cat sneezing & warm sweaty nose

Question
Hi,
   My cat is sneezing and has a warm sweaty nose. He is resting and he is eating. I have some of his prescription left over from the last time he had these symptoms. The medicine is CHLORPHENIRAMINE and it is about a year old but has been kept it the proper environ- ment. I know it can be used as a mild sedative and is a antihistamine. I also have some amoxicilline. What might you suggest? I was going to let him tough it out naturally at least for a couple of days to see if he shows signs of improvement.
Thanks,
Anthony

Answer
Hi again Anthony,

I knew I had seen an article in Cat Fancy magazine that dealt with cats and antihistamines.  I found it in the August 2007 "Ask the Vet" by Dr. Elaine Wexler-Mitchell and she talks about chlorpheniramine and cyproheptadine (which I've used as an appetite stimulant) and she says they "...rarely relieve upper respiratory signs."  She suggests over the counter antihistamines such as Benadryl (she doesn't say what dosage), Zyrtec (2.5 mg per day), Claritin (2.5mg per day) and Allegra (10mg twice daily) work just as well if not better (if you use any of these make sure it is just the antihistamine, do not use a product that also has acetaminephen in it as cats can't metabolize acetaminephen and it will put them into liver failure).  As far as the amoxy that won't help unless he actually has a sinus infection, antibiotics don't work on viruses.  I have a cat with severe herpes who has been lavaged (nasal flushed) twice, once he was cultured for a fungal infection (it was negative), and put on chlorpheniramine which did very little for him.  A couple of weeks ago he had a bad flare up again and I started putting L-lysine back in his food and within DAYS he was considerably better.  I know not everyone likes the more homeopathic remedies, I don't use very many of them, but this one I have found to work.