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Hi! I am a vet tech at a feline only animal hospital.

Its quite likely your cat has an upper respiratory infection. Its extremely common in shelter cats. It is highly contagious from one cat to another, but easily treatable with antibiotics. Unfortunately, due to expense most shelters (even No-kills) will not give antibiotics.

Take her to your vet, he will most likely get her started on an antibiotic. She has probably been losing weight because she has very little sense of smell. Try something extra smelly like a fishy flavor of Fancy Feast. (there is a sardine one that usually works lie a charm) You may have to hold the bowl up to her, because if she is severly congested, leaning over the bowl will make it hard for her to breath.

You can also sit with her in the bathroom and let a hot shower fill the room with steam. That will help her breath a bit easier.

Most important, keep her isolated from other cats if you have them. Generally isolating her to her own area will prevent other cats from getting sick. be sure to wash you hand with warm soapy water after handling her and before touching other cats.

PS- Its important you have her looked at sooner rather than later. If it goes on too long and becomes severe, she may develop a feline herpes type virus and have similar symptoms (runny eyes and sniffly) on and off throughout her life when she gets stressed. Most vets call those cats "snufflers"

This is very normal with shelter animals. My boyfriend and I have adopted 3 separate kittens from the shelter and each of them went through this. It is just a cold and is very common in kittens. We were worried the first time around, and we rushed our new kitten to the vet. They did her first exam, put her on some anti-biotics, and told us when to follow up. They will not give any vaccinations until the cold is gone, but it didn't cost that much. I think that we spend around 26$ for the anti-biotics (you have to give twice a day, very easy. We wrapped our kittens in a small towel, like a baby in a receiving blanket to administer b/c they couldn't wiggle free or scratch us. This prevents the cat from harming us or itself and makes it feel comfortable. It is important to give your cat a treat and some extra love and attention before and after so that they don't always associate getting medication as something negative) and the regular exam fee. (about 30$ at our vet) If you can't afford that, ask your vets office about a program called "Care Credit" It will help you by letting you make monthly payments to pay off vet bills. Congratulations on adopting your new kitty, and I must say thank you as well. I am a firm believer that adopting an animal from a shelter is much better than paying $300+ for a pure-bred animal. Good Luck!

If you recently got your cat from the shelter then more than likely your kitty was exposed to the Feline Upper Respiratory Virus. It is very common in shelters and you should have been warned prior to adopting. Cats can catch it just from another cat sneezing. It is best to book an appointment to see your vet and in the meantime go back to the shelter and ask them for lysine powder. It will boost your cats immune system to help fight the virus. You mix in 1/2 teaspoon in wet food twice a day. My cat came home with the virus and was put on powder for 2 weeks. She has recovered fully since then. As long as your cat continues to eat and drink she shouldn't need any antibiotics. You can get the powder over the counter at any vet as well. I hope this helps.

Your cat most likely has Upper Respiratory Infection, or Cat Flu. It is a viral infection, but the vet will give your cat an ant biotic to make sure a bacterial infections doesn't occur as well. Other then that there is no cure, just make sure she gets plenty of water. I suggest putting her on wet cat food until her symptoms are gone, to prevent dehydration. Check her nose and eyes for mucus build up and rinse if necessary with a mild saline solution to ensure she can smell her food, and doesn't lose her appetite.

Will last 3 days up to 2 weeks

Yes, cats can catch a cold and have other types of upper resportory infections. It is a good thing you are taking her to the vets. She needs to be checked out and placed on antibotics. Colds are worse for cats than for humans. Cats lungs are small for their body size so anything that affects their lungs really takes a toll on them.

Yes, they can catch colds just like us. Same symptoms. One of mine had a cold once, I knew it was a cold but let the vet talk me in to bringing him in b/c "it might be an upper respiratory infection". It wasn't, it as a simple cold. Not much I could do for the runny-nose-sneezing-watery-eyes-miserable-feeling. He can't have human OTC so they just have to let it run its course. Good news is colds only last about 10 days. Good luck!

Your boyfriend just said that he is not allergic, but he can't be really sure... Well, actually, my niece once said that too. She keeps saying to me that she likes cat so much so she bought one. She was kind of okay for the first moment, but then, a few days later, she started to act like your boyfriend. This was continuously happening for like a month. And then, her mom decided to take her to the nearest clinics and find out that she was allergic to cat. Started from that day, she had to take pills every days and night. So what I think was, your boyfriend should start go to the nearest clinics or hospitals to do some examinations on his allergies problem. i don't really sure, try to refer to some related website.

Yes, you need to take her right away.

There are respiratory infections cats get, and they do get their own version of the kitty cold.

I hope you had her vaccinated..but she needs to go on antibiotics RIGHT AWAY.

She could develop pneumonia and that can be fatal.

yea your cat probably picked up a bit of an upper respitory infection at the shelter.

At the vet (honestly) you can expect a huge bill. I had a chiuahaha (can't spell today) for 14 years...I believe cats can get the cold but they can't catch it from you and you can't catch it from them.Take him and see what they say.Good luck to you