Hearing your cat sneezing is not an instant sign to be concerned. Your feline companion may catch a cold the same as you. Sneezing can be caused by an upper respiratory infection. In that case, your cat will show other symptoms than sneezing.
Besides this kind of infection, we will mention a variety of causes for sneezing in cats.
I would like to mention some other conditions that may provoke sneezing in cats. As a cat owner, this is very important for you to know so you can differentiate the sneezing that results from a respiratory infection when your cat has caught a cold.
As humans, the same goes for cats when they feel a tickle in the nose an immediate sneezing comes as a reaction. There are pet owners who say that a cat’s sneezing is the cutest of all the sounds produced by cats.
Dusty place can be a reason your cat may sneeze.
The strong smell of chemicals and cleaning liquids can be another reason for sneezing.
Inhaled foreign objects will expectedly cause sneezing.
This is I may freely say a sneezing that should not make you worried about. But there are several conditions like sinus inflammation, tooth inflammation, or a respiratory infection which are something you shouldn’t leave aside and consult your vet as soon as possible.
It will help your cat and calm you down, as well.
Understanding Cats’ Respiratory Infections
The simplest definition of an Upper Respiratory Infection in cats is that sinuses, nose, or throat are triggered by infectious agents. It can be bacterial or a virus, the same as with us, humans. When your cat has an infection, it has mucus drainage out of its nose and eyes and it has a sneezing urge. This happens because the body of your cat is simply trying to get rid of the infectious agents.
In this condition when cats are sneezing the infection is being transmitted from a cat to a cat.
The widely recognized agents that are a cause of this kind of infection are cryptococcus, the feline herpes virus also known as rhinotracheitis, and the feline calicivirus.
One of the first symptoms that your cat will experience is lethargy and low appetite. It may not like to accept food at all.
Speaking in general in a condition of an Upper respiratory Infection you are not supposed to run and visit the vet, but if you have a kitten or a very old cat your reaction must be fast. Lack of energy caused but food refusal and dehydration may end with fatal consequences in the last-mentioned categories of cats.
Symptoms of an Upper Respiratory Infection
What symptoms you will notice depends on where exactly your cat has an infection. Are the sinuses or is the throat the focus where everything comes from?
Anyhow, cat owners and vets are always starting with the commonly seen signs or symptoms.
Among them are a runny nose, a mild cough at the beginning, gagging, decreased appetite, and lethargy. You may also notice that the cat is rubbing its eyes, when trying to be vocal you may hear the so-called “horse voice”, and it may have fever.
According to the vets, most of these upper respiratory infections are viral and a very low percentage are bacterial.
Causes of the Respiratory Infections in Cats
At the very beginning of this reading, I have mentioned what are the most common causes of this kind of infection, but let’s take a closer look.
Feline calicivirus is very contagious and can cause less to very severe respiratory infections and an oral disease.
Feline herpesvirus is the one that causes cold sores.
Chlamydia is a bacterial infection whose main signs are runny eyes and sneezing.
Fungus that your cat may catch when in contact with bird waste.
If by any chance you have adopted your cat from a shelter be sure that it may suffer this kind of infection because in such a crowded place viruses spread very fast. Consult your vet or better as soon as you have taken it go for an overall check with all the necessary examinations.
Should You Worry When Your Cat Sneezes
Sneezing happens as a response to obstacles in the nose passage. It is an ordinary blow out of air through the nose. It helps the cat get rid of the stuck irritant which triggers the sneezing. As with us, the humans it is the same with the animals and they find sneezing a method to relieve the blockage.
Sneezing as a biological function is happening without any regular frequency, but occasionally when urged. Thus, getting upset if your cat sneezes now and then is nothing that you should worry about. Only if sneezing is accompanied by any other symptom that points to a respiratory infection you must consult a vet.
