Practical Approach to the Cat with Respiratory Distress

The feline patient with respiratory distress is often a challenging and emotionally- fuelled emergency presentation. Minimising patient stress is crucial, and it can be dificult to obtain the appropriate diagnostics with which to make decisions about how to best treat patients. A calm, logical approach is vital, employing observational skills, thoracic ultrasonography, cardiac biomarker testing and focused echocardiography. In most cases, this protocol narrows the list of differential diagnoses suf ciently for empirical treatment to be administered, and successful stabilisation to be achieved.