This is What a Cat’s Nose Says About Its Health

Colour, dryness, discharge: all of this reveals whether the cat may be suffering from an illness. Here you can find out which diseases these can be.

Every cat’s nose is unique, much like a human’s fingerprint. In addition, the nose fulfills many important functions for the cat: In the first few days and weeks of life, kittens use their sense of smell for orientation. Cats also use their sense of smell to communicate and decide whether to eat food or not based on smell. With 60 million olfactory cells, cats have three times as many olfactory cells as humans. In addition, the cat’s nose can tell a lot about the health of the cat.

This Meaning Has The Color of The Cat’s Nose

If your cat has a light nose, you may have noticed that the color of the nose can change: a pale pink usually turns into a strong pink, for example after the wild five minutes. The reason: the nose is traversed by numerous blood vessels, which expand when it is warm – this makes the nose appear darker.

In addition, excitement and stress can increase blood pressure and heart rates in the short term, which can also be recognized by a glowing nose.

The Cat’s Nose As An Indicator of Disease

The cat’s nose can provide important information about the health of the cat. Normally, cats’ noses are slightly wet and cool. Changes can be harmless, but sometimes they are also symptoms of diseases.

Causes of Dry Noses in Cats

If the nose is not slightly damp as usual, but instead dry, this usually has harmless causes:

• The cat lay in the sun for a long time or in a heavily heated room.
• The cat was in a room with poor air circulation.

In these cases, the condition of the nose changes relatively quickly: as quickly as the nose has become dry, it also becomes moist again. This is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about.

However, if the cat’s nose is consistently dry, cracked, or has sores and scabs, this can be a sign of skin problems or a hydration disorder in the cat.

Nasal Discharge in Cats As a Sign of Illness

The nasal discharge can also give an indication of the health of the cat. Important factors are the color, consistency, and smell of the discharge. It is a warning sign if:

• the discharge is yellow, brown, black, or bloody.
• the discharge is slimy or sticky.
• the discharge smells bad.
• the discharge has bubbles or clumps.
• the discharge is unusually heavy or lasts a long time.

If one or more of these scenarios apply, you should consult a veterinarian.

Cold in Cats

Just like humans, cats can “easily” catch a cold. This particularly affects outdoor cats who stay outside often and for long periods of time, even in the cold season or indoor cats that are exposed to draughts. Just like humans, the cat then needs a lot of warmth and rest so that it can recover. Symptoms of the common cold in cats can include:

• runny and/or itchy nose
• dry nose
• sneeze
• to cough
• teary eyes

Because the symptoms of a cold and the more serious illnesses can be very similar, it’s important to keep a close eye on your cat as soon as she starts showing these symptoms. If the symptoms persist after two days, you should urgently consult a veterinarian. If the cat refuses to eat, is apathetic or shows clearer symptoms of a dangerous disease, you should not wait two days but go to a veterinarian as soon as possible.