Severe sinus congestion and sneezing

CallMeJarob

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Hello!
I have been dealing with severe sinus congestion, mucus, and sneezing with discharge with my 10 year old Russian Blue for about 2-3 years now. We have been do a dozen vets 99% of whom just said its feline herpes and brush it off.

One vet finally did a sinus flush and culture diagnosing my cat with a form of pseudomonas that was only responsive to baytril. We then proceeded to give the cat a baytril injection everyday for 90+ days until we called it off due to very little improvement (there was some improvement but not enough to justify an antibiotic injection every day). This vet has heard of a surgery that "drills holes" between the nasal passages to improve drainage and breathing but I cant find any information online about it and surgery is my last option.

She has been off of the injections for about 60 days now and is still suffering. Constant sneezing (several times an hour) with yellow discharge, while she is very affectionate and seems happy I can clearly tell she is suffering.

I am willing to do and try anything. Does anyone have any experience with this or has heard of anything? Please let me know!
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. The article link below is a complex document/abstract that may only be similarly related to your cat's issue, but I thought maybe you would find it interesting. It does not address 'drilling holes' but does talk about a specific antibiotic that was used that reaped results when other antibiotics had not. The antibiotic is: marbofloxacin.

Error - Cookies Turned Off

Edit: The title above is not indicative of the article (Mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in a cat with severe
chronic rhinosinusitis), but you should still be able to access the abstract (PDF) by clicking on that link, and then clicking on it a second time to expand the size of it.
 
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BlackCatOp

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Hello!
Your kitty sounds very similar to mine. Even the experiences at the vet clinics that passively dismissed my concerns. (They dont understand that my cat is shooting snot rockets EVERYWHERE!)

I would suggest seeing an internal medicine specialist (Do you have a veterinary college near by?)

My kitty has been diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic rhinosinusitis. He was treated for several months empirically with azithromycin + pred and then transitioned to inhaled steroid. He is doing really well after suffering for years. He too had adult developed onset of sneezing and snot slinging - he was healthy until ~5 years. I will note that the inhaled steroids aren't cheap but it beats the constant vet visits.

Also, there is some risk using steroids in a sneezing/snotty cat in case the infection is fungal. (Depending on your location fungal infections may or may not be common) can steroids can cause fungal infections to become worse.

I did not choose to do the diagnostics presented in these two articles (besides basic bloodwork/urinalysis and polys had previously been ruled out) but here is the low down on treating chronically sneezing cats

https://www.michvma.org/resources/Documents/MVC/2018 Proceedings/carey_03.pdf

http://www.delawarevalleyacademyvm.org/pdfs/sep13/4ChronicSneezingCats_2013.pdf

Hope you and your kitty can get some needed relief!
 

stephanietx

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What kind of pseudomonas? Did they do a culture and sensitivity test? The sensitivity test should tell them which antibiotic will most effectively treat it. Our girl had pseudomonas aeruginosa and we treated with oral Zenequin for about 60 days. She is still very congested and sneezy. We found that colloidal silver also helps treat psedomonas, so we started her on that and do 1 month on, 2 months off. A daily antihistamine helps as well. We've been dealing with this for 13 years now. She is free from the pseudomonas, but still has other nasal and upper respiratory infections that will be life-long. She has also tested positive for feline herpes.
 
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CallMeJarob

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Thanks for the replies so far everyone. Yes they did the culture and sensitivity test which showed baytril to work but when we administered it while yes it did help didn't do enough to justify daily injections.
 
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CallMeJarob

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Bumping this for more input
 

BlackCatOp

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How long did she receive Baytril for prior to discontinuing?

EDIT:
Also, I would really consider seeking a specialist’s opinion at this point. A consult with an internal medicine vet will probably provide you with additional treatment options - even if you don’t decide to do a thorough diagnostic work up (MRI, CT)
Mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in a cat with severe chronic rhinosinusitis
Antimicrobial use Guidelines for Treatment of Respiratory Tract Disease in Dogs and Cats: Antimicrobial Guidelines Working Group of the International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases
 
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