Recently, we’ve been dealing with a cat flu outbreak at our house!
The symptoms: my cats have been dealing with all or some of these symptoms – sneezing, stuffy noses, runny eyes, coughing, loss of appetite, low energy, fever.
Some cats who got the flu last season seem to only have an occasional sneeze, while others have all of the above symptoms.
Aureo Beta-Glucan – On the first day of cats sneezing, I gave an immune boosting supplement from Japan called Aureo for Pet. It’s a high quality Beta-Glucan supplement for pets. Acts as an immune booster.
For those cats that have light symptoms, I have continued the Aureo for a few days. As long as they are still eating and drinking, they are doing fine. But of course, I will keep monitoring them.
Three of my cats, Ollie, Lois and Ernie suffered from all the symptoms mentioned above. They are all young, less than 2 yrs old.
Fever reduction – the Aureo was not enough, so I took them to the vet and they had an injection to reduce the fever, and at home, I fed them Interferons by mouth via syringe every day.
Congestion – nebuliser– Ollie and Lois’ blocked nose and chest congestion was worrying and I gave them treatment with a bronchial dilator using a compressor nebuliser while they were in a cage. The nebuliser converts the liquid medicine into mist. It is very a effective decongestant.
the mouth of the nebuliser onto the outside of the cage door so the most points into the cage. I added 5ml Bisolvon into the liquid chamber with a little drinking water. Treatment for 30 mins total them let the cat out of the cage. Our cats seemed to be panting for a while after the treatment but was breathing normally without congestion afterwards.
Interferon therapy– What are interferons? It is a family of naturally -occurring proteins that are made and secreted by cells of the immune system as a defensive response to viruses.
I treated a few cats last season that bad cat flu with interferon therapy (purchased from our vet) and it worked really well. Some cats needed only a few days of daily treatment and one cat (with cat aids) needed one week of treatment. All made a full recovery.
Sub Q fluid therapy – For Ollie, Lois and Ernie, I have also administered sub q fluids to help them feel more hydrated and recover faster. Do it at the vet or get the supplies and learn how to do it at home. Learn from how it’s done at the vet first. Tips: 1. Use alcohol to disinfect the injection area before inserting needle, 2. Use a coat/hat stand to hook the Ringer solution up high. 3. Don’t store unfinished bottles of Ringer solution more than a day or two. Replace the tubing at least every couple of days and change the needle for each use.
So Ollie, Lois and Ernie have had the worst of flu this time but they are all starting to regain their appetite and energy levels as a result of all the therapies that I am giving at home.
Pet Health Remedies 