Why a Cat Is Sneezing Blood With an Upper Respiratory Infection

Bloody sneezes do not mean a cat has an upper respiratory infection. Bloody sneezes usually indicate a cold, bacterial infection or an allergy in its most mild cases. A blockage caused from a string, piece of grass or food can also cause the bleeding. Bleeding occurs because of a buildup of fluid in the cat's nose. Another possibility is dental problems such as an abscessed tooth. More serious causes include a blood clotting problem, high blood pressure or anemia. Also, tumors can cause bleeding.

  1. Symptoms

    • Symptoms include sneezing, nasal discharge (not necessarily bloody), runny eyes, cough, oral or nasal ulcers, sniffles, fever and a hoarse voice. High temperature indicated by listlessness and a lack of appetite needs to be checked by a vet. If the symptom persists for over two hours, rush your cat to the vet. This can prove fatal to the cat.

    At-Risk Cats

    • Generally, ordinary house cats do not contract upper respiratory infections. This disease needs a host, usually a cat from a shelter that has been with other infected cats. Outdoor cats and rescued kittens can also carry the disease. Persian cats also can easily contract the disease because of their facial characteristics. Humans can pass it to other cats if an infected cat is living in the household. A cat must share the same human caretaker, toys and food bowls.

    Treatment

    • To treat just the bloody nasal discharge, a vet will remove the blockage that is causing the fluid buildup or teach you how to control it. Sudden changes in food, litter, or household cleaner can bring on the allergy, so check that and change back to the former product to ensure of health of your cat. Antihistamines and steroids can help with these kinds of allergy problems.

    Medications

    • In treating the upper respiratory infection, you also treat herpes and calicivirus. If the cat has either one of these other diseases, other symptoms will be present. Medications include tetracyclines, low doses of interferon-alpha and oral lysine supplementation. Using human remedies on a small scale can bring relief. Check with your vet for dosage information.

    Prevention/Solution

    • Do you own one to three cats? Are they outside cats? If they spend most of their day inside, they probably will not contract upper respiratory infections. If they live outside, you might choose to vaccinate for distemper, herpes virus and calicivirus as well as another known agent of the disease, Chlamydophila felis. All these vaccines have their origin in distemper. Keeping a small number of cats is the overall key to prevention of upper respiratory infections.