Cat sneezing after steriod shot???

[magenta272]

Ok so here is the story;

My cat Storm is about 17 years old, he's a long haired cat who has never had any problems ever. Last Oct he got fleas

I took him to the vet after his 3 dose of frontline because he seemed to be still scratching like crazy and had a bald spot on the back of his neck. The vet thought that he was having a reaction to the frontline and gave him a shot of something. It worked but then at xmas, we got a real tree (not the first real tree, we had one last year and it was find). But Storm started sneezing like crazy and got really congested and couldn't breath. We had to keep in the downstairs den with a humidifier until the tree was gone. Then she stopped sneezing.

Well fleas have been gone but he is still itching. So the vet gave us allergy pills for him, but after a month of pill pockets, he stopped eating them. Would eat around the pills. Giving him these pills became impossible so I took him back to the vet and he gave him a steriod shot. Depo something or other.

Well it's been only 5 days, and now he's sneezing. This cat is driving me nuts, and I feel terrible he is going through so much. Is the sneezing a reaction to the steriod? Or is it effecting his immune system that quickly to now cause him to get sick easily?

Please Help me... after 17 years of nothing (other then the occasional diarriah because of a sensitive stomach) now we have one issue after another.

 

[stephanietx]

He's most likely sneezing because of the stress of going to the vet and he may be coming down with an upper respiratory infection.  Steroids do suppress the immune system and make kitties (& humans) more susceptible to illnesses. 

As to the itching from the original visit.  Did you change litter or food at that time?  It could be he is allergic to something in the food or litter if you did.  I know it's a long way to think back, but it could be the key to the situation.  Have you tried an antihistamine to help with the itching?

 

[momofmany]

I've never had a cat sneeze after a depo shot. That works as an anti-inflammatory and if nothing else, should help some of the signs of allergies.

Don't know where you live, but it's been much warmer than normal here, and we've had our windows open nearly every day for the last few weeks. If Storm showed an allergic reaction to a tree, is he having an allergic reaction to the early spring blooming? I know I start sneezing ever year when the grass starts to seed itself, and no amount of allergy medicine clears it entirely.

You've been fortunate to go 17 years without any significant illness. If you have not done a geriatric blood panel on Storm, perhaps now is the time to have one done. If he is experiencing allergies, some of his blood levels will reflect inflammation, which can be an indication of an allergy. At least it can narrow down what he might have.

 

[violet]

magenta272, I'd just like to offer you some information.

About adverse effects of steroid medications

http://crvetcenter.com/oldsite/corticoids.htm

And explanation I found about live Christmas trees after one of mine started to get so sick from them that we could never bring in another one.

http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/healthday/071116/live-christmas-trees-can-trigger-mold-allergies.htm

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20071210/ARCHIVES/312109950

These two pieces of information deal with causes of sneezing one might not think about.

http://www.vetinfo.com/csneeze.html

http://www.cathealthproblems.org/sneezing-cats.html

Please discuss all the possibilities with your vet and consider additional tests and exams to get to the bottom of what's happening with your baby.