Why are there very few medicines to alleviate the symptoms of upper respiratory infections (URIs) in cats? I can’t find any with which we are familiar. The advice is to wipe the eyes with most cotton balls as often as required, and keep your cat hydrated and warm. Is there much else we can do? Yes, we can use a steam vaporizer to alleviate breathing problems but I don’t know how effective that is. We put our cat in the bathroom when we shower but that might upset him.
Cat URIs can be nasty and cause a lot of discomfort. Wouldn’t it be nice to make our cat feel a bit better? When people get colds we head for the medicine cabinet and pain killers, drying up medicines to stop the flow of water from our nose and eyes, medicines to alleviate sinus pain. There are a myriad of medicines to make us feel a bit better while our body attacks the virus and returns us to good health again.
It is possible to give pain killing pills to cats but it has to be done under veterinary supervision and with extreme care. I sense it is too dangerous to administer pain killers over quite a long period which you’ll have to do for a cat with a nasty URI. The only over-the-counter analgesic that a cat owner can buy and administer themselves is aspirin but the dosage is vitally important to avoid hurting a cat and it can only administered every three days as I understand it.
People can buy over-the-counter medicines for colds for their own use. Why can’t we do the same thing for cats? Is it only because the cat is sensitive to medicines or is it at least partly because the drug companies work with veterinarians to encourage cat owners to take their cat to the vet?
There is one “medicine” that might help alleviate the symptoms of a cat cold: L-lysine. It is an amino acid which reduces the amount of arginine in the cat. Arginine is used by the feline herpes virus to replicate.
I have just noticed that swollen nasal membranes can be shrunk using (in the US) Afrin Children’s Strength Nose Drops.
There are homeopathic medicines which may do something but I don’t believe they are much good which is why I have not included them as a viable solution.
The reason why I wrote this is because my cat is very ill and it is possibly a viral infection and I’d like to make him feel better. We are going to the vet for the fourth time this afternoon.
No she has not prescribed Clavamox. I have told her about the cackling. It is bad. There is no eye watering now just cackling. You think he might get a bacterial infection in the lungs, I guess. I am seeing the vet Tuesday (the first available day). It feels too long. I’ll call them again today. I have always believed there is something wrong lower down.
All cats should ideally be on Lysine. Especially if they have a compromised immune system.
Michael, did your vet not prescribe Clavamox?? This is the drug which is best suited for all URI. I have several new rescues on this drug currently. If you hear crackling in the lungs it’s important that pneumonia is prevented by using Clavamox. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of OTC type meds which help alleviate the symptoms like we have when we get a cold. Please ask your vet for Clavamox ASAP!
If it helps, Michael…
He’s not suffering. More like irritated.
Upper crackling?
Herpes. I’m pretty sure.
Rest easy, Michael.
Pretty easy to get under control.
Thank Dee. He has gone into hiding and his eye watering has stopped. He now has this cackling noise from his throat. That noise has been there for months. Less obvious in the past. It kills me to think of him. I was going to the vet today but decided on a proper visit on Tuesday when they can do tests. I need to see the head vet. She is excellent.