Bronchitis in Cats: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Do you know bronchitis? You might think that only humans can suffer from bronchitis. If you think this way, then your thought is wrong. Some pets, such as cats have the possibility of getting bronchitis.

Cats tend to show some signs to their owners that they are sick. Check these signs that your cat is sick. By understanding the signs, you will be able to decide the best treatment for them.

Bronchitis in cats is defines as a disease which causes inflammation to the bronchial tubes in their respiratory system. Bronchitis in cats will affect the respiratory system. Cats which suffer from bronchitis will experience hard time to breathe and even lose consciousness because of lack of oxygen.

Bronchitis in cats has several causes. Bacterial or viral infections of the airways, allergies, parasites and also exposure to some respiratory irritants, such as cigarettes smoke or dust. All of these causes can be found easily in your surroundings, so make sure your cat doesn’t get exposed with these conditions.

Now, let’s get to know more about bronchitis in cats, including the symptoms.

Symptoms of Bronchitis in Cats

Before being diagnosed of having bronchitis, your cats might show some signs or symptoms that lead to the presence of bronchitis. Most of the symptoms deal with respiratory system, while some others have the same probability of occurring in your cats. Here are the symptoms of bronchitis in cats:

1. Coughing – it can be uncontrollable and consistent. If you find your cats keep coughing constantly, then you should suspect the presence of bronchitis. Signs of pneumonia in cats also include coughing, so if your cat is coughing, you should be careful and aware of it.
2. Panting – because of the difficulty in breathing, then your cat starts panting to take in as much oxygen as it can. Panting is also one of the signs of dehydration in cats.
3. Fast breathing
4. Open-mouthed breathing – difficulty in breathing by using nose forces your cat to breathe by using its mouth to get as much oxygen into its body.
5. Hard to breathe
6. The presence of foamy saliva
7. Wheezing
8. Fever
9. Loss of appetite
10. Loss of consciousness – it happens due to lack of oxygen in your cat’s body.

Bronchitis can be classified based on the severity and the duration of it: short-term bronchitis, long-term bronchitis or acute and it can be reversible. The following symptoms might be recurrent once your cat gets infected by bronchitis again.

Treatment of Bronchitis in Cats

The first thing you do to make sure if your cat suffers from bronchitis is by doing a test or scanning. You can simply bring your cat to your vet, so your vet can diagnose it.

Your vet will check whether there is crackle or wheeze on your cat’s lungs by stethoscope. Then, if your cat has crackles or wheezes on the lungs, the next step would be chest x-rays.

After chest x-rays, your cat might go through heartworm test or bronchoalveolar lavage test (BAL) as there might be some other underlying causes of the changes in the lungs. Fluids from your cat’s lungs might be taken to be checked in the laboratory.

By having your cat diagnosed, you can decide what the best treatment for your cat. There are some ways of treatment for bronchitis in cats.

Eliminating the substances that are irritating the surrounding air will be the core way to treat bronchitis in cats. Make sure your house is free of such irritants, such as cigarettes smoke, perfume, air freshener, cleaning products, or even dusty cat litter. This is going to be the first step of treating your cat’s bronchitis.

When your cat is diagnosed with bronchitis, then your vet might give some supplements and antibiotics for your cats. Make sure you

If your cat is overweight, it will also make it harder to breathe and recover from bronchitis. Try to make your cat lose some weight by doing scheduled-feeding.

Well-shaped cats will have healthier body. See some workout ideas for your fat cat. These working ideas are great, but if your cat seems tired, then you’d better stop it. It might make your cat feel harder to breathe.

Make sure your cat is free of stress. You can do some fun activities with your cats, just like the ones elaborated in 6 fun games to play with your beloved cats. The key of healthy body is happy heart.

Bronchitis is a serious respiratory disease. Quick treatment is needed to prevent further and worse effects. So, the faster you discover any symptoms of bronchitis in your cats, bring it directly to your vet to be diagnosed. Prevention is better than cure!