Cat having sneezing fits - but not sick?

[ares]

So my little boy Corvo has been sneezy since the first day we got him. We've had him for almost 6 months now and though the sneezing has gone down, it's still an obvious problem. He always sounds congested, and when he sneezs giant, green globs of snot shoot out. It usually takes a few days for this to build up into one big sneeze attack. I've taken him to a few vets, and all of them say the same thing: he sounds fine, no temperature, he's eating a drinking well, using the bathroom, and plays all day. One had no idea what it could be, the second said this could just be "normal" for me - which doesn't seem right, and the third suggested he could have allergies, but I have no idea to what.

Anyone have any experience with this kind of stuff? What are some common household cat allergies I might try removing from the environment?

The black one is little Corvo:

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• ares
• Feb 20, 2014

 

[stephanietx]

The green snot indicates an infection is present and is NOT normal.  Ask the vet to do a culture and sensitivity test on the discharge to find out exactly what you're dealing with and to see which medication will best treat it.  This is what helped us with Hannah when we were in that situation. 

 

[ares]

I had asked one vet to do a culture, but they said it wouldn't really tell us much because there is so much dust and other things in a cats nose. What did your cat have that was similar?

 

[stephanietx]

She had exaggerated swallowing, sneezing (& flinging) green and yellow snot, and sneezing in succession.  We found out she had a pseudomas infection that is extremely dangerous for kitties.  She was eating well, playing normally, no potty problems, and all that.  It was the flinging snot that I couldn't handle and knew she was miserable from all the sneezing, so we kept going to vets until I found one who'd help her.

 

[ares]

How did they test for it? What ended up fixing the problem?

 

[stephanietx]

The vet did a culture and sensitivity test on the nasal discharge.  I think she took several samples, but Hannah was good enough to sneeze a big wad of colored discharge on the table for her, too.  LOL  The culture is tested by the lab and tells the vet what kind of infection you're dealing with (viral or bacterial).  The sensitivity test tells them what medication most effectively treats the infection.  It takes somewhere between 7-10 days to get results due to having to grow the specimen and then testing it.  Hannah ended up on a 30 day round of antibiotic (Zenequin).  We re-tested at 3 weeks and found that the infection wasn't quite in the normal range, so we extended the meds for another 20 days.  We did a final test and it came back on the high side of normal, so we stopped meds so that she wouldn't build up a tolerance to it just in case we have to give it to her again in the future.  We also give her nose drops, also a prescription, when she gets sneezy.  We give either Gentocin or Tobramycin. 

 

[cprcheetah]

I would find a different vet, any time a cat sneezes green snot it is a sign of infection.  Yes cats can sneeze with allergies however it is usually clear.  A culture/sensitivity is the best idea as it can tell you what type of infection you are dealing with and which antibiotic would be best suited to treat it.  I am dealing with a chronic sinus/respiratory infection in my cat Munchie.  He is now on his 4th and hopefully last antibiotic.  He was seen by an internal medicine specialist and she suggested we sedate him and flush out his sinuses, he had so much crap up there it too 2 liters of saline to flush out all the boogers.  He has done really well with it.  He is a little congested but not nearly as bad and he's not sneezing constantly like he was.  We have him on Zithromycin for 5 days then every 3 days for 2-3 months at the specialists recommendations.  Munchie wasn't really showing any signs of an infection, no fever, eating/drinking normally was less active due to being overweight and joint issues.  We are working on that and his activity levels have improved.  He was a little congested in his breathing.  One vet swabbed Munchies nose and saw bacteria in the swab.  You can ask the vet to do a cytology/swab of the nose. 

 

[ares]

Thank you both for the information. We'll be bringing him to a new vet as soon as we can.

 

[stephanietx]

Good job!  Keep me posted on the findings.  You can PM me if you'd like.