Old cat w/chronic sinus discharge

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Barbara E.
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:03 am

Old cat w/chronic sinus discharge

Post by Barbara E. »

Hello, I'm new to posting to this forum & wasn't sure of which category my concern should go on. I have a 17 year old cat (Silky) who has been sneezing quite a bit with a thick yellow discharge. She has always a housecat & never allowed to roam outdoors. Her vet has given her Clavamox drops in the past which clears the discharge in a few days time but I still give her the entire bottle & don't stop the drops once the discharge lets up. She was examined a few months ago & the vet really did not know what was causing this drainage. She mentioned having her skull examined, but under anesthesia there is a strong chance she wouldn't make it & I do not want her to have this. The vet agreed this could happen. The outcome of that visit was the vet agreeing to refill the clavamox drops as needed but I'm afraid these will be useless after just so long a time of use. I"ve just had to call for another refill & the last one was issued only a month ago. So this is chronic & she is needing the medicine refills more quickly now.

Silky dips her nose into the food when eating it & it gets on the top of her nose which I need to wipe with damp tissue. Does anybody else think food paricles may be entering her nose & perhaps this is causing the sinus infection? At 17 her teeth are not in the greatest condition either & it may be that her sinuses are infected from bad teeth & then she need to be put under anesthesia for dental work. Has anyone experienced in their cat what this nasal discharge could be from? Could it be from a tumor which ab Xray would show?

I also am caring for my paralyzed dog who is now 12 but she hasn't been able to stand or walk for the last 2 1/2 years. She is a wheelchair dog although now her front legs are getting weaker she doesn't do very well in her wheels. Thankfully she is not incontinent & can pee by herself although I do express her bladder as well to make sure its emptied. She is failing little by little & soon I'll have to make that decision of letting her go to her rest.

I'm a retired single person with a limited income. I've had pets all my life since a kid & experienced many health problems with them but never have I become so knocked down as I feel I am now. I can't seem to think straight anymore & I feel guilty that I can't give my animals the ultimate care that they deserve.

I think I'm going a bit crazy with worry for both of my best pals.

I was just wondering if someone could shed some light on a similar problem with their cat. Silky's been pretty amazing so far - one of the nicest cats I've ever had the pleasure of knowing let alone owning. She's always had such a nice disposition.. she never bit, clawed, growled or hissed in her whole long life. Just a laid back fluffy big boned kitty - one of the very best.

Thanks in advance.
Barbara
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critters
Founding Member
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Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2001 7:00 pm

Re: Old cat w/chronic sinus discharge

Post by critters »

Fifi has been snotty since she was born, but I only do antibiotics when it turns yellow or green. I agree that if you're using the same kind over and over that you may well need to try another antibiotic family, and perhaps use it longer-term. How about a second opinion?

Silky could teach my monsters a lot about manners.
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Barbara Boehmer
Posts: 211
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:39 pm

Re: Old cat w/chronic sinus discharge

Post by Barbara Boehmer »

There are so many things that it could be. It could be due to a an allergy to food or something else or dental problems or a sinus infection or a tumor anywhere in the head or any number of other things. Sometimes such things will get better and sometimes they will get worse. In early stages it can be difficult to tell what something is, but it may become more obvious if it gets worse. I have a 16-year-old diabetic cat and a 21-year-old cat who is hyperthyroid and has kidney problems and bad teeth. The vet agrees that it is too risky to sedate either of them for anything. They both still have good quality of life. I also have a 9-year-old cat that has a polyp in one ear, that swells up and blocks ear wax from exiting and causes some nasal discharge as well. The vet has recommended conservative managemet of the condition by putting panalog drops in the ear and giving a course of clavamox when needed. You can't keep them on such things all of the time, but you can give them a course of the stuff each time they have a major flare-up. It does seem to do a good job of clearing things up for a while. As I recall, it took a couple of courses to get it under control initially. I had another old cat that had a similar problem, polyps/tumors in the ear and probably deeper in the head, with nasal discharge. We chose the more drastic route of a total ear canal ablasion, thinking that it would fix everything permanently. It was a lot to put him through, it didn't fix the problem, he ended up with a severe balance problem, and ultimately died. His surgery was in late 2005 and he died in January 2006. I believe he would have been far better off without the surgery and will never make that mistake again with another cat. I definitely lean toward conservative management rather than drastic surgery. We always want to know what exactly is wrong, but sometimes the diagnostic methods are risky and may not affect how you would treat it anyhow and results are not always reliable. I hope that sharing my experiences has helped somewhat. We all get old and have various problems. Sometimes the best you can do is just do what you can to relieve symptoms and keep them comfortable. Don't let it get you down. Just spend time with your cat as you normally would and enjoy each other's company.
Barbara Boehmer (not a veterinarian, just a fellow pet owner)
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