Chronic Feline Sneezing

Series Summary

Cats have been domesticated pets for centuries, providing companionship to people as far back as 9,500 years ago. Despite the stereotype of cats as solitary animals with no need for human presence, many cats have a very social relationship with their owners, providing and receiving affection on many levels. In fact, some people suggest that human owners provide a sort of surrogate mother figure for cats and kittens and that adult domesticated cats live in a sort of extended kittenhood. In this free video series, a cat behaviorist describes how to take care of cats, from dealing with health issues to training and grooming cats. Discover which cat breeds are best for specific owners, how to train a cat to sleep on a bed, how to get a cat to use a litter box and how to train a cat to do tricks. With these tips and techniques, any pet owner's cat will be well-behaved, well-groomed and healthy.

Video Transcript

"We are here today with Savanna and Atlanta, two kittens that just came from the shelter, to talk about chronic sneezing. Now if we're lucky they'll actually sneeze for us. They have been sneezing over the last couple days. Usually, often cats that come from a shelter will come with a little upper respiratory infection. It's very important that they see a veterinarian to attend to it because it can develop into an acute upper respiratory infection, which can be fatal to the cat. The reason we're in the bathroom is that we're isolating them here to make sure that the virus that they are carrying doesn't spread to the other cats in the house. And I've turned on the humidifier to help them breathe easily. So, usually what will happen is if, if you, if your cat's sneezing, you take it to the vet and the, usually the vet will determine that it's an upper respiratory infection and give the cat some Clavamox or another antibiotic to help prevent any secondary infection. However, sometimes it turns out that the cat has an allergy. Most cat allergies show up in their skin. However, some cats do get symptoms a little like a person where they're, they sneeze. And things like household cleaners, pollen is a big one, or even sometimes the food that they're eating can cause allergic reactions that show up and one of the symptoms is sneezing. The easiest way to deal with that is have the vet run a blood test on your cat for allergies, so you can isolate what the allergy is and then you can deal with it appropriately, either by changing their diet. Or for instance, some cats will end up sneezing a whole lot in the spring, just like some people. And you might want to consider keeping a cat like that indoors, running a Hepa filter. Again, the cool mist humidifier, just to help them breathe. Because you know they don't breathe through their mouths, they breathe through their noses. And so if their noses are congested it can be really, really difficult for the cat. So if they are really congested, it's, and they're, and they're not eating because a lot of times what will happen is a cat that's got a bad cold or is suffering from bad allergies, it kind of puts them off their food and they'll stop eating. And if you want to feed them something that'll really get them going, this is chicken baby food. And I've got it elevated here, so that he doesn't get that na, she doesn't get nasal drainage that happens when they have to lean forward to eat. Your vet may recommend an anti, antihistamine or even a pediatric Afrin a nasal spray for their nose if they're really having trouble breathing. But again, you want to use those only with a veterinarians recommendation and, in terms of dosage and how often you use it."