Adopted kitties excessive sneezing???

Question
I just adopted 2 rescue litter mates (2yrs old). The female just keeps sneezing and blowing watery spray from her nose. The male is doing the same but not quite as bad. Its Sunday and I can't get ahold of a vet and was wondering if you've had experience with this? At first I thought maybe it was stress of being kenneled and in a strange place. I hate to rush them off to a vet already if it could be just a passing cold. I noticed many of the kitties at the pet adoption site were sneezing. They are both eating and drinking just fine. I hate to think I might have already taken on a problem. Both my dogs have medical conditions which cost me a small fortune. They are current on all vaccinations. Thanks for a reply if you can help.  Linda

Answer
If they are eating and drinking just fine, they can wait until Monday to see a vet. But they probably should see one. Some of this is undoubtedly the stress of changing environments, which should be somewhat mitigated by the fact that they have been kept together. How wonderful of you to take in both of them. However, if there was sneezing going on at the shelter, there is probably an upper respiratory infection going around. Sometimes these are just minor colds, viral, like in people; in other situations they are more serious OR can weaken the immune system and allow some other opportunisitic bug to invade.

Many vets don't want to prescribe antibiotics for upper resp. but if the cats are in what could be considered a stressful situation, you should try to push for it. Any time that happens you are dealing with a somewhat handicapped immune system that needs a little extra help. I would not feel the same need if you told me these cats had been with you for months and had not been exposed to other cats.

How long ago were their last vaccines? Sometimes these symptoms can develop as a vaccine reaction. If the vaccine date is within a week or so, you should consider that possibility as well; in this case, it should pass by itself.

Keep them in a warm place until you can consult with a vet. I suggest a bathroom. Run the shower on high for 5-10 minutes every few hours to steam up the room and help clear their sinuses. If they stop eating, you should probably try to take their temps. This is best done rectally with a flexible tip digital thermometer (a good thing to have in the house). Lubricate the tip with a bit of vaseline, put kitty in your lap and up end them. Hopefully they will be cooperative. Normal temp is 101-103 for adults. Anything under 100 or over 104 means call the vet ASAP. Anything between those figures and the normal range means keep monitoring the temp every couple of hours.

Hope this is helpful and good luck with your new babies.

iris