All My Cats Have Nasty Colds

[Icequeen01]

My poor cats appear to have picked up a nasty cold - I didn't even realise they could get them! No one in our house has had a cold so they haven't caught it from us.

The first one became really poorly last week and was sneezing, lethargic and off his food for about 3 days. He had a vet appointment but managed to escape out the catflap so I had to cancel the appointment. I made another for the next day but he suddenly perked up so I cancelled. On Monday my second cat came down with it and was really poorly with same symptoms, sneezing, off her food and a temp of 40! Two vet visits and almost another trip yesterday as she seemed to be going downhill, she now seems to have turned a corner and is looking much brighter and is now eating again, although she still sneezes occasionally.

I came home tonight to find my 3rd cat has runny eyes and is generally looking miserable so I'm guessing he's caught it too 😢

Has anyone else's cat ever had a cold?

Mine too!! Two weeks ago boy cat started with runny eyes and being off his food and not seeming himself. Vets prescribed him some antibiotics and he's feeling better now. Girl cat though started with it yesterday too. Sneezing, yellow green mucus in eyes, lethargic and not seeming themselves. Poor things

However I found with the boy he had a worm today. Got worming treatment coming tomorrow. Maybe it's connected.

There's cat flu. It can be very nasty.

Are they vaccinated?

Cats don't usually get colds and most of the viruses that cause respiratory diseases are vaccine-preventable.

That's interesting @DontGoIntoTheLongGrass although my 3 were wormed about 3 weeks ago so hopefully not worms.

Vet didn't mention cat flu and they are all vaccinated, two of them about 3 weeks ago, so I hope it's not that 😢

Had to take mine to vet last week with a bad cold. Antibiotics cleared it up nicely

@Veterinari Yes they are all vaccinated. Two of them had their annual boosters about 3 weeks ago.

@Janaih My vet gave my cat a long lasting antibiotic injection plus some Metacam but as she wasn't eating I wasn't able to give her any.

It's cat flu. Even vaccinated cats can get it (my currently sneezing, fully-vaccinated ferals are testament to that), but they tend to get it more mildly.

Oh goodness! I didn't know that. Well I now have 1 fully recovered, one who is still sneezing a lot, but mostly at night strangely, but she is looking much brighter and is much more herself and eating. My last one is looking really poorly this morning, gunky eyes and his third lid is starting to come over and he's sneezing now. He was asking for his chicken this morning so there is some appetite there. If he gets any worse I will phone the out of hours vet.

I'm really worried now, could there be lasting effects @thecatneuterer?

There can be lasting effects for the eyes if they aren't treated. You need, at the very least, antibiotic eye ointment from the vet.

Ok thank you. I did bathe his eyes with some tepid boiled saline water to get rid of any gunk earlier but I will give the vet a call and see if they can prescribe me some over the phone, bearing in mind they saw my middle cat twice over two days last week so will hopefully be satisfied that it's likely to be the same thing.

I'm also going to contact my neighbour as two of mine are best friends with hers and are always licking and rolling around together so she needs to look out for the signs. Her cat is also vaccinated 😢

Thank you again.

Just got back from taking my cat to the vet as I spoke to them on the phone and they decided they wanted to see him. Unfortunately as it's a Saturday I had to take him to a different branch which was 30 mins in the car. Poor Archie is petrified in the car and was howling like a banshee all the way, in between his sneezes.

I saw a different vet who said she thinks it is a mild dose of cat flu as they have all caught it (the previous vet had described it as a cold). He's had an antibiotic injection and I can use the metacam I was given for my other cat. I wasn't given anything for his eyes as they were watery rather than gunky.

Hopefully he will start to feel better in a couple of days poor thing. Thank goodness vets have loosened the restrictions and I was able to take them.

Apparently cats can catch covid - the tigers at New York zoo all had it but apparently didn't spread it to any keepers

They have said that the tigers caught it from a member of staff who worked at the zoo apparently. None of us have had the virus but myself, DH and DS are all key workers where social distancing is either difficult or not possible so perhaps we are carriers? None of my cats have been coughing though.

Glad he's been seen, sure he will soon start feeling better now.

This might be crazy but...

We had covid weeks ago. My husband and I were decently ill, one child mildly ill, another one asymptomatic.

The cat also got sick. She’s an indoor cat so she can’t have coughs it outside. Same symptoms: sneezing A LOT, lethargy, no interest in food (unheard of). I’m pretty convinced that she caught it from us. A few days later it all got resolved.
If your cat is free to roam and might meet other cats this might not be too crazy.

caught it outside...

My cat has also had the same thing for the past 2 weeks it’s just clearing up now

@Foggyday124 It's strange that you should say that but when I spoke to the first vet she said that they have noticed that a few cats are coming in who have been in households that have had the virus and they have been suffering from sneezing, high temperatures and feeling unwell. As far as I am aware we haven't had the virus. All 3 cats are outside cats so who knows.

Judging by the other posters' responses it does seem as though there is a lot of this about in cats.