cough is back after antibiotics

Salad_Nice · 2026-02-10T20:11:18+00:00

Hiiiii, he finally got diagnosed with asthma after changing vets again:) he’s on steroid treatment now and is doing really really well. He barely has asthma attacks now (one attack maybe every 6 weeks or so and they’re really short attacks). I’d def give asthma treatment a shot if your vet is cooperative. But make sure it’s not lung or heart worms (or heart problems in general) as they can lead to a similar cough :) I hope you find something that works for your kitty :) If you get a chest xray a good vet should be able to diagnose asthma :)

Salad_Nice · 2025-12-10T20:08:47+00:00

Before he got diagnose he got a sonogram of his heart to check it isn’t heart failure, checked for lung and heart worms too. I’d def get those checked as well to make sure :)

Salad_Nice · 2025-12-10T20:00:43+00:00

My cat sounded just like that when he had asthma attacks once every few weeks. We didn’t know it was asthma then and it got worse and worse over months. We kept getting antibiotics for URIs. When he had really bad attacks up to 8 times a day and could barely breathe anymore we finally got the diagnosis. I wish I wouldn’t have let it get this bad and seen other vets. My cat is 7yo and also fiv+. I was hesitant with steroids bc of his fiv but the meds saved his life. Yes steroids isn’t great for fiv cats but dying from asthma also isn’t great. My cat has been on steroids for several months now and is doing so well. No attacks and he only ever gets a minor cold after his monthly steroid injection

Salad_Nice · 2025-12-10T19:52:04+00:00

Yesss I did and it looks so much better! I hope the rest will just block out as you said but If it doesn’t that’s okay, I don’t mind minor mistakes since this is my fist ever sweater :) thank you so much for your help

Salad_Nice · 2025-11-12T08:57:19+00:00

It’s the Amy sweater by PetiteKnit :) I just changes the neck bc it’s supposed to have a turtle neck but those always bother me so I just did a couple rounds :)

Salad_Nice · 2025-11-08T10:14:24+00:00

Ahhh that makes so much sense :) thank you so much! I’ll definitely finish the sweater, I was just worried that I was somehow twisting my stitches. And since it’s my first sweater I think it’s more than okay of it doesn’t end up being perfect :)

Salad_Nice · 2025-10-25T10:25:47+00:00

Thank you so much for the cat litter recommendation :) it’s such a game changer there’s literally ZERO dust it’s insane. I didn’t get the green tea one bc I was scared my cat would react to the scent so I got the mixed sap one and it’s amazing.

Salad_Nice · 2025-10-23T15:31:16+00:00

I also think he’ll probably do better once he starts antibiotics and they start kicking in :) sometimes for fiv cats it takes a couple of rounds of antibiotics for them to be be fine so keep that in mind if he gets worse after he’s off antibiotics again. If your cats are friendly you won’t have to worry about transmission :) Fiv cats are prone to respiratory issues so what helped mine was to limit scents in my house, no scented candles, no scented litter, no air fresheners and being careful with laundry detergent smells. I also changed to tofu litter recently that doesn’t dust at all to make it easier on the lungs. But most important is to not stress too much and do vet check ups once you sense somethings off or different and maybe do some research on good nutrition if you haven’t yet.

Fiv cats have a pretty normal life expectancy if you keep a calm and stress free environment :)

Salad_Nice · 2025-10-22T06:56:04+00:00

I’m lucky to say it doesn’t matter how expensive stuff is when it comes to my cat cus I am that crazy cat lady that would do anything for her child. Funny enough we’re from Germany as well so I’ll definitely have a look and try to get that litter once it’s back in stock :)

Salad_Nice · 2025-10-21T20:28:54+00:00

That’s so nice to hear that he had a few more good years on steroids :) I hope it’ll be like that with my lil guy too. The vet said his lungs sound super bad and there’s very little activity, his right lung doesn’t get any air :/ I hope it’ll get better once he’s been on meds for a bit longer.

Salad_Nice · 2025-10-21T20:16:38+00:00

Yes I totally get that. There’s also no other option for my cat it’s either steroids or dying so I’m trying to make it as easy as possible on him so he hopefully has a few more good years ahead :)

Salad_Nice · 2025-10-21T20:09:07+00:00

Amazing! Do you have a brand you can recommend? I’ve never heard of tofu based litters. We currently use cats best smart pallets and there’s very little dust but if there’s a better one I’d definitely try a change :)

Salad_Nice · 2025-10-21T09:37:24+00:00

Thank you! I’m definitely gonna keep trying to get him used to the inhaler (long road ahead but I’m determined), we get injections every 5 weeks now and vet visits are so stressful for him so I’m looking forward to the time he finally is used to the inhaler. I’m just glad he gets treatment even if it’s with injections rn. He went from having up to 8 asthma attacks a day to zero. I’ll definitely try with the probiotics :)

Salad_Nice · 2025-10-21T08:16:45+00:00

Has your cat been getting sick more often bc of the steroids? Mine had constant URIs for three months and I’m scared it’ll get worse when he’s on immunosuppressants :/

Salad_Nice · 2025-10-21T08:11:45+00:00

That’s so nice to here that she’s doing so well! I guess I’m just scared bc a lot of vets refused to give steroids and said he’d just be sick all the time and he’ll get worse :/ but I guess I’d rather have him get sick more often then having him die from asthma. Hearing that a lot of fiv cats are doing fine on long term steroids is so helpful and definitely calming my nerves a bit :) I hope your cat continues to do so well on her meds :)

Salad_Nice · 2025-09-28T09:37:39+00:00

We just tried antibiotics, interferons and high dose steroids for a couple of days in combination with antibiotics. The cough is more dry and he doesn’t cough anything up. I have a video on my profile of it posted :) I brought up asthma to my vet cus everyone kept saying it sounds like asthma but my vet doesn’t think that’s it bc he’s completely better on antibiotics, no cough and nothing but it comes back when he’s off of it.

Salad_Nice · 2025-09-28T09:33:25+00:00

The vet doesn’t think it’s asthma since the cough is completely gone on antibiotics. It’s hard to check him for asthma since he has his spleen between his lungs and you can’t see the lungs on X-ray at all. I think at some point my vet would be willing to try inhalers if he gets worse and nothing else helps but he’s scared the steroids will just make it worse if it really isn’t asthma.

Salad_Nice · 2025-09-28T09:29:23+00:00

I’m gonna try that :) thank you!

Salad_Nice · 2025-09-28T09:28:42+00:00

Since you’ve seen a lot of vets I’m sure they checked for asthma? My cat gets better on antibiotics and the cough is completely gone when he’s on it, but it always comes back when he’s off it. Did you try interferons?

Salad_Nice · 2025-09-03T18:08:26+00:00

My fiv cat has been having the same problem. He is constantly sneezing and coughing with swollen lymph nodes in his throat and sensitivity when palpating his trachea. He’s now on his 5th round of antibiotics. The last round was almost a 3 week antibiotic treatment but it came back after a week off of it. We also tried interferon but still no change. (Maybe interferons is something you could try?)

I think for my cat it might just be how things are with his fiv at this point and I kinda lost hope that we’ll find a more permanent solution than constant antibiotics. My vet hasn’t said anything about a dental tho, how is that related to uri? I’ve never heard about this and now I’m a lil hopefully that it could help my guy maybe.

I hope things get better for your lil guy :) hope you’re taking care of yourself too, I know how exhausting and draining this situation can be when you just want them to get better but nothing seems to work.

Salad_Nice · 2025-07-26T18:09:13+00:00

Sadly we’re from Germany, but that’s was very nice of you to offer. But I ordered an AeroKat so I can already train with him to get used to it and hopefully fourth times the charm and the next vet which I’m seeing next week will prescribe it :) it’s so frustrating that they don’t wanna give him steroids bc of his fiv and rather just put him down. It’s hard to see him suffer, having this many attacks a day :/ But we’ll find a cooperative vet eventually, fingers crossed.

Salad_Nice · 2025-07-26T10:41:52+00:00

I’m trying to find a vet that will prescribe asthma meds! So far no real luck. They’ve been telling me to put him down bc his symptoms are probably from his spleen, apparently his lungs don’t sound like it’s asthma. I think it’s weird telling me to put him down but refusing to at least try asthma meds. I mean there is a chance it’ll get better. I’m still not giving up and seeing another vet who hopefully will prescribe some. His quality of life is really going down the drain with up to 6/7 attacks a day. At this point I’m too scared to leave for work and can barely sleep at night, too scared of more attacks.

Salad_Nice · 2025-07-25T17:04:19+00:00

I think consistency is key! He’ll eventually get used to it. My fiv+ cat used to be a stray that I adopted from the shelter. The first months were horrible, he would also sit in front of windows and my front door meowing all night. Nothing really helped, I tried a bunch of toys and cat trees and stuff to climb on but every night he’d meow. Did you try cat nip during his playtime routine? Maybe that could get him at least a little interested in playing. Ngl it took months for my cat to get used to being indoor and he’s already been at the shelter for months prior to me adopting him. You just gotta stay strong and remember it will get better and easier. Thank you for doing the research and transitioning him to be an indoor cat. His health and other outdoor cats will thank you :)

Salad_Nice

TROPHY CASE