What to Do When a Cat’s Cold Leads to a Respiratory Infection

1 A Cautionary Case

A two-month-old kitten arrived home in the depths of winter and caught a cold — at first mistaken for stress, it just lay still, ate nothing, and drank barely a sip. Two days later the owner realized something was wrong; the vet found a cold that had turned into a respiratory infection, serious enough that recovery took a full month. Because the blocked nose meant the kitten couldn’t smell its food, it ate nothing, so the owner had to hand-feed. The kitten got three days of injections plus three timed meals of food and medicine daily.

2 Caring for a Cat With a Cold-Related Infection

A sick cat that won’t eat needs syringing of water plus nutritional paste, recovery (amino-acid) gel, and soaked kibble — a little at a time, many small feeds, water offered often. Two people help: one feeds, one holds. Keep the cat warm with no drafts, but don’t seal it in a stuffy, unventilated space.

A young kitten’s immunity is low, so build it up: daily nutritional paste, and regular kitten canned food mixed with paste and a gut probiotic. As it grows, add hairball paste, cat grass, or catnip. Never bathe a cat with a cold, and avoid baths in cold weather generally. And don’t skip the vaccine schedule — the first shot can go in at two months, but all three doses must be completed (a sick cat, including one with skin trouble, should not be vaccinated).

3 Helpful Tips

If you are unsure how to give cold medicine or which product to buy, look up the guides on administering pills to cats and on cold medications for cats — they walk through the specifics.