Upper respiratory infection ? Or how long should I wait

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kimouette

kimouette

Member Since 2012
I woke up this morning and noticed my cat has this abnormal hoarse meow, like she is loosing her voice. When she is purring the sound is so weird and she snores while she sleeps. It sounds like something (maybe saliva?) is obstructing her throat. I checked on Google and it seems this could be a symptom to upper respiratory infection. Before jumping to conclusion and just loosing money at the vet, I was wondering... how long can I wait before I should really be concerned with my cat's current symptom? It would be such a shame to know that maybe tomorrow her meow would be back to normal without any medicine!

Also I am not sure I can relate the other symptoms of upper respiratory infection to my cat. Here's why :

- She does have runny eyes and nose, but has been appearing and disappearing for many months now
- Here in Switzerland it is amazingly hot these days (one of the worse heat wave ever recorded). Maybe her meow problem is caused by that?
- She doesn't go outside and she is my only cat (while upper respiratory infection is a viral disease)
- she seems to be less hungry than normally, but her weight is stable

Should I run to the vet's office right now? Should I wait? How long before i should be worried? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

:)
 
Is she still eating, drinking, peeing, poo-ing, purring, and playing?

If not eating or drinking, go to vet. Dehydration can set in quickly and @ 2 days of not eating, you could be heading into hepatic lipidosis where broken down fat over-runs the liver and can kill. Also, if not eating, the insulin levels may need adjusting, so be sure to test.

Rough check for dehydration: gently pull up the fur at the scruff of the neck and release. If it snaps right back, dehydration is unlikely. (This works on the forearm of humans, too)
Better check for dehydration: lift a lip, press your finger on the gums for a few seconds and release. It should return to pink in a few seconds; if not, the cat is dehydrated and needs to go to the vet asap.
 
s she still eating, drinking, peeing, poo-ing, purring, and playing?
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She did urinate last night and pooped yesterday evening, but since this morning, nothing (it's now 05h25pm and she normally pees once or twice a day and poops only once a day).

Last night she did finish the food I gave her but since this morning I really have to insist. I used a mixer to turn her food and water into an easy to swallow puree, if I take the plate to her she will take about 10 small licks and leave the rest. She normally eats 100 grams in the morning and 100grams in the evening, and since this morning she only ate about 20 grams (with the water added).

She has never been a big "player", she is old now and with the heat wave we definitely cant say that being less playful is abnormal!
She's still purring though.. always ready for a hug! But even when she was in hyperglycemia she was still purring... she's just ALWAYS a loving cat.

If not eating or drinking, go to vet. Dehydration can set in quickly and @ 2 days of not eating, you could be heading into hepatic lipidosis where broken down fat over-runs the liver and can kill. Also, if not eating, the insulin levels may need adjusting, so be sure to test.
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I just checked and she is not dehydrated.. or atleast not yet. Every hour or so I show her the plate with the mix of food and water and with all these tiny bits she takes, I think she'll be ok, until tomorrow I hope cuz I just took an appointment for tomorrow 11:00am.

Something else I noticed : her throat really seems to hurt : everytime she licks her food then she "puts her neck straight" to swallow.
Poor thing I hate to see her like that.

Since I'm going to the vet tomorrow and since upper respiratory infection is normally treated with NSAID, do you guys have any advice on what I should ask the vet?
 
There are no really safe NSAID for cats. If the nose or eye discharge get white or green that indicates a bacterial infection. Frequently a secondary bacterial infection results form a viral infections. If so then antibiotics are in order.

Also, ask about L-lysine, that help prevents reproduction of the herpes virus and that sometime results in runny noise and eyes.
 
I went to the vet yesterday evening after realizing my cat was about to not eat or drink for more than 36 hours if I waited for the appointment I had.

Now I'm so scared!!!! Cuz the vet gave my cat 2 injections : Metacam and Convenia. I knew that Metacam wasn't the best but since my cat didn't react the last time she received it i didn't oppose to it. But Convenia... I didn't know what it was was! I just read the following article http://www.catinfo.org/?link=convenia
And now I'm scared of the side effects of this drug.. which could even lead to death.

My cat is eating a little bit, so I guess she feels a little better. But geez, I dont want her to react to Convenia!
nailbite_smile
 
Make yourself a checklist of these adverse reactions and monitor for them at least twice daily:
anemia - check now for a reference color and then check for changes or very pale gums
(if you can find a paint chip the right color for comparison, that may help you see change)
tremors/ataxia - difficulty standing and walking
seizures
diarrhea
lethargy
anorexia - loss of appetite


Also, you might ask the vet about an appetite stimulant if no mechanical obstruction of the esophagus was found.
 
my civvie molly was on covenia recently for a almost cold sore looking thing on her lip which a week later turned into a full on cold, its an antibiotic.
molly gets a cold once a year and every yr for the last 5-6 yrs, i normally wait it out, she nibbles on food, even my vet said that as long as the discharge is clear and not green they will clear on their own. normally she sleeps it off, the only annoying thing is she sneezes ALOT from it and because she cant smell is why she wont eat so normally i try and heat it up or give her tuna.
 
anemia - check now for a reference color and then check for changes or very pale gums
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How do I do this if my cat has black gums? Even her palate is almost entirely black.. both have always been this way

because she cant smell is why she wont eat so normally i try and heat it up or give her tuna.
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Thanks for the tip! I'll buy a can and mix it up with her food.
 
About anemia I found something pretty useful!

The conjunctiva of a cat is the same color as its gums. So if the conjunctiva is pink it's fine, if it's pale or white the cat is probably anemic.

I just checked my cat's, and it's pink!
:thumbup

The picture was found on this website which explains how to examine a cat's eyes: http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/cat_eyes.aspx
 

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My cat's hoarse meow (almost completely silent) has not improve since the injection of Convenia (Monday August 20th). She still has a noisy breathing when she sleeps and it seems like swallowing her saliva is still annoying her. This morning she coughed for the first time. I'm not saying that coughing is now a new symptom, maybe it wont happen again, but it did happen this morning and it freaked me out! The only improvement is that she eats (and drinks) normally ever since we came back from the vet.

Now I'm thinking about calling the vet... but I dont know if I should just wait few more days and see if the Convenia kicks in... or if I'm just losing some precious time cuz my cat could be suffering from something else that requires immediate investigation...

Everything I read about these symptoms (except for URI) involves getting the cat under anesthesia for x-rays or tracheal wash etc... Since my cat is almost 13, I really want to avoid this unless necessary..

how long would you guys wait for the antibiotics to kick in before taking the risk of the anaesthetic?
 
Go to the vet immediately. Do not give any medications without doctor...ibuprofen is deadly for cats...uri's can get worse really fast but that could also be something else...actually a hoarse voice could be a sign of really high blood sugar (as I recall from my Fred)
 
Go to the vet immediately.
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I called him this morning. He said that if my cat has an URI her hoarse meow is gonna take some time to heal. But when I told him she has not improve at all since the injection, he told me to call him back on Tuesday if she still didn't show any sign of recovery or to call him right away if anything gets worse.

Do not give any medications without doctor...ibuprofen is deadly for cats..
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I never planned on doing such a thing! All she received was by injection at the vet of course!
actually a hoarse voice could be a sign of really high blood sugar (as I recall from my Fred)
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Maybe, but I just tested my cat, her BG level is completely normal (and she has been OTJ for couple of months now).
noisy breathing could be a sign of fluid in the lungs...did they do an Xray?
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I know and I'm pretty scared of that! The vet's thought about that possibility is that in 75% cats with these specific symptoms have URI, and that has to be ruled out before going any further. If I call him next Tuesday he'll probably need to do some Xrays.
xrays are not painful for your cat
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Xrays aren't, but putting a 13 year old cat under anesthesia is. Xrays without anesthesia is impossible.

I added a video showing the sound she makes while she sleeps.
The sound is not very good. On the video you can only hear her at 17'+30'+38' Here it is : http://youtu.be/S7WwHGtQTh0
 
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