Expert: Tina - 2/6/2007

Question
My cat was missing for 7 days when i finally found him he was alive despite the cold temperatures we had had. Now  he is sneezing all the time and everytime he sneezes there is blood. This has been going on for 5 days. He is about 8 years old and has had colds before but never sneeze blood. Should i be concerned?

Answer
Hi Katie,

If this was my cat I would take him to the vet immediately, in fact I would never have waited 5 days and then asked on the internet. It could turn out he just has a cold and dry air has made his nose bleed, but you don't know what may have happened to him out there. He could have internal or head injuries from being hit by a car. There are also tumors that can grow in the sinus cavity and make nose bleeds. Better to take him to the vet and make sure they know he was missing for several days.

I hope that he is OK and if you currently allow him outdoors, you may want to consider keeping him indoors only for his own safety from now on. Cats allowed outdoors face injury and death from cars, vicious dogs, rat poison, wildlife and fights with other cats to name a few things - therefore they live on average 7 years whereas indoor only cats have an average lifespan of 15 years.

Here is an article on how to keep your cat happy indoors, or provide safe outdoor access:

http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/enclosures.html

Good luck I hope your cat is OK!