Hello, XXXXXXXXX
It sounds s though your kitty as an upper respiratory infection (URI).
What you can do at home to help him feel better is keep the nose and eyes clean of discharge. You can use warm water dampened cotton balls or Qtips to do this. You can also bring him in the bathroom when you shower. This will allow the steam to help break any congestion in the head and chest. A vaporizer can well too for this. You can give him a 1/4 tablet of Chlor-Trimeton every 12 hours for sneezing
You can get Chlor-Trimeton at any drug store. It is next to medications like benadryl.
If it does not get better in 7 days after starting the OTC medication, you will need to get an antibiotic from your vet to clear it properly. Sometimes if URIs are left untreated they can cause eye ulcers or even pneumonia.
Please let me know if you need further assistance with this.
Sincerely,
Micki
Expert in cat behavior and health
Expert in cat medical and behavior issues.
That's fine and good. Many times there is discharge, but not always. The nictating membrane (third eye lid) showing however is a sign of irritation in that eye. I would flush it with plain saline to relieve any irritation, inflammation or itchiness. Use only plain saline. Eye drops like Visine, Clear eyes, etc can cause serious damage to a cat's eye.
You can use both at the same time. The Chlor-trimeton will treat his sneezing and any other nasal problems. The saline will help sooth the eye, and hopefully get the third eye lid to retract.
I really don't think so. Any time you have an older cat that coughs, that can be from other things like heart problems, but since he is sneezing too that really indicates a simple URI.
A URI untreated can lead to more serious issues though like pneumonia or bacterial based infections in the lungs. So that is why after using the OTC meds for week there is no difference, it is important to seek vet treatment.
You are more than welcome :) let me know if you need any more help.