg tablet twice a day for 1-2 weeks and then daily as needed. Because Sister thrashes, and I was unable to get her to take pills using all the methods I could think of, I did not attempt it again until this week. Had success with a Pill Popper after much wrestling.
The nausea and vomiting was going on way before the allergy pill. Sister was never diagnosed with herpes, nor was her brother or any of the other rescue fosters I've had in my home over the years. In rescue, when a recurrent runny nose and sneezing can't be cured with antibiotics, we say it's probably viral or herpes. But in the past, having a flare-up did not make her vomit her food or mucus. That's why I was pushing for an x-ray this summer. Thx.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

The drug the Vet prescribed is an antihistamine, so I'm guessing that would be to stop her running nose.(and one of the side effects is vomiting, so I can see why she might have stopped eating and drinking until it wore off) If I were you, I would ask your Vet if THEY think the runny nose has something to do with her vomiting, and also let them know that that particular drug had a bad side effect, so you need to try something else IF they gave it to her for her vomiting. But if they didn't give it to her for her vomiting, then you should ask them if she really needs an antihistamine at all, and also discuss with them more about the vomiting. It could very well be her food. Was that discussed at all? What do you feed her? Dry food, wet food? What kind (flavor, etc) Many cats have sensitive tummies to certain things in foods that develop over time and this could be the cause.

 

[cocoanlace]

The drug the Vet prescribed is an antihistamine, so I'm guessing that would be to stop her running nose.(and one of the side effects is vomiting, so I can see why she might have stopped eating and drinking until it wore off) If I were you, I would ask your Vet if THEY think the runny nose has something to do with her vomiting, and also let them know that that particular drug had a bad side effect, so you need to try something else IF they gave it to her for her vomiting. But if they didn't give it to her for her vomiting, then you should ask them if she really needs an antihistamine at all, and also discuss with them more about the vomiting. It could very well be her food. Was that discussed at all? What do you feed her? Dry food, wet food? What kind (flavor, etc) Many cats have sensitive tummies to certain things in foods that develop over time and this could be the cause.

Thanks for your reply. Yes I knew the drug was an antihistamine. And it was prescribed because Sister often has a runny nose which I have always believed caused vomiting as she presumably swallowed some, upsetting her tummy. The vet did not contest me on that belief/idea. The vomiting was my concern when I discussed it with the vet during her post-dental recheck, not the runny nose. Cerenia was suggested, and I told the vet I had plenty of that on hand. But I have never given her any. Usually I have no notice that Sister is nauseous until she starts licking her lips and vomits. I don't want to start her on daily Cerenia as a preventative.
As for food, she is a diabetic so options are limited. She eats low-carb Dr. Elsey's turkey dry. They are currently out of that so I just ordered salmon flavor which is mostly chicken based. I tried Young Again Zero carb with high pork content and it gave her diarrhea. I also tried Wysong 90 low carb. She doesn't care for that one. She loathes wet food but sometimes she will eat a little Sheba turkey pate if I sprinkle "digest" on top. Once a week, my 4 cats share a large can of tuna in water. I know fish is a no no in some people's opinion, but they love this treat. I have to add that months have gone by where nobody had any tuna at all, and Sister still had these symptoms.
Thanks for your iinput. Appreciated.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Gotit. I understand completely about the use of Cerenia when the nausea is infrequent.

Ok, so have you asked the Vet for a different allergy pill to see if your theory is correct? I would start there. Lots of people here give their cats zyrtec. That might be an option. Or maybe they would have something else to try specifically for runny noses only.

 

[sivyaleah]

Good info so far but want to add that antihistamines do not work 100% in cats by a long shot.

I have a cat being treated for allergies (seasonal type, not food). She went through allergy testing so we know for sure exactly what she is allergic too. She takes allergy drops sublingually daily made specifically for her allergy profile. It's a long process to eventually get to the full does of 4 drops a day - they have to be slowly acclimated to it.

The only way to find out exactly what a cat is allergic to is either via skin or blood testing. Neither will work for food allergies, however, and the gold standard for that is to do feed a novel food for a time period of at least a month, preferably more.

A vet guessing it's allergies doesn't do much good. They need to follow through with a plan to figure out if it's so.

Early in the process we tried using various antihistamines for her since they do work sometimes, but none had enough of the desired relief. I don't remember the exact percentage of cats who benefit from antihistamines but it was in the lower range, not higher.

The allergy drops have made an enormous impact on her overall health. No more itching, no more ear infections and she isn't even yet on the full dose.

 

[tyleete]

I have had 2 cats in need of allergy pills. One had seasonal allergies and was on Zyrtec, 5mg once daily. It stopped her from begging so congested and sneezing and runny nose.
My other had a weird thing with her ears, did that she's always itching or scratching them. Vet said it allergies so I gave her 2.5 (1/4 a pill) once daily. On days she refuses, you can tell because she'll start itching as them. I know they're allowed to take Benadryl too.
As for the vomit, I'd definitely tell the vet you'd like to try something else of it's making her miserable. Also, I've had to put some of mine on daily cerenia for a short while. They can get into a sorry if 'routine' of throwing up and need help in breaking the cycle. If it's too costly, there's Ondasetron. Close to the Cerenia but cheaper.
And remember you can always get second opinions, if you're not satisfied