The cat does not meow but wheezes. The cat lost his voice: causes and treatment

When your favorite animal is sick, nothing is nice around, because you want to help the cat in every possible way. However, there is a feeling of absolute helplessness, because the pet will not be able to say in words what is wrong. What to do if you notice, for example, that a cat has lost its voice? This is due to various reasons, which are not always immediately clear. However, qualified assistance from a specialist will not hurt you in any case. Why this happens in cats, you will learn from the detailed information below.

Why did the cat lose his voice: possible reasons

There are a whole variety of reasons, ranging from the most harmless to serious diseases; even mechanical damage to the larynx is possible due to the ingestion of a foreign object. However, any symptoms that arise have their consequences, so it is important to quickly find out what is preventing the cat from fully leading a normal life. Read in more detail the possible factors that may lead to a loss of voice in a pet. Additionally, you will learn not only how to eliminate them, but also about possible methods of preventing problems with the larynx in cats.

If you abuse smoking right in the room where the cat is always located, then this also affects the pet’s voice. Due to the negative effects of smoke on the vocal cords, the larynx dries out, and the risk of concurrent infectious or viral diseases increases.
A domestic cat that has undergone a complex operation and is recovering from anesthesia will not speak for a long time due to the fact that the body is very weak.

Sore throat, otitis and other infectious diseases

Among the main causes of muteness in a pet are all kinds of infectious or viral diseases. A cat can get sick, just like a person, because viruses are transmitted by airborne droplets. Another point is illness as a result of an already suffered cold, hypothermia on the street, etc. Read more about common infectious diseases in cats:

If you have constant drafts at home, especially during cold periods, your pet will likely develop otitis media. During such a disease, the ear can become so inflamed that you will notice that your cat's voice has disappeared. Contact your doctor promptly, if you notice something wrong, start treatment immediately.
Another disease that leads to loss of a cat’s voice is rhinotracheitis. This is a type of virus that affects the respiratory system. If you start treatment in time, then in the near future the cat will quickly recover and its voice will return.
Laryngitis (angina) is another disease during which inflammation of the entire mucous membrane in the mouth occurs. The larynx swells, mucus accumulates in the vocal cords, and the cat loses the ability to voice. This disease is a complication of the flu or any other harmless cold.
The next factor that leads to the loss of a cat’s voice is a disease called calicivirus. This is a dangerous viral disease that affects the larynx with painful ulcers. The cat's muteness in this case is an inevitable phenomenon.

Foreign object in the throat

The most common cause of voice loss in a cat is mechanical damage to the pharynx by a foreign object. It could be an ordinary bone, a twig or even a needle. During an injury from such a foreign object, there is a possibility that not only the larynx will be damaged, but also the upper respiratory tract and esophagus. It is very important to keep track of what is on your floor and what your cat is playing with. These are very painful sensations that can lead not only to muteness, but also to other irreversible processes.

Dehydration as a Cause of Dry Mouth

Make sure your cat always has free access to drink. Let the bathroom be constantly open, if you are away from home for a long period, keep a bowl filled with clean water all the time. A pet should not feel thirsty, because its body succumbs to dehydration more quickly than a human. As a result of this, the cat's mouth becomes dry, the ability not only to meow, but also to move freely is lost, and the animal feels severe weakness.

Poisoning by toxic fumes - if the cat wheezes and vomits

If you have a cat at home, be careful with disinfection methods, eliminating various insects and other pests. A pet can get poison into its body through food it eats from the floor, which will entail more than just a loss of the ability to make sounds. The cat can get acute poisoning, which will be accompanied by wheezing, vomiting and possible death. It is also undesirable to walk in polluted places.

The same goes for toxic fumes from paint and varnish materials you may use indoors. Even ordinary hairspray, the vapors of which accidentally enter the cat’s respiratory tract, can lead to poisoning, and the pet will begin to cough. In such cases, it is better to immediately transport your pet to a veterinary clinic, where he will receive qualified assistance. But while you're getting there, try to give your cat plenty of water.

Rabies

A dangerous disease such as rabies can also cause a cat to lose its voice. This viral disease is dangerous not only for the animal, but also for the cat’s owner, because it affects the nervous system. A person should remember that a pet could have gotten sick long before the first symptoms of rabies appeared. This is fraught with infection of both the owner (through saliva, for example), and his children.

You must monitor your pet's condition very carefully and be responsible for your health too. This is an extremely serious case, during which it is important to mobilize all your strength and exclude any contact with the animal. Read more carefully about the signs of rabies in order to avoid irreversible consequences in time.

The animal becomes inadequate and aggressive.
The cat behaves sluggishly, all movements become inhibited.
The animal may completely refuse to eat for a long time (for several days), there is no appetite.
At more advanced stages of the disease, paralysis appears.
Sudden death of a cat.

What to do if your cat has lost her voice: treatment options

If you notice that your pet is a little lethargic, does not show itself, or eats poorly, watch it more closely. Try to examine the cat, lightly feel his neck, you may be able to find out why he is not vocal. The right decision would be to immediately contact a veterinarian. However, there are times when access to such a doctor is limited (at night or you live far from the nearest veterinary clinic), then you should provide first aid to the cat and treat it at home, and take it to the hospital the next morning.

Contacting a veterinarian

If you understand that you are unable to treat your animal at home, then immediately contact a veterinarian. An experienced specialist will immediately find out what exactly is happening to your cat, identify the reasons that led to this condition, and prescribe the necessary treatment. Listen carefully to all the doctor’s recommendations in order to provide the correct necessary care to your pet at home after rehabilitation. How can a doctor help you when you contact him with an animal problem:

If there is mechanical damage to the larynx, the doctor will remove the foreign object and treat the affected tissue. At home, you will need to provide the animal with appropriate rest and care. You may have to treat the wounds with prescribed products - it all depends on the severity of the damage.
In case of infectious or colds, therapy will be needed, which can sometimes consist of injections. You yourself are unlikely to be able to do them for your cat, so at first you will have to regularly visit the veterinary clinic for the necessary procedures.
Perhaps the veterinarian will simply prescribe some pills that you can use to treat your cat at home.

Examination and treatment at home

At first, you will be able to provide first emergency aid to the cat yourself, noticing that something wrong is happening with the larynx. In different cases, this help can have a healing effect, or it can simply temporarily free the animal from painful sensations. It all depends on the reasons that led to the cat losing his voice. In any case, do not be afraid to help your cat while you get to the veterinary clinic, take the following measures yourself:

If a foreign body gets into an animal’s throat, do not try to remove it yourself, so as not to worsen the victim’s condition. Just try to take maximum measures to immobilize the head and jaw while you get to the veterinary clinic. This way the cat will suffer less from pain.
If you notice swelling in your cat's throat and redness, this is a clear sign of a sore throat. Until you take your animal to the veterinarian, give him any antihistamine medications in a mini dose (children's dosage).
If the house is undergoing renovations and the cat could be poisoned by fumes from paint and varnish products, take the animal out into the fresh air. Give him something to drink, preferably milk rather than water. Take it to a veterinary clinic immediately so that your pet’s condition does not worsen. Don't forget to indicate the cause of the poisoning, this will help the doctor get his bearings.

All cats communicate using their voice, and although people do not speak cat language, by the intonation of the said “meow” you can still understand the pet’s insistence. But what if the cat lost his voice and his behavior changed? As a rule, a cat’s loss of voice is influenced by a number of circumstances, knowing which it will be easier for the owner to help the pet.

The main reasons leading to cat muteness

Experts identify a whole variety of various ailments and external factors, due to which the pet’s voice not only changes, but also completely disappears. This phenomenon often occurs due to mechanical damage to the upper respiratory tract of the larynx or esophagus. In addition, the symptom is activated by a disease such as otitis media, which provokes an inflammatory process in the ear and deprives the cat of the ability to meow. This also includes a viral disease called rhinotracheitis, which affects the respiratory system, vision and vocal cords. But if a cat, after suffering from an acute respiratory viral infection or the flu, continues to behave sluggishly and make any sounds, this indicates the appearance of complications that led to infectious laryngitis. This disease is considered quite severe and its symptoms are very similar to sore throat, which, by the way, also leads to loss of voice.

Among other things, a pet may lose its voice after contracting a serious viral disease such as calicivirus. Dumbness in this case is caused by severely painful ulcers covering the mucous membrane of the nose and larynx.

And finally, cats lose the ability to meow after inhaling the caustic fumes of various disinfectants and repairs. Even excessive use of all kinds of perfumes and scented cosmetics by the owner can lead to temporary muteness or hoarseness of the animal. This also includes cigarette smoke, which also negatively affects the vocal cords and larynx, drying them out.

Veterinarians often detect dehydration in pets, which is another cause of loss of voice, weakness and nausea. It occurs due to the fact that the pet does not have normal and constant access to water, and all moisture gradually leaves its body, and its throat and mouth become very dry. Therefore, you need to make sure that there is always fresh and clean water in your furry pet’s bowl.

How to help a cat in such a situation

Loss of voice in a cat is often accompanied by various symptoms, which can help identify the main cause and the disease itself. For this reason, you need to carefully monitor your pet’s behavior and pay attention to any changes. If an animal is diagnosed with one of the above-mentioned diseases based on its signs, it is better to immediately show it to a veterinarian. But if the owner notices that his four-legged friend does not like the atmosphere in the apartment, it is recommended to ventilate the room well. During repairs, the animal should be kept in a ventilated room, but care must be taken to ensure that it does not catch a cold. It is also advisable to take a cat that has inhaled chemical fumes and is hoarse into fresh air more often and give it milk.

If a foreign body gets into the cat’s larynx, it is strictly forbidden to remove it yourself. This procedure must be entrusted to a veterinarian. By the way, if after all the measures taken the owner still has not heard “meow” from his furry friend, he must urgently take him to the veterinary clinic. By the way, all necessary drugs to combat infectious diseases must be prescribed by a doctor, because The same rhinotracheitis can be caused by various pathogens, which can be overcome by specific medications.

The owner can alleviate the cat’s condition in the following ways:

If the voice disappears as a result of mechanical damage to the larynx, the pet’s head and jaw are fixed so that he cannot move them and cause more damage to the tissues. After which the animal is taken to the veterinarian.

If at the time of examination the pet was diagnosed with swelling of the mucous membranes of the throat, its condition can be alleviated with the help of any antihistamine.

In case of mechanical damage to the animal’s larynx, only a veterinarian can quickly and without consequences carry out special treatment of the affected tissue. But for infectious and colds, a specialist must prescribe an appropriate course of therapy, which often includes injections with antibiotics.

So, if your cat’s voice has disappeared, you don’t need to panic right away. It is enough to take a closer look at the pet and try to help him in every possible way. In addition, timely and prompt intervention by a specialist can quickly restore the cat’s ability to meow and avoid negative consequences.

The cat meows, purrs, hisses. The sounds an animal makes have a reason. This is communication, expression of peace or displeasure, demands for attention and food.
Siamese, Bengal cats and Sphynxes are especially “talkative”. Rarely, in exceptional cases, Maine Coons, Persians, Kuril Bobtails, and British cats speak.
Training gives results. If you constantly turn to a cat, and this resembles a ritual after which the animal receives food and affection, then anyone will “talk.” Excessive meowing is annoying, but its absence should upset the owners more. What might cause concern? The cat’s voice has disappeared, the meowing is silent - this symptom often accompanies serious illnesses and injuries.

Common causes of voice loss in cats

The nightly serenades of March singers until you become hoarse are not the only explanation for your pet’s hoarse and quiet voice. All reasons can be divided into three groups:

1. Mechanical damage, small objects getting into the cat’s throat.

Kittens suffer more often: while playing, they can swallow small, sharp objects. The owner entertains the pet with a toy tied to a string. The kitten, having caught up with the rustling foil bow, begins to chew it. A sharp piece of metallized paper gets into the throat and gets stuck. And how many interesting but dangerous games take place without human control!
Adult cats suffer from damage from bones in poultry and fish meat (small elastic bones, scales in river fish). Curious animals explore new objects, often tasting pine needles and Christmas tree decorations. On New Year's weekend, queues line up to see veterinarians due to injuries to the larynx and pharynx in cats. The owners were concerned about the disappearance of their pets' voices.

2. Chemical poisoning, dehydration.

Cats avoid objects with a sharp, pungent odor. Of course, no animal will taste spilled gasoline or paint products. For cats to become poisoned, it is enough to inhale toxic fumes. People often do not notice that using air freshener or nail polish remover has a depressing effect on the cat. Repeated or prolonged inhalation of chemicals leads to poisoning. The cat wheezes, sneezes, refuses to eat, and loses its voice.

Veterinarians give specific examples. The cat “accompanied” its owner in the hallway every morning. She, having made the final touch, fixed her hair with hairspray, and ran off to work. This went on for several weeks.
Another visit to the doctor: the cat experienced loss of voice, nausea and wheezing. The veterinarian, having examined the animal, immediately determined the cause of the disease - smoking in the room, poor ventilation, low air humidity. This was “told” by the smell of cigarette smoke from the fur and changes in the cat’s vocal cords.

Cats walking unattended can end up in a landfill or construction site where there is a lot of chemical waste. Don't ignore your pet's loss of voice if you don't know what happened. The danger to the animal is a reality.

Lethargy, lack of playfulness, and an unnatural hoarse sound are some signs of dehydration. Milk, kefir, broth, and any food will not replace clean water. It should be in the cup all the time.

3. Infectious diseases.

Cats also suffer from infectious diseases. They have sore throat, otitis media, colds and other infections that are transmitted through the air. The infection cannot affect the host. Some people do not let their cats outside because they are confident in their safety. This is not an option. Drafts, low temperature in the apartment, dampness, and poor nutrition weaken the immune system and will not improve the health of cats.

How to diagnose the disease? Loss of voice indicates advanced disease. You missed the beginning: the cat sleeps a lot, has a dry nose, watery eyes, and poor appetite. Only a veterinarian will associate the lack of voice with damage to the respiratory system and rhinotracheitis. Or the cause of silent meowing is laryngitis, the mucous membranes of the throat are inflamed, swelling of the larynx is observed, and the vocal cords are clogged with mucus.

If you take the problems of losing your pet's voice lightly, you may not notice such a dangerous viral disease as calicivirus. Watery ulcers form on the animal's tongue and larynx. They bring a lot of pain and discomfort to cats; it is difficult for them to swallow, meow, and purr.

What else you need to know about the causes of voice loss in cats

It's good if you know the cause of the disease. After the operation under anesthesia, you were warned about possible silence until the animal fully recovered. You should protect your cat from hypothermia and follow all recommendations.

It’s good if the pet’s silence is short-term and the voice is restored on its own. But you should always be attentive to the accompanying symptoms. Strange behavior, fear of familiar objects, people, drooling, changes in appearance, fear of bright light and water, refusal to eat indicate a fatal disease - rabies in cats. There is no need to experiment or invent a treatment. The infection could have occurred a long time ago, and all this time the family and the owner himself were in danger and were close to the dying infected cat. Contact your doctor immediately.

How to help with voice loss in cats

For the treatment to be successful, you need to follow the algorithm:

1. Observe the animal, if the symptoms bother you, contact your veterinarian.

2. If there is an obvious reason, help the animal: in case of poisoning, try to give the cat water and take it to a doctor. Take with you possible sources of poisoning for a correct diagnosis (a leaf of a poisonous plant, a can of varnish). If there is rapid swelling of the larynx, give an antihistamine in a dose as for a small child. If vapors from paint and varnish products are poisoned, give the animal milk.

3. If the air is dry or there is smoking in the room, ventilate it more often, but avoid drafts.

4. If you find a foreign body in the larynx, try to pull it out, but know that the doctor will do it better than you.

5. Infectious diseases, inflammations that provoked loss of voice are treated with antibiotics.

6. Vaccinate your cats against rabies in a timely manner every year.

No matter how quickly you help your pet, remember that there are professionals who definitely need to show the cat for further proper treatment.

Owners of furry pets often encounter such phenomena as changes in the timbre of the animal’s voice, hoarseness, and sometimes complete loss of voice in a cat. With the help of their voice, pets communicate with their owners, show gratitude or, conversely, demand attention. Violation of vocal function is especially noticeable in “talkative” cats. There are many reasons and factors why a cat lost its voice: from cigarette smoke to dangerous infectious diseases. Such a symptom should cause alertness and close monitoring of your pet. You should pay attention to the animal’s behavior, appetite, thirst, and general condition of the body. It is important to notice in time that the cat has lost its voice. What could it be? It is necessary to find out as quickly as possible, since the health and life of the pet, and in rare cases, the life of the owner, depends on it. Symptoms of hoarseness, changes in voice timbre, or muteness of a pet should be a reason to immediately seek veterinary consultation and treatment.

Read in this article

Why does a cat have no voice?

The reasons why an animal lost its voice can be divided into three main groups:

infectious diseases,
non-communicable diseases,
associated environmental factors.

One of the reasons for a cat’s loss of voice is infectious diseases of various etiologies: viral rhinotracheitis, infectious laryngitis, calcivirosis, rabies. With viral rhinotracheitis, the mucous membranes of the nose, throat and trachea are affected, which is accompanied by hoarseness or complete loss of voice in the sick animal. The causative agent of the disease is the herpes virus. Timely and proper treatment and dietary nutrition contribute to the rapid restoration of vocal function in a cat.

One of the common reasons why a cat has lost its voice is infectious laryngotracheitis, the causative agent of which belongs to the herpesvirus family. The disease is accompanied by inflammatory processes in the upper respiratory tract and laryngeal edema. These phenomena lead to hoarseness of the animal, as well as a complete absence of voice.

It hurts the cat to eat, drink water and meow. Infectious laryngotracheitis is often a consequence of advanced influenza, sore throat, colds, and rhinitis.

With viral calcivirus, one of the symptoms of the disease is hoarseness and loss of voice in the animal. This viral disease poses a deadly threat to small kittens and older animals. Symptoms of the disease are respiratory in nature. A sick pet has a hoarse voice and complete loss of voice. Ulcers are observed on the mucous membrane of the oral cavity, on the tongue, and on the tip of the nose. In severe cases it develops.

Viral calcivirus in a cat: multiple ulcers filled with fluid on the tongue and palate

Dumbness of an animal can occur as a result of a disease dangerous to humans -. This rare and fatal disease causes the cat to lose his voice due to paralysis of the pharynx and larynx. The animal does not speak, refuses to eat, there is drooling, hydrophobia and photophobia. The most effective prevention of a dangerous disease is timely vaccination of your pet.

One of the non-infectious reasons why a cat is hoarse is otitis media. The inflammatory process that occurs in the animal's middle ear leads to the development of edema of the laryngeal mucosa. In this case, the cat or cat loses its vocal abilities until the voice completely disappears.

The cause of swelling of the larynx and, as a result, hoarseness and loss of voice, may be an allergy. Allergic edema reduces the lumen of the larynx, complicating the animal’s vocal abilities.

Hoarseness of the voice and its complete disappearance are often observed when the pet’s body is dehydrated. Your pet should have free access to water at all times. It is especially important to fulfill this condition when feeding your cat dry food.

Very often, the reasons why a cat has lost his voice, does not meow, or the animal’s voice is changed are injuries to the larynx, foreign objects in the oral cavity. The most common injury to a cat's larynx occurs with fish bones or inedible sharp objects. As a result of the penetration of a foreign body into the larynx, mechanical damage to the mucous membrane occurs, which is accompanied by swelling, which impedes vocal function.

Factors leading to loss of voice in an animal include:

Keeping an animal in a room where there is frequent smoking. Cigarette smoke contains high levels of irritating toxic substances that can cause laryngeal swelling in your pet. In this case, the cat often has a hoarse voice.
The dryness of the air in a room or apartment, especially during the heating season, provokes irritation and dryness of the laryngeal mucosa, hoarseness, and sometimes leads to a complete loss of the cat’s voice.
Respiratory poisoning of an animal by toxic fumes from paint coatings, organic solvents, and disinfectants. Spraying household aerosols, cosmetics (varnishes, deodorants, etc.) can also cause hoarseness in a cat.
After anesthesia, the animal may become hoarse for a short period of time.

What to do if your cat has lost his voice

In a situation where a cat has lost its voice, what to do is the first question that puzzles the animal owner. First of all, you need to closely monitor your pet. It is possible that loss of voice is not the only symptom. You should not put off a visit to a veterinarian.

If there is no complete loss of voice, but the cat is hoarse, a veterinarian will also tell you what to do in this situation after examining the animal and finding out the causes of hoarseness. If the cause of the symptom is unfavorable environmental factors (smoky room, foreign odors, use of paints and varnishes, etc.), the animal should be taken out into the fresh air and given milk to drink. After providing first aid, your pet should be shown to a veterinarian to rule out more dangerous causes of muteness.

There are many factors and reasons why a cat’s voice has changed. The owner of the animal should closely monitor changes in the behavior of the pet and, if hoarseness or complete absence of voice is detected, take measures to determine the causes of this symptom. You should not self-medicate a domestic cat or kitten, since the animal should be assisted by a qualified specialist.

Clinical picture and diagnosis

Concomitant clinical signs (except, in fact, hoarseness itself) directly depend on the reasons that caused it. Thus, with bronchitis and pneumonia, in most cases an increase in general body temperature can be observed. Even without auscultation (listening) of the lungs, moist and bubbling rales can be heard. The general condition of an animal with inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system is depressed, apathetic. The pet refuses food, his thirst increases, he strives to spend as much time as possible in the most remote and dark corners of the apartment or house. When he coughs, phlegm may come out of his mouth. The coughing process itself is painful and causes the animal a lot of suffering.

Therapeutic techniques

Treatment therefore also depends on the underlying cause of hoarseness. Since the most common cause is respiratory diseases, therapy is carried out antibiotics broad spectrum and other antimicrobial drugs. When airway obstruction is caused by foreign bodies or tumors, they are removed surgically. The same applies to deformation of the tracheal rings, which are replaced with synthetic implants.