in november i took my cat gertie to the vet and she was given medicine for a upper respiratory infection. she’s quite young and still needed her second round of shots but the vet said she was too weak. she got a little better, but has recently been feeling bad again, doing awful tonight. she has the smelliest snot/face, she’s not playful, all she does is sleep. she still eats and drinks regularly, but her nose is always clogged with black hard snot. and tonight her eyes are almost matted together with it as well. she’s breathing really fast and loud with a big puff every time she breathes out and she’s not closing her mouth. i plan on taking her to the vet as soon as they open tomorrow, there are no 24/7 clinics anywhere near me. any suggestions on what to do for her?? please help
My old girl got an upper respiratory infection bout 18 months ago and needed several courses of antibiotics to deal with it, not cat flu, but a Micoplasma infection, but the symptoms sound similar. in the end it was still coming back so we changed to just treating the symptoms and we have kept it at bay for the last year or so. Tiggy at her worst was doing a really good impression of Darth Vader when she was struggling to breath.
The steam treatment Kay mentions was also advised for Tiggy, to put her in a carrier in the barhroom and fill the bath with hot water to fill the room with steam.
Another thing that was suggested was to use Olbus oil to help her breath, just a few drops left to evaporate into the room, either in an oil diffuser or just on a piece of tissue placed somewhere warm.
What I also found helped a lot was to clean her nose for her. A couple of pieces of cotton wool dampened in a little warm water and to slowly soak and soften the snot from around the nose. Tiggy hated having it done, it possibly did hurt a little know how much my nose can hurt when i get a bad cold, she also normally ended up having a good sneeze afterwards which did replace all the snot, but it did help remove the dry, crusted snot and I think it did help her breath a bit.
Tiggy is also on Bisolven powder now to help break down any mucus, the vet just has it on a repeat prescription for her so I can get it whenever the symptoms return.
As long as yours is still drinking well that is good, one of the main dangers with something like cat flu is dehydration.
I hope you can get something from the vet to help tomorrow, and she is feeling better soon.
