Cats with respiratory distress represent a significant
diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to the small animal
veterinarian. The most common causes of feline respiratory
distress are pulmonary edema, pleural effusion, asthma, and
neoplasia. Available methods to try to elucidate the etiology of
an individual cat's respiratory distress include evaluation of
historical and physical examination findings, thoracic
radiography, cytology and ultrasonography or echocardiography.
Additionally, it is important to distinguish respiratory
distress that is a presenting complaint from respiratory
distress that develops during hospitalization for another
problem and to quantify distress as mild, moderate, severe or
immediately life-threatening. Respiratory distress at
presentation Respiratory distress as a presenting complaint is a
common condition for the emergency feline practitioner.
Additionally, it is well-recognized that cats with respiratory
difficulty are challenging to treat, as these cats create a
large amount of