Constant sneezing

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pevsfreedom

pevsfreedom

Member Since 2015
Hi all - Luna has been sneezing really bad last few days. Has anyone used lysine/zyrtec for this, and would recommend one or both? She's been on antibiotics for a few weeks and has no signs of infection so I think it's just allergy - I have both lysine/zyrtec at the house and need to help her machine gun sneezing.
 
Saoirse was very sneezy a few months back, and that's what our vet prescribed for her (Piriton). It worked well. It had an added benefit of helping with her GI problems so we've kept her on it for several months now, even though the sneezing stopped a good while back.
 
Lysine is excellent and should be given daily, even after the sneezing subsides. It's safe to give to your other cats, too. I haven't heard of giving Zyrtec to a cat. I have given Chlorphenamine Maleate when Bonnie has sneezing fits but she nearly always ends up needing to go to the vet. The problem with this stuff is that it is sedating and has a drying effect. I'd recommend taking Luna to the vet first. Even if no infection is suspected, sometimes another kind of antibioitic will help hasten recovery. If the vet agrees that you can give Chlorphenamine, you can buy it OTC very cheaply.

If it's allergies, look around your home and see if there are any triggers like room sprays/air fresheners, laundry detergents, and cleaning supplies that might be causing Luna to sneeze.
 
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thx all
i have no idea what would be causing her allergies as i'm allergic to a lot of things myself so i keep the place pretty free of anything scented.. she just starts and stops for weeks at a time. our old cat charlie would sneeze so hard he bled but it was an infection. luna shows no signs of anything besides being a grouch and sneezing .
 
Is Luna eating ok? If she isn't, it is likely she's congested and can't smell her food.

I'd still suggest taking her in for an exam and making sure she doesn't have a blockage in her nasal passages or an URI. If it's just allergies, you could try the Chlorphenamine Maleate after checking with your vet for an ok (better safe than sorry). The problem is if Luna is sneezing constantly, you'll have to give the Chlorphenamine Maleate daily and she will probably end up looking and feeling like she did after her dental. Another option is benadryl but that stuff makes a lot of cats drool and foam at the mouth. It sure did for Bonnie.
 
Lol she eats like every bite of food might be her last. She's a complete pig and always has been. I'd be afraid to use benadryl because it definitely knocks me out. I think I'll just try the lysine because she's par siamese and every siamese we've ever had sneezed a lot and benefitted from lysine. She's been to the vet a few times in last month though they never looked up her nose!~
 
I have noticed she's been grooming herself way more than usual as well since the sneezing started.. maybe she needs a bath? Lol.
 
The Chlorphenamine Maleate does do a great job with sneezing. The problem I have had with Bonnie is that it often makes her congested and so lethargic, even at a small dose. Then she lose her ability to smell and I have to force feed and get fluids down her. Most of the time I end up having to take her in to get shots and antibiotics. Lysine is great but it alone will not cure an URI. It is supposed to help lessen severity and duration. I give it daily to Bonnie and increase the dose when she's sneezing.

Did Luna have an URI in the past? Stress can trigger another outbreak. Sometimes this will start out as an allergy and then progress to an URI. Sneezing from other cats in the household can set this off too.

See if your vet will ok the Chlorphenamine Maleate and see if it helps.
 
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pevsfreedom said:
I have noticed she's been grooming herself way more than usual as well since the sneezing started.. maybe she needs a bath? Lol.
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Could be from sneezing so much and not feeling well. Bonnie stops grooming herself when she has allergies or is sick. Fortunately, CJ comes to the rescue in the grooming department though she has a habit of just licking one side of Bonnie's face upward so Bonnie ends up with a semi-mohawk.
 
Chronic Feline herpes can present as sneezing. Knew a cat who had issues on and off with herpes, and usually became a sneezing drooling mess when flare ups happened. Lysine I believe would help reduce flares/prevent them.
 
Lysine helps but doesn't always prevent. It doesn't solve the sneezing when Bonnie has a flare. But it does help her from having constant outbreaks.
 
This may not be the problem for you but my siamese mix, Scribbles, sneezes with dusty clay litter and if it's scented poor guy really suffers. Some boxes are dustier than others so we switched to vegetable based unscented and he stopped. Went back to it and he started again. The other two don't sneeze so it's an allergy for him.
 
Cat Ma said:
@pevsfreedom How is Luna today?
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She's doing good, licking herself all wet lol. She slobbers all over herself when she cleans. Sneezing wasn't nearly as bad today.

Our other 2 are FIV+ so I wonder if that has anything to do with it.. she wasn't when we got her but probably is by now (really not sure). None of them go outside regardless.
Meya14 said:
Chronic Feline herpes can present as sneezing. Knew a cat who had issues on and off with herpes, and usually became a sneezing drooling mess when flare ups happened. Lysine I believe would help reduce flares/prevent them.
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She IS a sneezing/drooling mess.. good to know lysine might help!
CatLoverDeb said:
This may not be the problem for you but my siamese mix, Scribbles, sneezes with dusty clay litter and if it's scented poor guy really suffers. Some boxes are dustier than others so we switched to vegetable based unscented and he stopped. Went back to it and he started again. The other two don't sneeze so it's an allergy for him.
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Hmm that's interesting. We switched from this stupid expensive walnut stuff and have been trying various unscented clay litters, right now we're using Petco stuff which I believe is unscented.
 
Glad to hear she's back to grooming and sneezing less. Exposure to your other cats could be a factor for her sneezing. Giving lysine to all of your cats daily will benefit them.

Check with Petco. I never had luck with that litter for either cat. The best unscented litter I've used so far is Precious Cat Litter. Very minimal dust (compared to other litters), good clumping, no fragrance and a great price on Amazon (with free delivery at your doorstep when you spend a minimum).

Will we be seeing a new photo of Luna soon?
 
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Cat Ma said:
Glad to hear she's back to grooming and sneezing less. Exposure to your other cats could be a factor for her sneezing. Giving lysine to all of your cats daily will benefit them.

Check with Petco. I never had luck with that litter for either cat. The best unscented litter I've used so far is Precious Cat Litter. Minimal dust, good clumping, no fragrance and a great price on Amazon (with free delivery at your doorstep when you spend a minimum).

Will we be seeing a new photo of Luna soon?
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Every picture with her mouth open she's going "MEOWWWWW"

That's funny because we used the Precious brand and it made the pee clump so hard that it was impossible to scoop. I think we sent it back after a week. The Petco stuff seems pretty good and is like 30lb for $9 which is great.
 
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Yeah, the Precious Cat Litter sometimes does too good of a job clumping. That's why I use a heavy duty metal litter scooper.

Great photos of Luna! Is she still recovering from dental surgery? She looks like she's singing for her supper! Is the cute black cat Mushu?
 
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Whoa thats a nice looking scooper! We have a junk plastic one. She seems fully recovered! :) She's the biggest chatterbox I've ever seen - if you say her name she jumps up and starts talking to you.

Yup that's Mushu. She's never been that close to him.
 
pevsfreedom said:
She IS a sneezing/drooling mess.. good to know lysine might help!
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It's probably worthwhile to get tested for the viruses, as oral antibiotics are (edit) -NOT- really useful to treat it (in abscense of secondary infection) and over use of antibiotics can cause issues such as GI infection and kidney insufficiency. There are some antivirals that can be useful in recurrent or severe flares. Since you have other cats with FIV it may be helpful to know Luna's status as well, as you might want to use the lysine/antivirals more aggressively in an FIV+ kitty.

I forgot that Luna just had a dental too. After Max's dental, they removed one upper canine, but left the other. For a few weeks after the dental, he was lip-licking all the time, sneezing, and having funny head movements. I was worried that the anesthesia was doing something that caused different seizures for him, but it turns out he just was having trouble keeping the drool in his mouth due to the missing tooth. All those behaviors stopped after a couple weeks when he figured out he just shake his head real hard and send all that drool flying instead. Especially fun when he does it right in my face.
 
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In your first sentence did you mean oral antivirals? She was on 2 weeks almost of oral antibiotics after the dental and like 2 weeks before that she was on another 2 weeks after the ketone visit, so she's been on antibiotics for like a month now.

She doesn't really drool any more since the dental, but thanks for the ideas. I'll bring it up.

We've never given/done anything with our FIV+ cats. Not sure if we should or not. They seem healthy if not a little spaz-tic (they chase each other around the house all day beating/licking each other).
 
Max has been pretty stable OTJ, we've been seeing some creeping into the low 100s which I don't like, so we're trying to use exercise to bring the #s down, the laser pointer is really the only play he's interested in. Max sleeps more and is less active than my 17 year old cat. He's a blob.

He went from like 130s to 60s one day about 30 minutes after exercising.
 
I had no idea exercise would bring #'s down - I thought it would bring them up - that's great it works though.
 
pevsfreedom said:
I had no idea exercise would bring #'s down - I thought it would bring them up - that's great it works though.
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Exercise burns blood sugar so it immediately can lower blood sugars. It also causes the release of growth factors that can sensitize the body to insulin and decrease insulin resistance. It's not a good approach of there is a concern for ketones (as it could increase ketones). However, with close to normal sugars, or no ketones it can be useful to help break the insulin resistance.
 
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