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Old June 7th, 2004, 04:58 PM
Vicki Vicki is offline
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Q - Ongoing Sinus Infection in Cat

Hello - Wondering if anyone has any ideas for further things I can explore re my 16 year old cat who has now had a sinus infection for 9 months. This started as a watery eye and extended to a sinus infection (appears to be on one side of the face only). My cat has been on 2 courses of antibiotics with minimal results. Kidneys, thyroid, diabetes have been ruled out as problems. Am also told that teeth rarely cause this problem in cats. I'm skeptical and think it is the teeth. They want to pursue cancer in the nose and the procedures sound ghastly.

Any suggestions or ideas? He is otherwise very healthy, happy, affectionate and quite energetic given his age. But he has lost a lot of weight over the past year.

Looking forward to any response that can be given. Thank you.
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Old June 7th, 2004, 06:38 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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I would be more concerned about the weight loss. I really can't advise you. It depends how far you want to take testing, etc on a 16 year old cat.

Since the possibility of cancer has been raised, I think the "ghastly" procedures you mention are the only way to be sure. But even if cancer is found, the surgery to eradicate it is not something I would do with my old cat.

I'm not a vet, and I can only tell you what I would personally do, and I would not do anything that would cause prolonged pain or suffering in a cat that age. Many people would not agree with me, but as I said, this is just my opinion.

You can always get a second opinion before making up your mind. Good wishes to you and your kitty!! He's a lucky boy to have an owner so caring!
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Old June 8th, 2004, 11:48 AM
Vicki Vicki is offline
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Q - Ongoing Sinus Infectino

Thank you for your response Lucky Rescue. It is appreciated. Yes, the kidney, diabetes and thyroid tests were initially done to try and determine the cause of the weight loss but he came out normal on all of those (3 sets of blood tests now with no change). So that was a relief.

But of course, I do want to keep him happy and so would really like to clear up this little infection. I have come to much the same conclusions re the possibility of cancer, as I feel why put him through the diagnostic procedures if treatment is unlikely or more miserable than a natural end? Well, I'll think on it some more. Thanks again.

Also, would welcome anyone else's thoughts if their cat has had a similar set of symptoms.

Vicki
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Old June 18th, 2004, 05:43 AM
ybtojd ybtojd is offline
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sinus infection -- another case

Our 14-year-old cat seems to be having a similar problem for the past 3 months. One course of antibiotics relieved her somewhat, but she still wouldn't eat or eat very little. And she's become very finicky about food, she can barely eat hard food -- that suggests she might have a problem with her teeth. We give her cat treats, tuna and other soft food, but she's been avoiding those too the past three days as her sinus infection makes a comeback. Going to the vet just means getting jerked around for a hundred more tests, isn't there something out there to take care of a cat's cold?
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Old June 18th, 2004, 01:56 PM
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Princesss04 Princesss04 is offline
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Cats do not get colds they get respratory ( bad spelling) infections. You need to take her into the vet.
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  #6  
Old June 18th, 2004, 02:18 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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You don't need a hundred tests to see if a cat has bad teeth. If your cat is not eating because of pain from infected teeth or gums, please have this taken care of .

This is very painful and your cat is suffering. A few extractions may relieve the problem completely. I'm sure you know what a toothache is like.
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Old June 18th, 2004, 04:19 PM
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chico2 chico2 is offline
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My 17yr old cat(Sammy)had the same symptoms,from an infected tooth.The tooth was pulled,treated with antibiotics.He did not too bad for about a year,then again the same symptoms,more antibiotics until one day he was sneezing blood and coughing blood,only then was cancer suspected and unfortunately too late to do anything about.He passed away at 18yrs.
I am not saying that your cat has cancer,but bad teeth can cause all kinds of problem,I've had teeth extracted on cats a few times.
Tartar on teeth can cause the gums to get infected and it's important to have the cats teeth cleaned.
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Old June 18th, 2004, 05:42 PM
ybtojd ybtojd is offline
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bad teeth and sinus infection

Ok, thanks for your advice folks. We're taking the cat to the vet tomorrow.
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Old September 13th, 2011, 03:38 PM
loripaladino loripaladino is offline
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Sinus cancer in cats

Hi Vicky,
I went through this last summer. For about three or four months, the vet couldn't figure out what was wrong. My lil' guy had something going on with his sinuses. Thought it was some kind of sinus infection, treated with multiple antibiotics, that didn't work, then they thought maybe it was asthma.....but then we had noticed some facial deformity on his forehead. Cat scan showed, sinus cancer. Which is rare in cats, especially older cats. My guy was 12 at the time and everything else health wise was fine with him. Because the sinus area is so delicate, they cannot remove the tumor. My vet suggested radiation. A new, more efficient radiation called Cyberknife. I live n NJ and luckily there was a hospital in Yonkers NY that had this equipment. I believe there are only maybe three hospitals in the country that do this procedure on animals. My guy is ten months out now from the radiation. He had a couple seizures back in May, a side effect from the radiation, but is on anti seizure meds now and hasn't had one since. Unfortunately after today's visit to the oncologist, we've determined that the tumor looks like it's growing slowly. They also found that his lymph node on the same side as the tumor was slightly enlarged and also on the same side found a mass growing deep within his ear cavity. Going for test tomorrow to biopsy the mass and lymph node, then we'll take it from there. My concern for you is that you said that the problem seems to be only on the one side of his nose, which was the same case with my lil' guy. Next procedure for you would probably be a CT scan. This will definitely determine whether there is a tumor or not. I hope not, but if so, I would definitely consider the Cyberknife if it's accessible to you. It's expensive....between the CT scan and the radiation procedure, it cost me almost $15,000. To me that was worth it to have my baby for another year or so.....of course after today, I'm very worried. I wish you and your kitty the best of luck and I hope it's not sinus cancer. Healthy thoughts for your lil' one.
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Old September 13th, 2011, 04:38 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by loripaladino View Post
Next procedure for you would probably be a CT scan.
Loripaladino, this thread is from 2004.

Thanks for the info on the Cyberknife though. Very interesting.
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