Weird Meowing - URI Related?

Hello,

I'm both a new cat mom and new to Google groups. I've read through
quite a few posts to this group as I'm learning about cats, and it has
been very helpful.

My nine-month old kitten, Matilda (Mattie), was diagnosed with an
upper respiratory infection. She is on amoxicillin and interferon. At
first her only symptoms were sneezing and occasional cough, but now
she's sniffling and doing this weird meowing thing... I'll do my best
to describe it because I'm curious as to if anyone may know what she's
doing.

Keep in mind that in the short time that I have had her, Mattie has
been unable to meow. She sounds just like we would if we had
laryngitis and tried to meow. The vet said this could either be URI
related or could just be characteristic of her. She makes up for her
inability to meow by making little squeaks and purrs when we "chat".
:)

Now, she is doing this thing where she moves her mouth like she is
going to meow, but instead her upper lips (the parts of her face where
her whiskers come out) shake up and down and she makes a kind of soft
rumbly sound. Almost like a sheep's baa, but more like "maa." See, I
told you it was hard to describe! She will do it multiple times in a
row, sometimes rubbing her face with her paws in between "maas".

I can't tell if she's trying to meow but her URI is making it even
harder, or if she's trying to breathe through her mouth, or if her
nose is tickling her, or what... I'm concerned because I get the
impression that she's not just chatting with me - instead, it seems
that she has some sort of irritation or discomfort.

Thanks in advance for any insight you may have! :)

Sarah