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My cat has nosebleeds and sneezes. Can antibiotics still help?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Male | neutered | 9 lbs

Would like any opinions, if a cat (15 yr. male in my case) shows no systemic infections in their blood work, can antibiotics still help with sneezing/nose bleeding and if so, how? Or would it be a waste of time? (Been to vets/pharmacist who differ on that but more waste of time.) Would like other opinions in general on that point. Thank you!

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

Published on May 9th, 2018

Hi there! Chronic sneezing and bleeding from the nose in a 15 year old cat could be caused by a number of different things, including chronic rhinitis, a severe bacterial respiratory infection, a fungal infection such as cryptococcus, or a nasal tumor. None of these will typically cause any changes on lab work, so usually CT scan/MRI and rhinoscopy are required to get a diagnosis. If this is something you're interested in, then I would ask your veterinarian for a referral to a specialist to have this testing done. Without additional testing, it's likely that you won't be able to find out what the specific problem is, so we're left with treating it symptomatically. Long-term antibiotics such as doxycycline or azithromycin can sometimes be helpful, as there is often a secondary bacterial infection contributing to the pet's symptoms even if this isn't the main problem. Oral or injectable steroids, Cerenia, humidifiers, and even antibiotic/steroid nose drops could all be considered as possible treatment options that may help to relieve symptoms. Your veterinarian should be able to discuss the pros and cons of these various options with you to help determine the best treatment plan for Bailey.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Tomasz Wnuk

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    First of all, not all infections show up on bloodwork, so normal white cell levels do not rule out infection. If your cat has been sneezing and bleeding from the nose, infection must be included as the potential cause despite normal bloodwork. Therefore, a trial treatment with antibiotics (7-10 days) sounds like a sensible option for Balley. The other option is to investigate the problem first, but that would mean for Balley general anaesthesia, x-rays of the nasal cavity and potentialy rhinoscopy (going to the nose with a camera). This investigation could confirm infection but other problems, like foreign body in the nose, polyp or even a tumor can be found. So, ideally, the investigation should be done first and the treatment should be given accordingly to the findings but an antibiotic trial is a good option, particularily for a cat that is 15 years old when you may not want to go ahead with aggressive investigation and treatment.

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