Pulmonary oedema in cats, as in anyone, tends to indicate a heart problem. Heart problems used to be rare in cats, but as with all diseases, old, new and rare, they are all on the increase. The heart isn’t the only cause of pulmonary oedema; toxins and medical/veterinary drugs can be, too, as can trauma to the chest wall.

Pulmonary, which indicates the lungs, oedema (or edema) indicates fluid, so this is a condition of fluid in the lungs. You may first become aware of an increased breathing rate where none would be naturally indicated, such as after exertion.

The fluid collects in the lungs and can’t be expelled, so breathing becomes more laboured and more difficult. 

Your cat may also wheeze, show restlessness and/or have an irregular heartbeat.

In extreme cases, the cat may collapse from want of breathing. The fluid in the lungs are preventing the normal exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Count the breaths per minute over a period of time. The normal rate, at rest, is considered to be between 16 and 30 breaths per minute. That's quite a big difference, but takes into consideration different personalities.

Make sure you check at the same times of day or conditions, to compare. Such as when your cat has been asleep for a while. Or when they have been relaxed for some time. You want to compare apples with apples, not apples with oranges.

This checking will give you an idea if things are worsening or not.

If your cat has collapsed, then they need pretty urgent help. A vet will be able to drain the fluid from the lungs. This normally takes a few days of hospitalisation. This can be life saving for your cat, but also highly stressful.

They may feel you have abandoned them.

In addition, all vet clinics contain very stressed animals. And often people.

So it’s a good idea to avoid this scenario if you can.

You always want to check for any recent traumas that could cause this, because it's important to work out the cause before embarking on treatment. 

Acute causes include:

• injury
• flea, worm drugs
• any other vet meds
• shock

Treating these can resolve the issue.

The chronic causes can be a bit more tricky to elucidate.

However, one of the main causes of any and all poor health is the diet. No one can be healthy for long if they are eating the wrong food for the species, and nutrient deficient food at that.

Commercial cat food, whatever the brand or price, have no quality ingredients and offer little nutrition.

In essence, it's junk food.

To support a healthy immune system, it’s vital to feed your cat a diet they evolved on. Cats are carnivores. So they evolved on eating very fresh, and raw, meat and bones.

The typical ingredients of commercial cat food is high in carbohydrates (for a carnivore?), uses very low grade animal protein, normally the left overs from the more lucrative human market (cats need high grade animal protein) plus a plethora of preservatives and supplements. These are invariably synthetic, which add to the toxic load (cats are much more sensitive to chemicals than most people).

Simply by switching from a commercial cat food to a good quality raw diet can make a dramatically positive difference and often quickly. The immune system is getting the boost it needs to restore health.

In addition, using an holistic modality, such as homeopathy, for your cat makes more sense than loading them up with suppressive and potentially damaging veterinary drugs. Not only can good homeopathic treatment reverse pulmonary oedema in cats, or anyone, it can support general good health, in tandem with the diet.