Home Remedies for a Congested 3-Week-Old Kitten

With their developing immune systems, kittens are susceptible to many diseases. These include the herpesvirus and calicivirus, two of the main causes of sneezing and congestion in cats, according to the Mar Vista Animal Medical Center. Make your kitten more comfortable during its illness by decongesting it with home remedies. Seek medical attention if the kitten becomes listless or refuses food.

  1. Sneezing

    • A young kitten with an upper respiratory tract infection from a virus will experience congestion and sneezing, along with a runny nose and eyes. To alleviate these symptoms, wipe your kitten's nose and eyes frequently with a cotton ball dampened with warm water to prevent the mucous from crusting around these areas. Using a small eye dropper, place a drop of human saline nasal spray into one of the kitten's nostrils, then wait a few minutes and administer a drop to the other, so you do not accidentally drown the kitten.

    Steam

    • Calm the kitten's congestion by exposing it to steam. The steam will loosen its mucous, decrease the congestion and moisten its nasal passages, advises PetPlace.com. Place the kitten in a small box lined with a soft blanket for comfort. Place a vaporizer near the box so that the kitten can inhale the steam several times each day. If you do not have a vaporizer, place the kitten in its box in your bathroom and run the shower with hot water for 15 minutes to create steam.

    Nutrition

    • A kitten at 3 weeks of age will still nurse from its mother. Because an upper respiratory infection is highly contagious to other cats and its litter mates, however, the kitten should be separated and kept in its own room. Keep it well-fed by bottle feeding it kitten milk replacement formula, which is available at pet stores. Congestion may decrease the kitten's sense of smell and thus, its appetite. If this happens, very slowly force-feed the kitten its formula with a 3-millimeter syringe every two hours to ensure it receives the proper amount of fluids to prevent dehydration, recommends the Vetinfo website.

    Warnings

    • Kittens at 3 weeks old require heat to prevent them from becoming chilled. Make the congested kitten comfortable by placing it in a box lined with a blanket over a heating pad set to low. You may want to add 125 mg of L-lysine, half the dose recommended for grown cats, to the kitten's formula daily to help fight a herpes viral infection, according to 2ndchance.info. Kill germs by washing all of the kitten's bedding and toys by adding 1/2 cup of bleach to your laundry. A feline cold usually lasts between 7 to 10 days, according to the Mar Vista Animal Medical Center; monitor your cat for signs of worsening congestion or lethargy, which require veterinary care.