Respiratory disease in kitten is dangerous!

Respiratory disease in kittens is very dangerous, as they are young and lack of immunity, they often prone to deteriorate faster than adult cats. There are few common disease that cause weird breathing in kittens

Cat flu

Cat flu is often caused by feline herpes virus and it is one of the most common virus that kittens get sick from. The clinical signs of cat flu involves in: eye discharge, sneezing, nasal discharge, fast breathing, lethargy.

Cat flu itself often is not a lethal disease however, without any treatment, kittens may develop serious disease like pneumonia. Therefore, often recommend to treat it as soon as possible.

Vets usually we start with cat flu treatment trial as diagnostic tests for cat flu is very expensive.

Treatment often involves in famciclovir, doxycycline, bromhexidine, chloramphenicol eye drops.

Aspiration pneumonia

If you kitten have experience with force feeding (through syringe feeding), and developed weird breathing. Then there is a high chance that the kitten got aspiration pneumonia.

Aspiration pneumonia often caused by foreign objects aspirated into a lung causing infection/inflammation. This condition is VERY lethal for kittens so please avoid force feeding and if it occured please come to a animal hospital.

So is a weird breathing an emergency in a kitten?

Yes, most of the time weird breathing is an emergency in a kitten. HOWEVER, sometimes kittens have fast breathing from frightening, intense exercises, therefore it is important to have veterinarian check over the condition.

Is there any other way to check if it is emergency before finding a vet?

Yes, our company have an emergency checker available for public. This helps them to decide whether you pet is in an emergency, or not.

Link to emergency checker:
https://pocketvet101.com/pet-emergency-checker/