Chronic cat flu

[AncestralRhubarb]

Dcat (9 yo) has had recurring flu since she was a tiny kitten (rescue). It flares up when she's stressed and subsides with the help of antibiotics.

She has recently beaten injection site sarcoma and been declared 'cured' by her specialist, which I am obviously thrilled about as the odds weren't great.

Predictably though, the stress of surgery and radiotherapy have made the cat flu come back. This time it won't go away despite three rounds of different antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. Her breathing is noisy and her nose completely blocked on one side. It is especially bad at night, and when she's sleeping.

The vet says the only option now is steroids or 'just leave it'.

Does anyone have any experience of treating chronic cat flu any other way? I'm a bit reluctant to put her on steroids, but I need to do something as it is clearly annoying her. A friend suggested echinacea; I'm pretty sceptical about homeopathy but have reached the point where I'll try anything - she's a very special cat.

Seniorboy has had this since he was about 18 - I guess as his immune system became less robust with age. (And her stress could be affecting her immune system.)

His vet is pretty certain - from the symptoms which largely focus on one nostril and involve some bloody mucus from it - that he has a nasal polyp which has developed. Unfortunately, he's just too old for a rhinoscopy these days so the secondary infection is controlled by regular long-lasting AB shots. (The supplemental pain meds for his severe arthritis also seem to be having a beneficial side-effect on the inflammation.)

I have to say that if he was only young like your girl, I'd be having him up for specialist investigation. Your vet sounds just a tad lackadaisical to me.

Here's some ICC guidance on the topic.

Yes our vet is a bit lacking. It may be time to investigate alternative vets to be honest.

Thanks for the advice and link - very useful.

My cat is a flu carrier. We haven't had to give her antibiotics for over a year now.

Things that have helped,

Bisolvon powder sprinkled on her food, a decongestant
L Lysine (an amino acid). It comes in paste form that you can mix with food or administer orally
Nutramed, a natural supplement

If she has a bad flare up i try taking her into the bathroom with me, closing the door and turning the shower on the hottest setting for about 10 mins. It really helps.

I would try a homeopathic vet if things got worse with her because i personally have had good results with homeopathy.

Good luck, it's horrible seeing them snorting and snuffling.

It is horrible isn't it? And I think it also affects their eating because their sense of smell/taste is impaired.

I tried L Lysine with Seniorboy but it didn't seem to make much difference, sadly. I think that Lone said that the American vet who excels in this field has achieved his best results with probiotics - but I'll stand to be corrected on that one.

Thank you soulful I'll look into all of those. I've tried steaming without much success, but we don't have a small bathroom so the effect is limited.

I do find the snorty breathing really distressing. She keeps waking me up at 3am to slide under the duvet for a cuddle; last night she fell asleep in my arms with her head on my shoulder. I lay awake for an hour listening to the Darth Vader noises.

I must say though - we haven't had any impact on appetite. Nothing gets between dcat and her food! That's one relief.

I've got a rescue cat with cat flu which flares up when he's stressed. The vet suggested using a Feliway diffuser to de stress him. His symptons are different though but the cause is the same

Ancestral .- that sounds a little like some sort of breathing obstruction to me. I really think I'd be getting another opinion on it - I know that I'd be letting Seniorboy have an exploratory to find out what the heck is going on in his nose if he wasn't likely to react adversely (very adversely) to a GA at his current age.

She can't be a happy cat with all this going on.

You're right. It's really bugging her. I will find another surgery that's a bit more on it.

Mike Lapin is the American cat flu vet. He found Fortiflora probiotics to be the most effective prevention of flare up technique.
I find this combined with bisolvon powder really helpful.
However, if your cat has had chemo it may take up to 9months for it's immune system to effectively deal with the virus. Personally I wouldn't give steroids as that will only suppress the immune system further.
If you are anyway where Oxford seeing Martha Canon at the Oxford cat clinic would be worth while. It is a first opinion practice so you don't need referral.

I just saw the price, though. Hey Ho.

(I do have to say though that I use human probiotics and I wouldn't be without them these days - so I have general faith in the product.)

Thanks Lone. She didn't have chemo; just (if that's the right word!) surgery and radio. Oxford is a bit too far for us unfortunately. I'll defo look into the probiotic thing though.