Cats and Respiratory Allergies
Answered by: Kerry Hcakket
Question from: Joan McLaud
Posted on: January 26, 2006

I have a mother cat about 10 years old who seems to have an allergy. She gets all stuffed up and has a very difficult time breathing and then will clear up totally. Is there any kind of aromatherapy or anything that you can think of to help her?

Allergies are usually a result of an overload on the immune system so the trick is to figure out how many different things might be contributing to the problem. First off, it sounds as though her breathing difficulties are a recent occurrence. If so, what changed in her life arounf the time she began having these symptoms? You also refer to her as a "mother cat". Does this mean she recently had kittens or a has had a series of litters? Perhaps her body is depleted due to pregnancy and feeding her little ones. If this is not the case, are there other things in the household that could be adding to her condition: cleaning products, perfumes, scented personal care products, soaps, carpet, paint, construction, stress, etc. If this scenario is likely, please remove the problem items. In addition, many animals can exhibit all kinds of allergic reactions from the food they eat. This may be remedied by putting your cat on a good, homemade diet. Please see the posting on this website (www.richters.com) entitled, "Aging Dog with Arthritis" for recipe resources. You might also look at adding the herb Nettle (Urtica dioica) to your cat’s food in glycerite form at about ten drops twice a day for a ten pound cat. Lastly, I would like to caution you against the use of aromatherapy in animals. The indications for aromatherapy are based on human olfactory abilities as well as our reaction to various scents, not animals’. Essential oils by and large are too strong for our animal friends’ keen sense of smell and may cause more problems than you are hoping to fix.

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