Can Cats Get Pneumonia?

Question

My cat has a cold but it just seems to get worse even though we give her medication. Is it possible that she has pneumonia?

She keeps sneezing and coughing and she has a runny nose that she some how finds a way to breath through, and sometimes we can hear her chest rattle from the mucus in her lungs.

Is this just a cold she can recover from or is it something worse?

She's still playful and runs around like a psycho and jumps on everything, it's just when she stops to cough or sneeze it breaks my heart.

Answer 1

Feline can have upper respiratory infections and they are quite common.

Check with your vet about feline herpiesvirus or feline calicivirus 90% of UTI or caused by these.

If it is Pneumonia she will need medical attention.

Answer 2

cats and dogs can both get allergies, could it be your cat has allergies or asthma? seriously. my dad's dog has asthma.

Answer 3

It sounds like your cat has an upper respiratory infection.

The vet should give her antibiotics to clear this up.

Hope your cat gets well soon!

Answer 4

To answer your main question in your title, YES ~ CATS CAN GET PNEUMONIA.  Actually, cats can develop just about every kind of medical condition that people can, from diabetes to heart problems to kidney failure.  It's just that for them, they contract most contagious diseases from bacterial and viral strains that are different from the ones humans can get sick from.  So your cat cannot catch your stomach flu, and you cannot catch your cat's cold, for example.

Reading through the information provided by the other answerers, by now it should be pretty clear that your cat's condition could be caused by any number of things . . . allergies; asthma; bacterial pneumonia; and either primary upper respiratory infection (URI) or a URI that is secondary to (caused by) other serious illnesses such as feline herpesvirus, feline peritonitis or feline calicivirus.

The MOST IMPORTANT POINT is that any one of things can be VERY SERIOUS.  It is IMPERATIVE that you take your suffering kitty to the vet to get the right treatment for her ~ because even if it is allergies, if she doesn't get proper, specific medication to relieve her symptoms, she could develop a URI/pneumonia.

The fact that she still plays is a good sign that perhaps it hasn't gone that far, but please, please do not wait until it does.  It is always easier AND cheaper to treat allergies or a cold WITH THE RIGHT MEDICATIONS, than to let it go until it develops into something worse.  And to get her the proper care will help her to feel so much better, that she'll have even more energy for going psycho and romping and jumping!

But whatever you do, and normally I NEVER naysay another answerer's suggestions, but whatever you do, don't stop her medication, just to see what happens.  Even if it's an allergy, there are no medications that cause sneezing.  So if you're giving her medication for her symptoms, stopping them will only cause her to have more difficulty with mucus.

Allergies might account for the sneezing and coughing, but A CHEST RATTLE IS SERIOUS AND MUST BE CARED FOR BY A VETERINARIAN.  If your cat has a chest rattle, I implore you to take her to the vet, so she can feel better as SOON as possible, and you and she can enjoy her playful antics all the more!  :-D

Answer 5

STOP WITH THE  MEDS FOR 1 DAY SEE IF IT CLEARS UP