Nebulization
by Diana Scott & Carolyn McGuire, DVM

Nebulizing is a way of delivering a fine mist filled with medication directly to the lungs of the ailing cat. It can help kittens and adult cats with moderate to severe respiratory infections. It is not terribly difficult to build your own nebulizer from scratch or you can find factory made products online. I have a chamber made out of a plastic storage box. It is fairly airtight and has a few holes punched in the lid to allow for fresh air flow. This way the mist fills the chamber and can be safely breathed in by the cat. The nebulizer pump and medicine chamber, with tubing, can be pur-chased from your Veterinarian, online or from a medical supply house. You need to discuss with your Veterinarian the drugs and exact mixture to use in the medicine chamber.

I use a combination of the following:

 Tylan - purchased online or from your Veteri-narian. (½ cc for kittens/1cc for adults).
 Gentomycin - 100 mg/ml from your Veterinar-ian or supply store (½ cc for kittens/1cc for adults)
 I also prefer to mix in a drug called Mucomyst (generic acetylcysteine). It is a bronchodilator and is much safer for cats than Albuteral . This can also be purchased online or from your Veterinarian.
 5cc Distilled water to the medicine cup.

Nebulize 2 to 4 times a day in the chamber until medicine cup is empty.

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