My cat's nose and throat are congested, antibiotics aren't working.

Upper respiratory infections in cats are caused by viruses as well as bacteria, so if Jade has a respiratory infection caused by a virus, antibiotics will not help. In addition, some cats have ongoing problems with these infections, and will have bouts of illness throughout their life. You can take her back into the vet for a health check, as she may benefit from some medications, but I will also give you a few things you can do at home for Jade as well. First, you can try starting her on an L-lysine supplement - this is an amino acid that has been shown to help the immune system fight off respiratory infections more effectively. Enisyl and Viralys are both good brands, and can be purchased over the counter without a prescription - just follow the dosing instructions on the label based on your cat's weight. If she's congested, you can also try using a humidifier or bringing her into the bathroom with the door closed while you take a hot shower - the steam and humidity help to break up congestion and temporarily relieve symptoms associated with respiratory infections.

I'm sorry to hear about Missy's chronic problems. The 2 most common problems leading to this would be either a very deep, resistant bacterial infection of the sinuses or even possibly a tumor. Tumors can be either malignant or benign. To get a definitive answer advanced imaging such as CT may be needed. It must be frustrating to have tried so many therapies and still be facing a problem. These types of chronic sinus issues can be very difficult to solve. You can request a referral to a specialist from your veterinarian and they will help guide you with a plan. Take care and I hope Missy improves soon.

Poor Spike! There are a few things that could be going on here. First, he may have a condition called chronic rhinitis - basically, this is a chronic upper respiratory infection that causing changes in the tissue and bone structure inside the nose, which makes symptoms very hard to get rid of even with proper antibiotic treatment. He could also have a nasal foreign body of some kind (like a piece of grass), a fungal infection like cryptococcus which wouldn't respond to antibiotics, or even a nasal tumor. Since he's been on antibiotics twice now with no improvement, you have a couple of options. Ideally, it would be best for Spike to have some further diagnostic testing to try and figure out what's causing the chronic symptoms - this would likely involve culture and cytology of the nasal discharge, skull x-rays, and possibly rhinoscopy (looking inside the nose with a tiny camera) and biopsies of anything in the nasal cavity that looks suspicious. Referral to a specialist may be required for some of these tests. Or, if you prefer not to pursue any additional testing right now, your vet should be able to talk to you about other treatment options that may help to relieve his symptoms. Many cats with this issue respond well to anti-inflammatory drugs, long courses of antibiotics (4-6 weeks), intranasal antibiotic/steroid drops, or even adjunct therapies like laser treatment or acupuncture. I would recommend asking your vet for his/her suggestions on the next step. If they don't have any other suggestions or don't want to talk with you about options, you can get a second opinion from another vet if needed.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This sign could be compatible with an upper respiratory tract inflammation/infection or possibly to a chronic rhinitis (inflammatory, allergic, infective). A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Antibiotics or antiallergic (steroids medications) may be needed. It is not necessary to perform expensive tests as treatment can be attempted to resolve the problem. 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!

I am sorry to hear that! It sounds like he has had a good work up so far. I suspect your vet may want to recheck imaging (if not done already) to ensure the foreign object is no longer present. If there is a concern the infection has never fully resolved, you could ask for a referral to an internal medicine specialist (https://www.ecvim-ca.org/specialist-listings/internal-medicine-specialists-list). If the infection has been cleared but keeps recurring, you could ask to review the pros and cons of therapies such as anti-viral medications, probiotics, Cerenia or long-term antibiotic courses. I hope this helps!

Poor Link! In cats, respiratory infections are typically caused by a virus, so antibiotics won't work. I have a few things you can try at home. First, you can try starting him on an L-lysine supplement - this is an amino acid that has been shown to help the immune system fight off respiratory infections more effectively. Enisyl and Viralys are both good brands, and can be purchased over the counter without a prescription - just follow the dosing instructions on the label based on your cat's weight. If he's congested, you can also try using a humidifier or bringing him into the bathroom with the door closed while you take a hot shower - the steam and humidity help to break up congestion and temporarily relieve symptoms associated with respiratory infections. I would also recommend taking him into the vet tomorrow. An antibiotic ointment could help with his weepy eyes, but those can only be prescribed by a vet. Best of luck, I hope this helps!

Sorry to hear Smoky isn't acting normally. If your current veterinarian hasn't performed diagnostics to back up his statements, I would consider taking him elsewhere in order to do a little more investigation since there have been persistent clinical signs. Abnormal breathing and increased nasal discharge could be an indicator of an upper respiratory infection, feline asthma, cardiopulmonary/cardiovascular disease, or a primary respiratory condition. X-rays of the chest would be the first and foremost diagnostic test to perform in order to rule some of these in/out. There are medical therapies as well that can be attempted instead of diagnostics, but if you would like to get down to the crux of the issue, the diagnostics would be preferable. Hope this makes sense.