Multicat household and URI

[kayleebri1010]

Hi, there! Just looking for some input on my current, frustrating situation.

About a week and a half ago, my second oldest cat Oolong (8 years) started sneezing, blowing snot bubbles, and breathing through his mouth. I took him to the vet where he was given the gamut—fluids, antibiotic, dexamethasone. He has improved (no more mouth breathing, thank god), but is still snuffly. I asked the vet if I should quarantine him from my other three cats, but he determined that since they were already exposed, there was no need.

Fast forward to yesterday, and my youngest cat Launch (5 months) starts sneezing and has goopy eyes, followed by my second youngest Mai (3 years).

I am calling my vet on Monday to be sure I don’t need to bring them in for antibiotics as well since Oolong needed one, but is there any point in going ahead with a quarantine at this point? Can they can continue to pass it back and forth? I don’t want to end up in URI purgatory! I appreciate any thoughts.

 

[di and bob]

They most likely are infected with the Feline Herpes virus, a kitty cold, that is transmissible but NOT to humans. For the ones affected raising the humidity really helps, run a humidifier, boil water on the stove, and put the affected cats in a shut bathroom for 15-20 minutes after a shower. Give them a heated pad to lay on, (or keep them warm) it brings comfort. I get them pretty inexpensively on Amazon from K&H pet products and put them under a fleece blanket. The cats love them. My cats used to pass this around, but since I give them DMG for their Leukemia symptoms now they haven't had one since. It builds up their immune systems and can be bought online at any pet med site, Amazon and Walmart. I used to use lysine, but it didn't seem very effective. I give .5 ml on top of their wet food or a divided packet of lickable cat treats. Good luck!

 

[fionasmom]

This happened to me years ago with a rescued kitten who was treated and cleared to be brought inside.....everyone got the URI for which I had quarantined her. Will your vet give you the antibiotics without office visits for everyone else? Mine did which was a help. Once everyone had it, I just gave everyone the meds and it did go away. Yes, URI Purgatory.

 

[kayleebri1010]

Thanks so much for the tip about the humidifier. I was doing steam baths for Oolong because his congestion was horrible, but I didn’t even think about using our humidifier. I set that up for Launch this afternoon and also gave her my electric blanket, which she’s been nesting in all day.

 

[kayleebri1010]

This happened to me years ago with a rescued kitten who was treated and cleared to be brought inside.....everyone got the URI for which I had quarantined her. Will your vet give you the antibiotics without office visits for everyone else? Mine did which was a help. Once everyone had it, I just gave everyone the meds and it did go away. Yes, URI Purgatory.

Thanks so much for weighing in. I couldn’t begin to guess where they caught it from. Our kitten is an outdoor rescue but we’ve had her since the end of September, so I feel like we’d have known by now if she were patient zero. I decided to quarantine her anyway. Mai has stopped sneezing (so I hope that was coincidence!), and Oolong is so much better but still recovering and I’d like to just break the cycle if I can.

When I call the vet in the morning, I will ask whether he’s open to prescribing something for all of them! Launch has her spay coming up next week, so I want her to be healthy before then, and I also don’t want to have this perpetual cycle of one gets better and another comes down with it.

Thanks again!

 

[fionasmom]

Please let us know what happens.