# Is the kitten sick? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2007, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kitten-sick/407454 "2007-06-10T13:03:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kitten-sick/407454/1 "2007-06-10T13:03:40Z")
Quicksilver is sneezing. A lot. She’s not really a kitten. She’s four years old (but very small). Aside from cancer and kidney failure, I’ve never had a sick cat. Do I need to take her to the vet or will this pass? It’s been going on for about 3 days. Thanks! (Obligatory kitty pic [http://new.photos.yahoo.com/karlen1956/album/576460762320924608/photo/294928803221097072/3](http://new.photos.yahoo.com/karlen1956/album/576460762320924608/photo/294928803221097072/3) ) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kitten-sick/407454/2 "2007-06-10T13:18:07Z")
Our older cat sneezes randomly. Sometimes more than once at a time. The most I can recall was maybe three times. I just assume she got a whiff of something that caused the sneeze(s) since it stopped after a few fits. Is there anything new or unusual the cat may have been exposed to suddenly? New laundry product for example? New perfume? Extra pollen in the air? New neighbors? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kitten-sick/407454/3 "2007-06-10T13:26:22Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] Our older cat sneezes randomly. Sometimes more than once at a time. The most I can recall was maybe three times. I just assume she got a whiff of something that caused the sneeze(s) since it stopped after a few fits. Is there anything new or unusual the cat may have been exposed to suddenly? New laundry product for example? New perfume? Extra pollen in the air? New neighbors? 😃 [/QUOTE] I don’t think so. I’ve got new plants outside, but they’re not flowering yet. She’s a real pistol, that little Quicksilver. She still seems feisty enough, but she gave us a shower with the sneezing. Kitten spit. It’s everywhere! ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kitten-sick/407454/4 "2007-06-10T13:39:47Z")
There is a chance that she’s got an upper-respiratory infection. When we got one of our cats from the humane society she sneezed a lot and we had the vet check her out. It was upper-respiratory and the vet put all of our cats on antibiotics for a while. Cleared it right up. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kitten-sick/407454/5 "2007-06-10T13:51:08Z")
[QUOTE=yellowval] There is a chance that she’s got an upper-respiratory infection. When we got one of our cats from the humane society she sneezed a lot and we had the vet check her out. It was upper-respiratory and the vet put all of our cats on antibiotics for a while. Cleared it right up. [/QUOTE] How long should I wait before I take her in? I’d hate for her to get seriously ill for not seeing the vet. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kitten-sick/407454/6 "2007-06-10T14:17:58Z")
Sooner the better, particulalry if you have other cats. Sooner means less and milder antibiotics. Later means longer treatment, and other cats probably getting infected, if that’s what it is. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-kitten-sick/407454/7 "2007-06-10T14:29:01Z")
If frequent sneezing with lots of mucus has been going on for 3 days, I’d get her to the vet in the morning.