6 Tips for Helping a Cat with a Cold

Cats suffer from infections such as common colds just like their human counterparts–and feel just as miserable. From stuffy, runny noses to wheezing congestion–cold symptoms take their toll on a cat much in the same way as owners. What can cat owners do to make cats feel better when kitty has a cold? There are some useful tips to help your kitten or cat battle cold viruses–even during warm weather months.

Pay attention to your cat’s behavior. Cats tend to sneeze and cough by nature. Hairballs and allergies are two all too common causes for kitty sneezing and coughing that many owners accept as daily cat behavior. If kitty has watery eyes or a runny nose along with his usual coughing symptoms, however, that may be a sign that a bacterial or viral infection is at work. Paying attention to changes in your cat’s behavior is the best way to prevent prolonging a minor infection or enabling something more severe.

Visit the vet immediately if a feline cold symptoms arrive. Indoor cats rarely encounter the viral or bacterial infections that cause upper respiratory infections. When cold infections occur, they often present themselves rather severely-especially in older cats or ones with other medical conditions. Your veterinarian will determine whether your cat requires antibiotic treatment, or even a hospital visit, to relieve his condition. While minor cold bugs are not always harmful to cats, they develop more severe, secondary infections much more quickly than those in human owners.

Be sure to finish the entire prescription. If your cat receives an antibiotic, it is extremely critical that he finishes the entire prescription. As in human treatments, the antibiotics continue to battle infecting agents after symptoms lessen–it will help fully treat the situation and prevent worsened future viral flare-ups.

Offer lots of water. If kitty is recovering from an upper respiratory infection or cold at home, he needs lots of fresh water. This may require offering a fountain or other source of intriguing, flowing water. Staying hydrated helps the cat’s body to battle the infection, and relieve itself of waste.

Kitty may need a vaporizer. Add a vaporizer to the cat’s favorite room. Initially, the odor may turn off many cats-and owners may need to move the vaporizer or physically contain the cat into a vapor filled room. It often helps congestion associated with the virus–but, discuss it first with your veterinarian as some medical conditions may not be suited to vaporizer treatment.

Follow-up with your veterinarian as needed. If your cat’s upper respiratory symptoms do not clear up as expected, additional testing and veterinarian evaluation may be needed. There are more serious feline viruses that cause symptoms similar to colds which should be examined and ruled out as soon as possible.

While helping kitty cope with a cold seems easy enough; do not forget to protect the other household cats from infection. Remember that other cats in the home often share food, water and litter boxes with ill kitty housemates. Try to isolate the sick cat from other cats in the home if possible. Otherwise–you may encounter multiple vet visits and additional concerns if other household cats suffer from pre-existing conditions or compromised immune systems.

Resources:
What do you do When your Cat Gets a Common Cold?
Common Cat Diseases and Health Problems
Personal Experience