This is Whiteball. She was killed because of the ignorance of a vet.

There is very little to write about Upper Respiratory Tract infection in cats. It usually comes in two different forms. I am no doctor, so I am not going to try and differentiate clinically. However, the two forms that I have noticed I shall call normal and lethal. The normal form is discussed in the page about cold, conjunctivitis and corneal opacity. You administer antibiotics like Azithromycin or Sporidex and your baby gets better. Sometimes, with some cats, this can take a chronic, but not fatal, form.

The lethal form comes on suddenly, without warning, and escalates so rapidly that if the drug of choice is not admninistered in time, you could well have the misfortune of seeing your pet go through unspeakable suffering before succumbing to a very slow death.

Case Study: Whiteball - this story did not have a happy ending

Whiteball and Greyball were left inside our living room, beside the door, by someone.

They were ill-fated and both died horribly

One evening Whiteball looks straight at me and mews painfully, trying to tell me something. I notice she has a cold. I give her Azithral immediately. She is not getting better, however. I can see something is wrong, but can't figure out what. By next morning she is breathing through her mouth, and can take no more medicine orally.

We call a doctor and he arrives soon enough. Prescribes Taxim injection. As with any antibiotic injection, Taxim is extremely painful unless adminisitered intravenous. Whiteball loses bladdar control in agony as she is injected. Her condition does not improve at all. The doctor explains that this is a viral infection and that he has given all the medicine that is required. Now we must wait for the infection to pass on its own.

The next day I ask him whether Augmentin might not get us better results. He explains that Taxim, Augmentine, Monocef, these are all the same. I have my doubts, because Dr. Subir Bhattacharya had prescribed Augmentin for Chew when he faced certain death with his trachea swelling up inwards, blocking the air passage very fast.

I make the mistake of not interfering with the current Doctor's way of treating his patient.

The next morning,he prescribes Monocef. Whiteball tries with all her might to stop us from torturing her and cries piteously as we mercilessly inject her with the new drug. Upon our asking, the good doctor says that giving oxygen to the patient might help her. We wonder why he hadn't mentioned this earlier.The day passes with her condition worsening. The oxygen seems to help, however.

The morning after, having streached her fragile lungs to the limit through the three agonizing days and nights, our little baby is finally at peace, the makeshift oxygen mask still on her mouth.

After this incident we began searching for a place where some kind of humane treatment for animals would be available. And we found Moitri.

A Few Useful Points Regarding Upper Respiratory Tract Infection:

Cats with cold will breathe through the mouth for two reasons: one, when the nostrils are normally blocked, and two, when the infection has spread so much that breathing through the nose is not possible anymore.

You must note carefully what your pet is doing. In normal blocked nose open mouth breathing, the wheezing sound usually comes from the blocked nose. The mouth is usually slightly open.

When the infection is severe, the patinet may or may not have a runny nose, but the mouth will be open and the eyes will have a bewildered look. It is easy to understand that something is very wrong - but only if you are looking closely and know what you are looking at.

The drug of choice in such cases goes by the brand name of AUGMENTIN. in India. The composition is Amoxicillin and Potassium Clavulanate. If the patient can take oral dosage, fine. If not, an intravenous injection (not subcutaneous) is in order. The injection goes in with the fluid that is being given her so that she is not dehydrated, and there is a little burning or stinging sensation, but certainly bearable.

To the best of my knowledge, only MOITRI has this kind of facility in Kolkata, and Laltu, the young man who usually does the job of inserting the needle of the temporary set up that will remain on your pet's arm for sometime, has God gifted hands. I have never seen him miss, not even with cats that barely have any blood in their veins.

I can only hope that all our little ones that God chose to make His own, are at peace.