My cat has dried blood in her nostril. Is it serious? When to see vet?

Since this has bene going on for a while, I would get it checked by your vet as soon as possible. It could be a cold, he could have sneezed some particle of foreign material up into his nasal cavity, he could have a polyp in his nose, there's no way to know for sure without an exam with your vet. The greenish tinge to the discharge may mean he already has an infection going on. Your vet will do an exam, possibly lab work and/or x-rays to determine what's going on and based on these results will be better able to tell you what's wrong and give you treatment options.

Poor cat. Over 90% of cats with acute sneezing discharge are infected with herpesvirus and calicivirus. These viruses are usually exposed to cats when they are young and cats seems to recover from them but they continuously cause irritation, erosions, and inflammation of the upper respiratory tract (nasal passages) over time which can lead to mild nose bleeds. However there is also a possibility that your kitty could have a coagulation problems that is causing the bleeding as well. Therefore it is best to get kitty seen by your veterinarian for a coagulation profile in case kitty needs more extensive treatment to resolve this. If kitty is negative for any bleeding disorders or any other potential causes of nose bleeding (i.e. fungal, allergic, etc), then the extent of treatment will most likely be 1) Anti-viral medication (Lysine-availlabe over the counter at your local pet store or at your vet clinic), 2)Antibiotics- to treat any secondary infections present, 3)Steroid or NSAID therapy to help ease inflammation of the nasal turbinates. I would recommend scheduling an appointment with your cat's veterinarian soon to get the proper testing and treatment your cat needs for his care.

She is probably suffering from a chronic upper respiratory infection, you need to take her to the vet to get it checked and treated, a relatively long course of antibiotic will likely be needed to treat this condition.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This sign could be compatible with an upper respiratory tract inflammation/infection or possibly to a rhinitis (inflammatory, allergic, infective). A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Antibiotics may be needed. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If Mimi is still fighting a respiratory infection, the blood coming from the nose could be due to what we call rhinitis (inflammation of the sinuses / mucous membranes of the nose). This is common in unresolved upper respiratory infections. If you are only seeing a small amount and the blood is not profuse, you should be ok to wait until this week to have Mimi seen. If she is showing more blood and the amount if profuse, she needs to be seen immediately by a veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I would recommend that you have your cat examined by a vet. These are not good problems to have, and could be caused by a number of things including stomatitis, FIV, oral or nasal cancer, bacterial or fungal infection, among others. The vet will do a thorough exam, and may need to run blood work and maybe x-rays to determine the cause.

Hi there and thank you very much for reaching out to us. When a cat presents to us with unilateral or one-sided symptoms such as the one your cat is displaying, we start to think of specific types of causes. Some of the things that can cause nosebleeds and left-sided issues in general of the head could be things like sinus infections of that side, dental problems on that side, cancerous growth in the nasal passage or sinuses, etc. I urge you to go to a veterinarian as soon as possible to get a complete physical and dental examination performed. The veterinarian will also probably want to do some school x-rays as well as rhinoscopy to look up the nasal passage or otoscopy to look down the ear on that affected side. Thank you very much for your question. I hope I have helped today.