Good Morning Dr. Magnifico,

On June 15 and 16, I watched videos of you identifying and removing a polyp from a black and white cat “Pip”. The list of Pip’s symptoms match up perfectly with my cat and I thought – WOW – here is the vet with the answers I have been looking for! I am located in Thurmont, MD.

Since taking on my stray cat nearly 2 YEARS ago, she has seen 3 different vets and her symptoms have never resolved:

Persistent, loud snoring and snorting
Non-responsive to different antibiotic treatments (also non-responsive to steroids and antihistamines)
Chronically snotty – persistent nasal discharge
Chronic increased respiratory effort / visual abdominal breathing
Chronic sneezing (as well as intermittent fits of sneezing)
Intermittent eye discharge from inner corners
Head shaking / ear rubbing

In December of 2024, I rescued Sally who was posted on Facebook as “stray cat – very sick and needs help”. I have been interested and active with TNR, colony caretaking and fostering, as my time and budget allows, for the last 5 years. My intent was to get her the vet care she needed, foster her temporarily, and get her on the waitlists at the local rescues so she could eventually make it to an adoption center to find her forever indoor home. Sally was underweight and displaying upper respiratory “cold” symptoms. Runny nose, trouble breathing, sneezing. I assumed URI.

Sally had 3 visits at a local vet clinic (Thurmont, MD) in December 2024, January 2025 and March 2025 (two different vets saw her here). She was estimated to be between 10 and 15 years old. Per the vet, “her canines have dropped but her eyes look great.” She tested FIV/FELV/HW negative on two separate occasions. We tried several different antibiotics to treat her. We sent out a PCR culture, which returned positive results only for Calicivirus. We also ran a test on her kidneys which had normal results. I had a follow-up discussion with the vet the week of March 31, 2025 because her noisy breathing had not resolved after 4 months of being in a controlled environment. He said that because we’d tried several different antibiotics at that point, and at that time the vet said he did not see any visible polyps in her mouth or ears, his next recommendation was to refer me to a specialty clinic. I said that I wasn’t able to commit such significant additional funds to diagnostics at a specialty clinic, so as a last-ditch effort he prescribed a steroid to see if that would help clear up her breathing. It did not.

I often take my friendlies / kittens to a low-cost clinic in Frederick, MD for vaccines and snap testing before they go to adoption centers. Earlier this year, I discussed Sally with the vet that runs the clinic and he assured me he likes “puzzles” and would be happy to do an exam on Sally at his regular practice in Frederick, MD to see if he could find the cause of Sally’s symptoms. On April 11, 2026 I took Sally to see this vet and he almost immediately noticed an infected tooth. He advised that she needed the tooth removed and other diagnostics wouldn’t be accurate until the tooth was resolved. On April 17, 2026 Sally had the tooth removed under anesthesia. Unfortunately, her chronic rhinitis and all other symptoms have remained unchanged. This vet has now recommended taking her to a specialty clinic.

Sally has lived in my garage with 1 other cat for over a year and a half. The other cat has never developed any illness or health issues – which adds to the theory that Sally’s symptoms are not due to a virus. I’ve also had dozens of other foster cats in and out of the garage over the past 2 years and again, none have developed illnesses that would indicate she has a contagious virus. I feel that the positive Calicivirus results (and also the infected tooth) have muddied the waters on the path to finding answers.

Adoption centers won’t take her until her symptoms are resolved. I cannot afford to take Sally to a specialty clinic. Project Hope was able to assist with a little bit of financial support on her most recent vet bills, but I’ve spent over several thousand dollars in vet work on her and I simply can’t afford to continue. I feel terrible that Sally isn’t getting the love and attention that she really deserves in her golden years. She does have the other cat with her in my garage space, but she deserves a family.

I am grateful for any guidance and expertise you can share. I would love to bring Sally to see you.