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Why is my cat sneezing and her face swollen after ringworm medicine?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Female | unspayed | 4 months and 27 days old | 4 lbs

We got a new kitten and found out he had ear mites and ring worm after having him for a few weeks. He is always sneezing and now the rest of our cats are sneezing a lot. Nina got ring worm and we got a top coat application for her and the kitten. When we fell asleep she was fine but when we woke up half of her face was swollen. I called our vet and they said she shouldn’t be allergic to the medicine. And I don’t see a bug bite. Why are they sneezing so much and why is her face swollen thank you.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Jessica Keay, DVM

Answered By Jessica Keay, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 8th, 2019

I am sorry to hear about your kitten! I would recommend bringing her in for an exam at your vet. If the swelling is progressing tonight or she develops any difficulty breathing I would get her to the emergency vet. We could have swelling do to an allergic reaction from an insect bite or exposure to any other substance/plant (most of the time we don't see a mark/know the cause) but I would also want to check for things like an abscess or infected tooth causing swelling. It sounds like he may also have a mild upper respiratory infection (like us having a cold) that he has passed to the other cats. You can read more about this at https://www.petcoach.co/article/sneezing-and-feline-upper-respiratory-disease/
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