When little Marie was rescued from Town Lake Animal Shelter she was deathly ill with an upper respiratory infection. She wasn't eating and had reached a "dangerously low weight", according to APA's vet techs. Her foster parent started nebulizing her once per day for 20 minutes and saw significant improvement. Soon she was recovered and eating on her own. Marie was adopted last week - a happy, healthy cat that could have easily died if not for nebulizing.
What is a nebulizer and why do so many rescued cats need them?
While at Town Lake Animal Center many cats and kittens develop upper respiratory infections (URIs), aka, kitty colds. At the shelter the cats stay in small spaces in close proximity to other cats and are highly stressed, making it easy for a kitty to catch a cold.
Usually once we place these cats in foster homes they recover quickly but some take longer than others. Our cats need to be healthy in order to go to adoption events and find their forever homes. If a kitten is sitting at home sick he cannot be adopted. The longer he stays in foster care the fewer cats we can pull from the euthanasia list to take his spot.
Nebulizers help a great deal when it comes to getting over a URI. They are used to help cats and kittens breathe better when they are all stuffed up. If a cat can't breath, he stops eating because he will only eat what he can smell. And not eating certainly doesn't help a sick kitty.
Most cats like it - it's like a cool mist with medication. Kind of like a kitty humidifier but with cool air instead of hot air. They are actually designed for people and used for the same reasons.
We need 25 of them in order to be ready for kitten season starting in April but we need 10 immediately.
Nebulizers can be purchased at People's Pharmacy and probably other drug stores as well for about $60. You can drop it off during the day at the South Congress Baby Bottle Trailer next to the San Jose Hotel. Even if no one is manning the trailer there is usually a dog adoption event outside. Oh, and if you'd like, add a note with your name or email address so we can say thanks.
You could also make a donation right here for us to buy a nebulizer:
Here's a YouTube video of an adult cat using a nebulizer: