Cat Suddenly Sneezing A Lot

[PawprintsOnMyHeart]

My cat doesn’t normally sneeze, but we are staying in a different house this past week and he has been sneezing pretty frequently. I counted 5 sneezes Dec. 23, 3 sneezes Dec. 24, 8 sneezes Dec. 25, and 13 sneezes so far today. Why is he suddenly sneezing so much? The last time I heard him sneeze like this was on Nov. 28. I’ve never heard him sneeze this much, though. He has no other symptoms (no runny eyes/nose, no coughing, doesn’t seem lethargic).
Edit: He has stayed in this house before, most recently he stayed here for 3 months during the summer, but didn’t sneeze then.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Could have run into something while you weren't looking. We had a cat that ran into things alot and it'd bring up sneezing bouts but nothing medically was ever found to be wrong.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Household environmental allergens can be different from summer to winter, so there may be something in the house this time that wasn't there this past summer. That could range from factors such as dust or humidity. It could also be from things like new/different carpeting/furniture/soaps/detergents/etc. Hopefully, it doesn't get any worse and disappears when he gets home!!!

 

[PawprintsOnMyHeart]

I took him to a vet. He didn’t sneeze the entire trip there or back (over an hour.) Vet didn’t have any answers. When we got back, he sniffed a pillow from outside and immediately went into a 12-sneeze fit. We vacuumed the entire house to see if that helped and didn’t let him onto the porch. He has sneezed 20 times since then and it’s only been an hour. I don’t know what to do. Something is clearly bothering him. Before he sneezes, his little nose will start twitching, and after he sneezes he seems to try to wash his nose by licking his paw and rubbing his nose. Vet said there was no congestion.

 

[FeebysOwner]

It would seem to me that there is definitely something in the house that is bugging him!! Can you call the vet back and ask about an OTC allergy med he could have? I know some members here have given their cats Zyrtec - I am sure there are other similar treatments as well. Hopefully, the vet can recommend one for you to try.

 

[PawprintsOnMyHeart]

It would seem to me that there is definitely something in the house that is bugging him!! Can you call the vet back and ask about an OTC allergy med he could have? I know some members here have given their cats Zyrtec - I am sure there are other similar treatments as well. Hopefully, the vet can recommend one for you to try.

I’ll try to get him some medicine. All the vet gave was a probiotic to boost his immune system. I just don’t know what it could be because nothing new has been introduced to the house and he has stayed here for months at a time this past year with no issues. Absolutely nothing has changed and it’s very puzzling.

 

[MissClouseau]

Your description with the pillow makes me think of dust mite allergy, which I also have. Dust mites live on and in fabric the most and don't die unless you wash them at 60C degrees or higher, then come back again. Waterproof things are safe. Everything else like bed mattress, duvets, blankets, carpets (the worst), curtains... they have dust mites.

Dust mite amount DOES change with humidity and season and how many got in fabric.

Mold and pollens would also be other common suspects. Also cats or humans can develop new allergies unfortunately.

 

[sivyaleah]

I’ll try to get him some medicine. All the vet gave was a probiotic to boost his immune system. I just don’t know what it could be because nothing new has been introduced to the house and he has stayed here for months at a time this past year with no issues. Absolutely nothing has changed and it’s very puzzling.

Please be sure to check w/your vet first. You won't know the correct dosage to administer of human medication nor if it's the right one for to use. Dosage would be based most likely on the weight of the cat and also, I'd image, age.

 

[PawprintsOnMyHeart]

His sneezing has improved but now his eye is acting up. His right third eyelid is visible and he is having some clear discharge from it. Vet said to give him medicine for conjunctivitis, but can’t tell me what they think he is suffering from. I’m considering taking him to a different vet but I worry they won’t have any answers either. I think I might take him home today and watch for improvement.

 

[sivyaleah]

His sneezing has improved but now his eye is acting up. His right third eyelid is visible and he is having some clear discharge from it. Vet said to give him medicine for conjunctivitis, but can’t tell me what they think he is suffering from. I’m considering taking him to a different vet but I worry they won’t have any answers either. I think I might take him home today and watch for improvement.

What did your vet prescribe? Did they run any tests?

A decent vet should be able to have some idea or guide you to answers. Our kitten has had recurrent minor eye infections/sneezing issues since we got her. After 2 rounds of different antibiotics and 2 rounds of terramycin (which was very helpful for her), our vet asked us if we wanted to have cultures done of the eye discharge since it kept happening. We said yes and even though it showed up negative for everything, at least we were able to toss aside certain potential possible sources of the infection. And, one of them still might be possible - herpes - since if she was not shedding the virus at the time of the test it could have showed a false negative.

We also are going to have her tear ducts tested Tuesday to make sure they are working correctly (that takes only a minute to do, she isn't even charging us) to rule out that they might be clogged.

If her tear ducts are ok, most likely we need to decide if she needs a specialist or not. We probably will decide to do that although won't run off either since it's not an emergency situation. But we do want to get to the bottom of it and do whatever possible to ensure Luna doesn't continue getting these infections but only the specialist is qualified to go further at this point and we appreciate our vet being proactive and giving us this information and doing everything she could to this point to figure out what might be going on.

FYI, How old is your cat? I realized you didn't mention and nobody asked. I bring it up because it's amazing how many cats are exposed to herpes virus when young - pretty much all of them in fact as I recently learned It is very possible your cat was exposed and never had symptoms but for some reason, just now it reared it's head. Various triggers will do that to the virus; stress being one of them so perhaps for some reason the change of housing environment this time was what did it for him.

 

[PawprintsOnMyHeart]

What did your vet prescribe? Did they run any tests?

A decent vet should be able to have some idea or guide you to answers. Our kitten has had recurrent minor eye infections/sneezing issues since we got her. After 2 rounds of different antibiotics and 2 rounds of terramycin (which was very helpful for her), our vet asked us if we wanted to have cultures done of the eye discharge since it kept happening. We said yes and even though it showed up negative for everything, at least we were able to toss aside certain potential possible sources of the infection. And, one of them still might be possible - herpes - since if she was not shedding the virus at the time of the test it could have showed a false negative.

We also are going to have her tear ducts tested Tuesday to make sure they are working correctly (that takes only a minute to do, she isn't even charging us) to rule out that they might be clogged.

If her tear ducts are ok, most likely we need to decide if she needs a specialist or not. We probably will decide to do that although won't run off either since it's not an emergency situation. But we do want to get to the bottom of it and do whatever possible to ensure Luna doesn't continue getting these infections but only the specialist is qualified to go further at this point and we appreciate our vet being proactive and giving us this information and doing everything she could to this point to figure out what might be going on.

FYI, How old is your cat? I realized you didn't mention and nobody asked. I bring it up because it's amazing how many cats are exposed to herpes virus when young - pretty much all of them in fact as I recently learned It is very possible your cat was exposed and never had symptoms but for some reason, just now it reared it's head. Various triggers will do that to the virus; stress being one of them so perhaps for some reason the change of housing environment this time was what did it for him.

He is about 1.5 years old. The vet said to give him Tobramycin. No tests were run. I took him home and his sneezing seems to be better (so far.) Its been an hour and at first I thought he was a lot better here; he seemed alert and more like his normal self. But his right eye just seems to be acting up again now... it’s watering and wet around the outside, and his little third eyelid is showing. He is curled up in a corner sleeping which is also not like him. I’m worried.

 

[sivyaleah]

He is about 1.5 years old. The vet said to give him Tobramycin. No tests were run. I took him home and his sneezing seems to be better (so far.) Its been an hour and at first I thought he was a lot better here; he seemed alert and more like his normal self. But his right eye just seems to be acting up again now... it’s watering and wet around the outside, and his little third eyelid is showing. He is curled up in a corner sleeping which is also not like him. I’m worried.

No instructions for use? How many times a day and for how long to use it?

In the interim, you can help keep his eyes clean by taking cotton balls and wetting them with warm water, wiping each eye inward to outward - one clean cotton ball for each side. That will at least help remove the gunk. Terramycin, which my girl used, is applied twice a day for 7 days. Not sure about Tobramycin which are drops, not an ointment.

Is he eating ok?

In general, your vet doesn't sound very responsive to your concerns and if you have another one close enough to take him to, I'd be doing that personally. It sounds to me like you aren't happy with that practice and there's no reason to feel like you need to stick with them if not getting satisfaction from their service. Ask around locally to other pet owners and see who they use. If you are in the US, there's a website service called "Next Door" which can be helpful, it links neighbors to help each other with various needs and this would certainly be one of those subjects which I see come up frequently.

 

[PawprintsOnMyHeart]

His eyes looked pretty bad today so I took him to an emergency clinic. After a 3 hour wait, we learned he has a low fever (103.1 degrees F) and the vet said she thinks he’s suffering from a URI. They gave him fluids and said to continue the eye drops in both eyes, twice daily. They also said to just keep an eye on him and keep him comfortable, because it could potentially move into pneumonia. We are back home now and he seems better. Maybe the fluids helped him feel better. He is being very affectionate, eating, and his eyes look good at the moment, but he is back under the bed resting. I hope he starts feeling better soon. If it is a URI, I’m surprised my other 2 cats haven’t caught it (at least I hope not, fingers crossed they don’t start having symptoms) because they shared bowls and boxes for about a week while he was supposedly contagious. For now, Jasper is with me in my apartment while the other 2 are at the other house until he gets better.
sivyaleah Yes he is still eating and drinking, thankfully. The practice I take him to has several vets, and I try to get a certain vet if he is available but he only works a few days a week. I agree she didn’t seem very responsive to some of my concerns and didn’t even take his temperature, but the emergency clinic vet said she probably would’ve done the same at that point so who knows.

 

[sivyaleah]

Poor baby. Well, the fluids should help him a lot since he had a fever - probably was a bit dehydrated due to that. As long as he's eating and drinking and of course, using his box things are not too terrible. I am surprised the vet didn't take his temperature though, ours does every time we come in with a health concern that points to something like some kind of cold type illness. Regardless, Jasper has been through a lot in the past week so it's probably a good thing that you have him home alone for now. This way he can rest up without the other cats getting him riled up with play activities. Hopefully, they won't come down with what he has *fingers crossed*! Our kitten wound up passing her cold to our older girl, but thankfully one antibiotic shot got rid of it in a flash. The kittens cold lasted way longer than the older ones did but I think that's because her immune system, being young, is more fragile than an older cats is. Hopefully your 2 others are older also and can fight it off.

 

[PawprintsOnMyHeart]

Poor baby. Well, the fluids should help him a lot since he had a fever - probably was a bit dehydrated due to that. As long as he's eating and drinking and of course, using his box things are not too terrible. I am surprised the vet didn't take his temperature though, ours does every time we come in with a health concern that points to something like some kind of cold type illness. Regardless, Jasper has been through a lot in the past week so it's probably a good thing that you have him home alone for now. This way he can rest up without the other cats getting him riled up with play activities. Hopefully, they won't come down with what he has *fingers crossed*! Our kitten wound up passing her cold to our older girl, but thankfully one antibiotic shot got rid of it in a flash. The kittens cold lasted way longer than the older ones did but I think that's because her immune system, being young, is more fragile than an older cats is. Hopefully your 2 others are older also and can fight it off.

One is younger, around 8 mo., and the other is 14.

It's been 8 hours since he got the fluids and he hasn't drunk from his water bowl yet... I am hoping this is because of the fluids... apparently it can take up to 24 hours for his body to fully absorb it, so maybe he simply doesn't need water yet because his body is still absorbing the injected fluids? I'll probably call the vet tomorrow and ask...

Edit: Called the emergency clinic he went to, they said this is normal.