Feline allergic rhinitis

quiet

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Messages
432
Purraise
99
Hi does anyone have any experience with feline allergic rhinitis.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #2

quiet

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Messages
432
Purraise
99
Anyone?? Feeling neglected here
 

Anne

Site Owner
Staff Member
Admin
Joined
Oct 23, 2000
Messages
40,207
Purraise
6,095
Location
On TCS
 
Hi does anyone have any experience with feline allergic rhinitis.
Maybe share some more details? Maybe if we have more information about the situation we can help more. 
 

nurseangel

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 6, 2007
Messages
10,132
Purraise
4,820
Location
1 Happy Place
I don't have any experience with it, but the vet treated Blackberry for a severe skin condition with a medication that is commonly used to treat allergic rhinitis in people.  (Other medications as well, but that one surprised me.)  Has your vet placed your cat on a medication and it is not helping?  
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

quiet

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Messages
432
Purraise
99
On phone so hard to type. 13yr dsh mn. Has had sneezing x 3years. Been to 4specialists and numerous reg vets. Told it isnt curable. Caused by inhaled allergy. Did testing allergic to everthing. Used to itch on cyclosporin but he got sick. Disc. Cyclosporin started chronic sneezing bilateral. Currently treating with ciproflaxin and pref nisolone 5mg sid. Also give lysine. Z Has been tested for crypto and toxo. Neg. Both.also flutd cat with vomiting. V x 5yrs. Indoor only. Has always been sickly cat. Bottle raised from 1 day old then dumped at vet hosp to bevPTS when he was 4.thats when I got him. Thanks
 

stephanietx

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
14,772
Purraise
3,491
Location
Texas
Have you tried a daily antihistamine?  I have my herpes kitty a daily dose of antihistamine to help her.  She sneezes all the time, but it's worse when the seasons change.
 

catwoman707

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 16, 2011
Messages
7,689
Purraise
2,263
Location
Vallejo, CA
Cats who, at one time have had a severe herpevirus  causing the associated sneezing, or chronic sneezing due to allergies, the long term sneezing can damage the delicate turbinate bones in the nasal passages resulting in chronic sneezing, congestion and nasal discharge.

Chronic rhinitis is inflammation of the nose.

If the frontal sinuses are also involved it is called chronic rhinosinusitis.

Sadly there really is no definite/correct treatment for this and really no cure.

When a cat has flare ups antibiotics may help at somewhat relieving sneezing but never resolve it completely.

At best it will help bring the cat back to it's usual lower level of sneezing and congestion.

Tell me, has your cat been sedated and examined above the soft palate for a polyp?

This is also a cause of chronic sneezing, noisy breathing and nasal discharge.
 

catnamedpanda

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
1,405
Purraise
58
My Delilah has chronic rhinitis. I help relive hers with a product called Homeopet nose relief most of the time. When she gets bad flare ups my vet actually will give her steroid eye drops that are put into her nose to help bring the inflammation down.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

quiet

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Messages
432
Purraise
99
Thank you for the replies.

I have tried a few of the antihistamines. The last one being Zyrtac which I try when things are really bad. I also very rarely will give him little noses nose drops with phseudophedrine in it. I never had him anesthetized. I did have them look with him awake but I know that isn't as good. I did have him scheduled for a CT scan and a rhinoscopy but changed my mind for a number of reasons and then the vet said that it would be pointless now due to all the turbinate destruction. I did many radiographs all without anesthesia. At this point I don't want him to have anesthesia. I also don't have a vet right now.

Thanks for the suggestions and help.
 

stephanietx

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
14,772
Purraise
3,491
Location
Texas
Our Hannah most likely has damage to her turbinates, but we don't want to put her through the hassle of anesthesia and an MRI or anything like that since we manage it well.  She gets 1000mg of Lysine daily (500mg 2x a day), 14 drops of pure Evening Primrose oil, an anti-inflammatory, and a very small amount of Quercetin, an antihistamine supplement in addition to her daily 1/2 of a generic loratadine daily.  This regiment seems to keep her sneezing down and her eyes from watering.  When it gets really bad, like when the seasons change or a cold front comes through or the wind changes, we give her Gentamicin drops on her nose.

Something else to consider is that he might have a secondary infection.  If there's any nasal discharge, you could ask the vet for a culture and sensitivity test to see if there's another infection brewing.  That helped us initially with Hannah. 
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

quiet

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Messages
432
Purraise
99
Hi thank you for all the replies.

I have done multiple culture and sensitivities with a nasal swab. They cam back as very scary stuff. Pseudomonas, Enterococcus, Pasturella, I think there was another one but I don't remember the name right now. Anyway I then had the IM doctor vet tell me that it was useless to do a culture on the nasal area because of so many opportunistic bacteria that are there. Why he didn't tell me that before I did like 4 of them I don't know. I remember that it was only marginally susceptible to baytril at the time and he was on baytril, then it was resistant to everything but gentacin (I thought it couldn't be used in cats) and ciproflaxin. 

I have the prednisolone at 5mg sid and the ciproflaxin at 125 mg sid, may up that to bid. I haven't given the zyrtac in a while because I couldn't tell. If worse comes to worse I will give sub q fluids to thin out the mucus, but I doubt I will have to do that.

It does get worse around spring and summer. We get pretty bad santa ana winds around here and they were horrible about a month ago. Also had the fires a few weeks back and I know all the smoke didn't help either. I know it affected my horse, so it must have been hard on the cats. Although they are in an air conditioned air purified house, and at the time showed no signs of being any worse for wear. But I was sleeping outside my horses pasture so.....

I appreciate the help. I know this could easily turn into lymphoma after the years of inflammation if it hasn't already. I know it is not curable. I do find it odd that it started when his itching stopped. It also manifested right after I had used some DE in the house for the ants which he was supposed to be allergic to. I have often wondered if he could have got some of it in his nose. But you know how your mind starts to wonder everything. It also started about 6 months after I had housed a Cryptococcus (neurologic) for about ten days. But that cat (sweet little Yaki) was kept in a side bedroom and my cat had no contact with him and I did the full moonsuit up to handle Yaki. Also Cryptococcus isn't transmitted that way. So I have thought about this allot and was even thinking of trying a holistic vet but I just don't know.

@catwoman707  I didn't know that the polyps once removed were curative to the issue? I wish I had known that because at that time I would have allowed him to be sedated and have an exam. He saw so many doctors too and none recommended that. These are specialists. Sucks to say the least

Sorry Babbling (as my farrier put it to a friend of mine for an excuse of why he charged me $200 a foot to do my horse's feet) but I am not bitter or angry.
 

catwoman707

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 16, 2011
Messages
7,689
Purraise
2,263
Location
Vallejo, CA
He's got several bacteria strains going on, and if he had been on antibiotics prior, then switching types and potencies is usually how to fully be rid of these.

Has he ever been given doxycycline or doxy/clavamox mixed? (doxymox) Just thinking of the broad spectrum meds for this.

Yes, the polyp(s) are removed at the time of exam, they would simply use hemostats and gently pull it out.
 

stephanietx

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
14,772
Purraise
3,491
Location
Texas
Did you do anything for the secondary infections?  Hannah had pseudomonas and we treated it with two rounds of Zenequin, 30 days each time with a C&S in between.  We tried Zyrtec and found that it didn't work as well for our kitties as the Claritin (loratadine) did, so we switched back to Loratadine.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #16

quiet

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Messages
432
Purraise
99
Hi, I may try the claratin.

He is on the ciproflaxin right now as it was one of the two (other gentocin) that the bugs showed sensitivity to. Other than those two it was resistant to everything including baytril and Zithromax, clavamox, cephalasporins, etc.

I am probably going to have to run another panel on him one of these days, just kind of hard to do it right now since I am not working.

He still has a great appetite and is happy. He will just get these sneezing fits that resolve on their own but I don't think he has much of a sense of smell anymore.

Thanks for all the help.
 
Top