It is quite common for cats to suffer from stuffy nose. Stuffy nose is also known as rhinitis. Rhinitis is a condition when your cats get the lining of their nose, called mucous membranes, inflamed. This condition will surely make your cat feel uncomfortable as she may get it hard to breathe, smell food, and sleep.
Cats with rhinitis or stuffy nose will experience some nasal discharge, sneezing and loud congested breathing. The affected cats may paw at their face and only be able to breathe through their mouth. The nasal discharge produced may be clear, cloudy with mucus or even bloody in nature.
When a cat is exposed to stuffy nose, she will exhibit some of the symptoms, such as pawing at her face, labored breathing, breathing through the mouth, loss of appetite, sneezing, presence of nasal discharge, decreased airflow.
If you notice your cat is showing some of the symptoms, bring her to the vet immediately. Get to know another disease related to respiratory system of cats in upper respiratory infection in cats. Let’s see the 5 causes of stuffy nose in cats.
Most nasal bacterial infections are coming after some other diseases, such as foreign body, nasal polyp or viral upper respiratory infections. Though bacterial infection is not really common in cats, but it does occur.
Just mention some of the culprits of the infection: Bordotella and Mycoplasma. The nasal discharge caused by these bacterial infections is bilateral and often pus-like in nature.
It is not common for cats to have nasal parasites. However, outdoor cats may become infested with botfly eggs that are called as Cuterebra. These eggs stick to their head into or sniff around small burrows.
When the botfly eggs hatch into larva inside the cat’s nose, they can cause the pus-like or bloody unilateral discharge to produce. When this condition happens, cats may often paw severely at their face.
Fleas are also examples of parasites in cats. Make sure you know these ways to get rid and prevent fleas on your pets.
Some cats mostly love outdoor activities. While they are outdoors, it is really common for them to have blades of grass, seeds and grass awns lodged in their nose. Pawing at the face, severe sneezing and an acute one-sided discharged could help you indicate a nasal foreign body.
Cryptococcus infection is the most common fungal infection affecting both indoor and outdoor cats. This fungal infection may lead to asymmetry of the face, nasal swelling, unilateral and pus-like or bloody nasal discharge.
Dental infections or diseases may also lead to stuffy nose in cats. Severe periodontal disease is characterized by the progressive infection that lead to an oronasal fistula (a hole between the mouth and the nose).
This condition may cause the materials from the mouth become impacted into the nasal passage. As a result, it causes inflammation and secondary infection to the nasal passage.
Cats are exposed to some allergies. Cats get allergies due to several allergens, such as mold, dust mites, grasses and tree pollen. When they get allergies and stuffy nose, they will produce clear bilateral discharge and keep sneezing. Cats might get allergies to some food too, here are signs your cat has food allergies.
Older cats are more prone to nasal cancer. The cats with nasal cancer will have unilateral discharge that is often bloody and this condition leads to stuffy nose in cats.
The common types of nasal cancer are lymphoma and adenocarcinoma. Bring your cat to the vet if your cat is having bloody and unilateral discharge for further treatment.
Some of the causes are serious, so if your cat experiences stuffy nose, make sure to have an immediate action by calling the vet. Stuffy nose in cats is not as simple as having a flu. To get the main root of the problems, your vet will do some ways to diagnose the problems.
The vet will conduct physical examination and check your cat’s medical history. Besides, outdoor cats will be more prone to stuffy nose. Heat stroke in cats may also attack the outdoor cats, make sure yours doesn’t get it.
You can also do some home remedies to relieve the symptoms of stuffy nose, such as using warm and humid air to dry and adhere the nasal walls. By doing this, it can open the nasal passages so your cat will be able to breathe easier.
You can also clean your cat’s face by using a warm washcloth to remove the mucous, but make sure your cat is comfortable too. Regarding to the cat’s sense of smell, do you know that cats hate some types of smell too? Read it further on smells that cats hate.
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