My 10 year-old cat had some discharge in both eyes a week ago, and was lethargic and uninterested in food, so I brought him into the vet. I was told he seemed to be in good health, but they recommended a "senior" blood panel, and prescribed antibiotic ointment. The results were very good overall, with an elevated white blood cell count suggesting he probably just had an irritant in his eyes, perhaps a bit of his own fur. I was told to continue applying the ointment to his eyes. The discharge did not return, and he seemed in good spirits and was interested in food later the same day.
My concern is that during the exam, the vet asked if he had been sneezing, and while I hadn't noticed this before the exam, but he has been sneezing once or twice a day ever since. I don't monitor him constantly, so perhaps he is sneezing slightly more than this. It is not anything I would have paid attention to if the vet hadn't asked, but cats don't seem to sneeze nearly as often as humans do, so the fact that it's happening most days strikes me as unusual. I've also noticed that one of his eyes is often only halfway open, and last night I found that he was drooling slightly.
The internet is full of search results indicating that sneezing can be a sign of an upper respiratory infection, and drooling can indicate rabies (!), etc, but I realize he may just be old, and dealing with poor air quality due to tremendous fire activity in neighboring states and my own failure to vacuum as often as I probably ought to. Is daily sneezing dire enough to warrant another budget-busting trip to the vet?