Expert: Jessica - 10/26/2006

Question
I have a short hair orange tabby. I have had him for about a year. I adopted him from a rescue and when i got him he had ring worm and what appeared to be an upper respiratory infection. After many trips to the vet, the ring worm is gone, but he is very sneezy and always has a runny nose. The snot is greenish brownish and it is constantly running. The vet prescribed many types of antibiotics -- amoxycillin, etc, and the last time we went they told me that is just the way he will be -- a sneezy cat with a runny nose. What worries me is that the snot is green in color which i know with a human means infection and sometimes there is blood in it. sometimes it pools around the edges of his nose and i have to wipe it several times a day. Is there anything i can do about this? should i try a different vet? I have seen some home remedies, like grapefruit seed extract, but i am skeptical about that. I tried vitamin supplements as well. I have another cat and it doesn't seem to be contagious because my other cat has no problems. Any thoughts?  

Answer
Hi Krissy.  I would try a couple things.  

One, start giving him 500-1000mg of l-lysine daily.  This is a completely safe amino acid available at any drug store.  This helps cats who are chronically infected with the feline herpes virus, which sounds probable in your kitty's case.  Most cats are infected but are able to suppress the infection for most of the time.  However, some cats have constant symptoms.  For those cats, daily l-lysine is a great help.  L-lysine prevents the herpes virus from replicating.  Less replication equals fewer circulating virus particles, which equals an alleviation of the symptoms and shorter duration of flare ups.  The tablets are large and will need to be split or crushed up and fed in food.  1000mg daily is ideal, but 500mg does help.

If that doesn't work, then I would personally consider the possibility that there might be something bigger going on here.  Ideally, I'd have his sinuses checked.  He may have polyps or even a foreign body in there that's causing these symptoms.  My aunt's cat had a piece of grass in her sinuses that caused this problem.  And polyps are far more common than we realize, because many end up being sneezed out without ever being diagnosed.  But surgical removal is best.

Also consider the fact that it could be an autoimmune disease.  Though not very common, there is a condition called ulcerative suppurative rhinitis.  This is basically a fancy term for an autoimmune disease which causes sores that produce a pus-like or mucus discharge in the nasal passages.

The ulcers are caused by a reaction of the immune system against the lining of the nasal passages.  Treatment of auto immune disease is generally a corticosteroid (cortisone, dexamethasone, prednisone).  Corticosteroids suppress the immune system enough to stop this attack on the the body's tissues.

Additionally, an antibiotic is usually needed to get rid of bacterial infection that often sets into the sores the immune system has caused.  With ulcerative suppurative rhinitis, I find the preferred antibiotic is clydamycin hydrochloride (Antirobe).

I went through the same thing as you did for about a year before trial and error finally tipped the vets off that ulcerative suppurative rhinitis was the cause.  It's less common than most other causes but is likely underdiagnosed.  It's closely related to ulcerative suppurative stomatitis, same disease but in the mouth, which is extremely common in cats.  You may want to consider seeing a specialist, if necessary.