Cat Snot-- what would you do?

[AllisonPitbullLvr]

I have two cats.
One of them, my female, has the worst and most chronic case of URI and of the vets she has been examined by have seen. (Three different clinics, likely 6 vets).

She constantly (as in every day) sneezes out massive globs of mucus. During the sneezing fits, she seems uncomfortable/perhaps painful and is afraid. When she is stuffed up prior to a sneezing fit, she is defensive (rightfully so) and afraid.

The longer this goes on, the more she is starting to be reclusive. She is afraid of the dogs (Obi will trot over to her during a sneezing fit to see what's going on) and so she often goes through long periods where she only comes up from the basement at night when they're in our bedroom or during the day when Obi is at work with me.

We've tried long antibiotic trial after long antibiotic trial and none have worked for longer than she is on them, several caused her to vomit and she gets very stressed being restrained and pilled (again, rightfully so-- she must feel like I'm trying to smother her). We recently did an 8 week course of antibiotics and an antiviral which helped somewhat while she was on the meds (it thinned out the mucus) but as soon as they were done, the issue was back. She's on immune supplements and lysine. They don't make a difference.

So thats why this sucks for her. She is physically uncomfortable and emotionally afraid.

The problem on my, admittedly, very selfish end is, there is dried snot everywhere. It's crusted on to the walls and nothing gets it off. Its on the furniture. It's on the bathroom sink. It's on the kitchen counters. It's on my bed and my pillow. It's on the rugs and the floor. On some surfaces, it never comes off once it's dried. I'm not squeamish but it's pretty gross laying my head down on a cat booger.

The problem is, besides this she is a healthy cat. Her bloodwork is great. She's a playmate and friend for my other cat. I NEVER would euthanize an animal for convenience but I'm not sure where to go from here.

I'm tired of cleaning up massive gobs of cat snot. Thoughts? Ideas?



As I type this, she just hopped up on the couch beside me and sneezed on my phone.
Sigh.

[Kilter]

The first thing that comes to mind is diet - raw diet would create less snot in short. Less snot is good, right? It's harder to convert some cats but it would be worth it I think.

Second would be Chinese/herbal/alternative medicine, to treat the cause vs. the issues. I remember at the kennel one dog was on a 'reduce mucus' herbal formula from the alternative vet...

You could do eucalyptus and keep her confined to one room or something otherwise, to reduce the clean up (and have spray and wipes around when she's out so when you hear sneezing can get it before it dries to cement).

[JessLough]

What is she fed?

[AllisonPitbullLvr]

I should also say, I work at a vet clinic and have access to lots of resources, info, etc.

She currently eats hills t/d. She's been on "premium" high protein, no grain foods in the past and it didn't make a difference. I won't do raw for a few reasons, but one current reason being that I'm pregnant.

[AllisonPitbullLvr]

Also, I don't want to confine her. She does that enough on her own. Also, One of the biggest reasons for me struggling with this is because she is a companion to my other cat.

[sassafras]

Ugh chronic snotty nose in cats. HATE. FRUSTRATING.

If she were a person, she'd be doing nasal flushes/neti pots as part of her treatment - obviously not practical in cats at home. We've done a few sedated nasal flushes in really stubborn cases and it's not a permanent fix but IME has lasted around 4-6 months. I had some good success with acupuncture in one patient and if I knew more about herbs I think I probably could have done more for him.

[AllisonPitbullLvr]

Hmmm... I hadn't considered acupuncture or laser. The one thing we haven't tried yet.

I asked about sedating and flushing but none of my doctors will think it will be very effective because we can't get to the upper sinuses.

I'm going to look in to acupuncture/laser though.

Six years later and I'm still amazed at the size of the globs that come out of her tiny nostrils.

[sassafras]

Originally Posted by AllisonPitbullLvr

I asked about sedating and flushing but none of my doctors will think it will be very effective because we can't get to the upper sinuses.

If your expectations are reasonable (that is, it's potentially a couple of times a year thing, not a permanent fix) then you might be happy with it. If you've been impressed by what she can sneeze out on her own, you'd be amazed at the crap that comes out with a flush. It's disgusting.

[JessLough]

Until you find a more long-term solution, you could always throw her in the bathroom in a carrier with a hot shower running for 10-15 minutes every now and then to help loosen stuff up. That's what we always did for the cats from the shelter. At least it would give her some relief for the time being.

[AllisonPitbullLvr]

Originally Posted by sassafras

If your expectations are reasonable (that is, it's potentially a couple of times a year thing, not a permanent fix) then you might be happy with it. If you've been impressed by what she can sneeze out on her own, you'd be amazed at the crap that comes out with a flush. It's disgusting.

I'm resigned at this point to the fact that she's done this every day for the past six years despite previous intervention so even a couple months without it would be heavenly! It's definitely worth a shot since we've tried everything else. Any potential complications from this?

She usually hangs out in the bathroom with me in the mornings anyways as the dogs are still in bed and this is our "girl time". We've also put a humidifier in "her" room in the basement.