Do your cats commonly sneeze?

[gabicards]

So, I've been spending more time than usual with my cat lately, since I've gone back to working/studying remotely. I've noticed he sneezes everyday, but am not really noticing any pattern for now - I've heard/seen him sneeze before, but I guess I never really noticed it was a daily thing.

He was at the vet a couple of times in January due to feline acne, and we'll go back in a couple of weeks for his annual echocardiogram (he's never been diagnosed with anything, but his breed is somewhat prone to heart issues). He's up-to-date on all his vaccines, doesn't go outside, and is my only pet. There are no symptoms of anything - appetite is excellent as always, he's very playful, litter box behavior is fine (better than last year, actually, with more regular bowel movements). Nose isn't stuffy or runny, he doesn't cough, there's no discharge on his eyes. His teeth are also great, as confirmed by his vet a little over a month ago.

So I don't think he's sick at all, but I'm curious as to whether anyone else's cat sneezes everyday, and whether you might know about common causes for this. It could be an environmental allergy, I suppose? Nothing in the environment has changed - then again, I don't know if he has always sneezed everyday.

I've gone through a few hypothesis:

• Dust? But it happens in random areas of the apartment, none of which should be particularly dusty, so if that's the case I'm afraid the only way to help would be an air purifier...
• Scented candles? I use them very, very rarely and they don't have any scent that should be problematic to cats, they're also very mild. I hid them in case the mild scent of them just being left alone on the shelf could be an irritant, but it's made no difference.
• His fur?? So, this is the oddest one, but I seem to have noticed that most of his sneezing occurrences happen right after he licks himself. I brush him pretty much everyday, and I also clean the whole apartment at least once a week, so his fur shouldn't be dusty, which is a bit confusing.

Cleaning products would be a common cause, but he's not exposed to any. Almost everything I use is on the natural side, with ingredients known to be pet safe, because I'm pretty scared of intoxication. Once a week I'll use bleach on the bathroom/kitchen, so I keep him entertained elsewhere and air the apartment out very well before he runs free again. I don't think this could be it, either.

It may or may not happen more often at night, I'm trying to keep track of this, even though I have no idea of what it would mean.

I've been home all day today (it's almost 8pm) and he only sneezed once, so I really am not worried, just curious. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Alldara]

Could be litter dust.
Do you have a HEPA filter on your vacuum? If not, cleaning can also kick up allergens rather than trap them.

 

[gabicards]

Could be litter dust.
Do you have a HEPA filter on your vacuum? If not, cleaning can also kick up allergens rather than trap them.

Litter dust lingering on his fur, then? But honestly, this litter seems like the one with the least amount of dust (if at all) out of all the ones I seen... we use this one: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B09Y98LRLS/?tag=
The product description also states that there is no dust, so I'm not sure. We settled on it after trying several others, precisely due to the dust (his fur is mostly white, so somewhat easy to spot depending on the color of the litter), as well as the smell.

As for the vacuum, it does have a filter, but I don't know if it's HEPA. Thanks for bringing it up, I'll have a look! I also washed the "magic wand" I use to remove fur from upholstery, as I realized that could also be carrying dust from place to place in exchange for removing the fur. The one time he sneezed today was when he was sitting on the rug, which, to be fair, is much more likely to have some dust than the wooden floor. He wasn't there when he sneezed yesterday, but I guess that doesn't say much.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Feeby never used to sneeze, that I know of, but I have caught her a few times here and there more recently. I will be honest though in saying due to other issues going on, including some being hers, my vacuuming and dusting have been less than stellar. I am in the process of trying to rectify that and we will see if the sneezing stops. I was surprised how much dust, sand, etc. were in my entryway rugs when I shook them outside.

I will add that pollen might also play a role. We have had some pretty warm weather, not enough to run the A/C, so doors and windows have been open more often, and we are outside more so that we could be dragging some it in on our shoes. There is pollen from trees and blooms everywhere right now!

 

[amethyst]

Aside from dust and/or pollen, my cats are shedding right now, and sometimes they end up inhaling a strand of fur up their nose, especially from the long haired cats, either when grooming themselves or others grooming them. Getting a hair up their nose obviously is going to cause them to sneeze.

 

[VAMama]

My girl sleeps with her face in the carpet and sneezes out fibers.

 

[lollie]

Does my cat sneeze? Yes, I think she’s allergic to me. Then again, I think I’m allergic to her, so it’s only fair.

 

[jessica smith]

Could be litter dust.
Do you have a HEPA filter on your vacuum? If not, cleaning can also kick up allergens rather than trap them.

I agree, and you don't really notice how bad even the dust-free ones are on dust until you put them in an enclosed space like a closet and notice how everything is getting coated in dust. The litter box is now surrounded on all three sides by a WinX air purifier on speed 2 (pretty high actually) but the cats don't mind and its amazing how fast the pre-filter gets clogged. This eliminated any sign of dust in the closet, and I hope also in my cats.

I'm way too lazy to vacuum daily, so instead we got a robot vacuum. Roborock Q5+ is the name, works great! Has lidar so maps perfectly even in the dark, and self-empties.

Lastly, one thing we noticed would make the cats sneeze was some of the catnip I had bought, apparently they sniff too hard and would irritate their nose and cause some sneezing. Switched to a different type and one that you only put inside a toy, and that eliminated that issue.

 

[Kris107]

My cats sneeze on occasion. It's not like a "sneeze attack". Just one sneeze here and there. For mine, I think it's when it's cold in the house their nose gets a bit wet and it makes them sneeze. That, or dust/hair. I don't worry about it unless I see goopy eyes or other symptoms of illness.

 

[gabicards]

My cats sneeze on occasion. It's not like a "sneeze attack". Just one sneeze here and there. For mine, I think it's when it's cold in the house their nose gets a bit wet and it makes them sneeze. That, or dust/hair. I don't worry about it unless I see goopy eyes or other symptoms of illness.

I don't use my heaters bc it dries up my nose/throat horribly, so my apartment is not the warmest. I wondered if maybe a cold nose would do that, too... I think he's never actually cold himself, since my thermometer says it's about 18 degrees celcius inside, and he's a longhaired cat. But even when I'm warm myself, my nose is potentially cold, so I don't think it's an unrealistic possibility.

As for the pollen, my windows are rarely open because they don't have protection (as absurd as this sounds - and is - buildings in France often forbid protection screens. So cat people resort to essentially never opening their windows). It seems unlikely tbh.

Aside from dust and/or pollen, my cats are shedding right now, and sometimes they end up inhaling a strand of fur up their nose, especially from the long haired cats, either when grooming themselves or others grooming them. Getting a hair up their nose obviously is going to cause them to sneeze.

My cat is always shedding, so I think this is a realistic possibility, too. Like I said, I've noticed that he will, on occasion, sneeze immediately after cleaning himself. I think he's been shedding less since I started giving him small fish oil supplement, but, as a longhaired cat, he just sheds year round anyway. I just notice less fur on the brush these days.

 

[tiggerwillow]

Tigger sneezes when she tries to make friends with a plant and it tickles her nose

 

[Kris107]

I've noticed that he will, on occasion, sneeze immediately after cleaning himself

If this is the primary case, it's likely that there's dust and other things in his hair. When he's rooting around in there he sneezes. That, or his own hairs tickle.