My cat is sneezing a lot. Could stress cause her URI symptoms?

Shower may be not related at all to the presenting signs you described. Upper respiratory tract inflammation/infection (sneezing) and gastrointestinal disease may be possible. I would suggest to keep him indoors and if the signs persist have him checked by your local veterinarian. Antibiotics may be needed.

If she is young or is undergoing a lot of stress (moving, new animal or person in the house, change of schedule) the most likely cause is a viral upper respiratory infection. Many cats will get by with the following support - lysine supplement- try Vetoquinol Viralys (L-Lysine) Oral Gel for Cats - treat all cats as directed on the bottle until all cats are well - try wet food or soaking kibbles and then very slightly warming the food. Cats are very smell-driven and warm wet food is smellier and more likely to be eaten by a stuffy nosed cat. - recommend a probiotic such as purina Fortiflora for every cat in the home. Odd as it sounds, we’ve found that probiotics actually speed recovery from URI’s - if any cat is squinting an eye or thick eye discharge, refuses to eat, or becomes lethargic, it’s time to see your vet. These are signs of eye ulcers and/or secondary bacterial infection. These cats will need eye ointments or systemic antibiotics. Occasionally, nebulizations or more aggressive treatment is needed. If Mama is lethargic, has decreased appetite, or the nasal discharge is thick, yellow/green, or bloody, or she is breathing with her mouth open, she needs to see the vet as these could be something more serious such as fungal infection, cancer, or secondary infection. Best of luck to you and Mama.

It could be just mild nasal irritation. It coukd also be due to environmental factors like dust. Rarely we can see certain slow rising disease of cats such as nasal tumors. However we usually see discharge like mucus or blood. If you ever see a discharge, your cats attitude changes or the sneezing increases in its frequency I would consider having your veterinarian do an exam.

Yes, URI's (upper respiratory infections) are very common in kittens and cats that have been living in shelters. They typically are caused by viruses and most of them resolve without treatment, but they turn into bacterial infections that make the cat feel pretty awful, and need antibiotics. I would recommend calling the shelter from which you adopted the kitten and see if maybe he was treated for a URI while he was there. If so, perhaps it's resolving normally. If not, he may just now be showing the signs and he may need to be checked out (by the shelter or a private vet) before things get worse.

It's highly possible that they're all experiencing a flare-up of feline herpesvirus, which tends to produce mild upper respiratory signs such as sneezing and ocular discharge. Most cats already have the virus in their bodies but don't have symptoms, but living in a stressful environment (shelters) or going through stressful events (having a new cat brought home) can trigger recurrence of the active infection. If it's been a week and a half they likely do need to see the vet, however most of them will improve with supplementation with the amino acid lysine and supportive care.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Bunny. Sounds like she is suffering from a mild upper respiratory infection. Not sure how old she is but both kittens and adult cats suffer from these infections. Kittens get infected from their mothers who start shedding the viruses thus infecting the kittens. Many cats live their whole lives carrying these viruses. They will occasionally develop signs of upper respiratory infections during times of stress at any point in time. We vaccinate for a few of these upper respiratory viruses but we still see many many cases. The vaccines should provide some protection and usually adult cats develop very mild signs. Signs range from sneezing, runny eyes, runny nose, coughing, fever, lethargy, decreased appetite, decreased water intake, etc. Treating these infections can range from very simple to very complex cases that take weeks to months to improve. If signs remain mild, monitoring is sometimes appropriate. If the signs progress to not eating, lethargic, thick discharge from the nose and/or eyes, then you should get her evaluated by your veterinarian. They can gather a history, perform an exam, and advise you on possible diagnostics and treatment. Treatment can involve antibiotics to protect or treat secondary bacterial infections, antiviral medicines, a good deworming program, and vaccination program, eye drops/eye ointments if the eyes are involved, nose drops, a nutritional supplement called L-lysine added to his food may help, and probiotics are all things to try. Sometimes kittens have a nasopharyngeal polyp which can present as chronic upper respiratory disease which doesn't respond well to treatment. This is a polyp in the nasal passageway and back of the throat. These can be found by using sedation/anesthesia and evaluating the back of the throat and thus removed if found. Good luck.

How lovely of you to foster this young cat! It's great that Cleo is up to date on her vaccines, which will help minimize her risk. Given that this new cat is potentially showing signs of herpes, you should isolate her from Cleo while she is symptomatic. Make sure this new cat has her own litter box, food, and water bowls, and be sure to keep them clean. You might try a humidifier in the new cat's room to help her if she has any congestion. Make sure she is as rested as possible, and gently warm really smelly wet food if her appetite goes down. When cats can't smell their food, they won't eat, which is why I recommend gently warming the food. Once her symptoms are clear, it's fine to allow her near Cleo. I hope this helps!