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Cold or bad allergies?? Help!


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I have really been racking up vet bills this fall. My two cats had a respiratory infection earlier this month and now Effie is showing symptoms since last Sunday.

When she was a younger puppy our vet said she did have allergies with minor coughing. Right now you could mistake her for having an asthma attack if it weren't for the sneezes in between coughs. She isn't sounding like she has kennel cough and fluid isn't hacked up. Her eyes are very gooey and red on the corners. Also her nose is extremely runny. Luckily she eats the same amount of food and has been drinking lots of water. Her coughing/sneezing fits are really what worries me. We are going out of town Wednesday and want to get her into a vet if it gets too serious.

The weather in Texas is bipolar right now...my fiance and I both have dry coughs. My cat Bella is even starting to sneeze a lot. It makes it harder to determine if she has a cold or not. The vet earlier recommended Benadryl for her allergy flareups...he said we can move onto other histamines or steroids. Right now the Benedryl isn't helping at all...its the first time we've had to resort to it. :(

Is there a natural remedy to help with the coughing and sneezing? I have lemon and honey to help with the coughing. The only thing is it doesn't help with the constant sneezing.

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This sounds more like a cold to me then allergies. After I got Lyka from the shelter she had the start of kennel cough that was very similar to what you are describing. The vet had me try Benadryl, but it didn't help. Rather than charge me a bunch of money when I would just have to wait it out my vet told me to give her warm chicken broth and/or chicken noodle soup. Mainly to keep her hydrated, but also to make me feel like I was helping. Even now she gets really exited when I cook soup thinking she will get some. Also I was told to bring her into the bathroom while I showered, close the door and let her breath in the steam. It took about a month for all the symptoms to go away.

 

Even if it is allergies this may help.

 

Is anything coming out when she coughs or sneezes? Lyka was coughing and sneezing up whitish/yellow gunk. Did Effie get vaccinated for kennel cough?

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Okay I'm going to try that see if it helps a little bit. She sounds almost congested I feel so bad. I might have to try some chicken and rice soup...for some reason she didn't want the broth last time I gave it to her. On top of the shower steam I almost feel like getting a humidifier for our room since all the animals are starting to get this way in the fall. I did take her to the dog park four times last week so I'm worried she could have gotten something from the water or another dog.

 

When she coughs nothing is coming up so far. Its just sneeze, cough, sneeze, cough for 2 minutes. She does sneeze puppy snot everywhere. Its colorless and droplet sized. She really gets into these fits when she goes outside...so I've been making her stay inside this week and no dog park.

 

I'm not sure if she did or not. I don't recall her getting that just the distemper boosters and rabies vaccine. Is that a vaccine they are suppose to usually give your dog with the round of puppy shots?

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It's usually optional, but reccomended for dogs that are often around other strange dogs or shelter dogs. Like Maxi said it's a liquid that goes in their nose and is really hard to forget once you see it.

The dogs don't usually forget it either!

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I'm going to call the vet right now since I just got out of class and see what they think I should do since what they recommended isn't working so well. Yeah she has not gotten that then...I wish they would have recommended it. I would have got her vaccinated if they did.

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She doesn't have kennel cough according to my mom. My mom is getting the Bordetella vaccine from Tractor Supply and will give it to her when she's feeling well. I called today and she hadn't been vaccinated when we took her in for a round of shots and microchip with my cat. They possibly just forgot since I had more than one animal with me.

Later today she has been doing a lot better. The coughing has gone away mostly but she is still sneezing like crazy every time I take her outside. I guess I'll know for sure tomorrow if its allergies or a cold since we are taking her out of town. Mold has been really high lately because of the weather and Cedar is often high in this area as well...we are all suffering!

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