Cat sounds congested

sparkle_23

I let the cats out this morn and when I picked up Smudge I thought she was growling at me! But after a while I noticed its her breathing, like she's all blocked up or something. She won't eat her food and I put some cat milk out for her... She had a lil bit and then back in her bed. She usually goes crazy for cat milk and when I'm pouring it its the only time I hear her meow! But not a peep out of her. What's wrong with her and is there anything I can do or give to her? :(

meoklmrk91

Has she had her vaccinations? If not it could very well be cat flu. Even if she has had her vaccinations I would take a trip to the vet seeing as you can hear how caught up she is and she is off her food.

If she has not been vaccinated then quarantine her straight away as cat flu is highly contagious.

Nody

Does she usually cough up hairballs? It's the season of shedding and one of our cats are throwing up hairballs that's twice as large as usual due to it and one may be stuck (a quick vet visit will confirm and fix that though).

sparkle_23

She had her vaccinations in Jan. Her nose is runny now she keeps wiping it with her paw. I want to cry looking at her!

Nody

sparkle_23 wrote: »

She had her vaccinations in Jan. Her nose is runny now she keeps wiping it with her paw. I want to cry looking at her!

Drop in to a vet right away; most likely nothing but it will settle your nerves if nothing else.

sparkle_23

Nody wrote: »

Drop in to a vet right away; most likely nothing but it will settle your nerves if nothing else.

Brought her to the vet after! She has an infection and it's in her chest. Got some antibiotics for her. Just talked to my sis on the phone cause I'm in work til 10 but Smudge had some water and a tiny bit of food still all caught up tho

meoklmrk91

That's good, smudge will have a speedy recovery

MaryK666

I have an FIV cat who suffers from occasional upper respiratory tract infections and gets the itchy nose and wheezing. He goes off his food sometimes and it's essential to keep his appetite stimulated.
If she's off her food, it's because she can't smell it and a cats appetite is usually prompted by how good their food smells. If you're feeding wet food, try adding a couple of spoons of hot water and mix well as the heat will make it smell more appetising. You could also try adding a teaspoonful of tinned tuna, served at room temperature as the smell usually works a treat. If you're feeding only dry food, you can feed small amounts, and often, again adding something like a little tuna to get her to eat.
If you have a small bathroom with a shower, you could try running a very hot shower to create a lot of steam (you may need to turn off any extractor fan) and sit with her on your knee for ten minutes at a time. If you do this twice a day, the steam will help to clear the congestion but make sure you keep her away from the hot water.

I hope she's on the road to recovery and back to her old self soon.