Posted By Bettierage (Baltimore, Maryland) on 10/06/2014

I have a 16-year-old, Butch Catsidy, who has been with me since he was 3 months old. To say this cat has my heart is a huge understatement. He has always been prone to seemingly random sneezing fits. I think he has feline herpes virus, but three different vets have seen him over the years and weren't concerned about it. None of our other cats are afflicted, so I've been told it's just a fact of Butch's life.

Last Sunday, his regular sneezing turned into a full-blown URI. He got some antibiotics, as well as some Tramadol because he had basically developed nose plugs from all the discharge. Removing those so he could breathe and constantly trying to clean out his nose was apparently very painful. By Wednesday, I'd managed to remove all the blockage and keep it clear, but he wasn't eating at all. The antibiotics had nauseated him, and at one point, he threw up what looked like nothing more than nasal drainage. He had at least managed to hydrate with no problems since the illness started, but at three days with no food, I was beginning to fear the worst. Plus, he still had a rattle in his throat from phlegm. Then I saw the bottle of ACV and remembered my grandmother swore by it for all her minor ailments. I found this site when trying to determine if it was safe for cats.

Wednesday night, I put some ACV in his water. I also got some cereal because he is fascinated with bowls and spoons, and when I eat from a bowl he becomes very interested. I didn't want to give him milk, but at that point, any calories were good calories. I set up three bowls by his water dish - the milk, some gravy, and some soft canned food. By Thursday morning, he'd moved on to the gravy. So I diluted some ACV in water and rubbed some on his front paws, as well as on his neck. He continued with the gravy off and on throughout the day. I had a meeting I had to go that night, and I put more ACV on his paws and neck before I left. I was gone for about five hours, and I came home to a completely different cat than the one I left. The only rattling he was doing was purring, and he was bouncy and playful again and - most importantly - ravenous. He followed me into the kitchen and yelled at me, as he usually does, so I opened a can of his favorite sardine flavor food. He went crazy over it. We continued feeding him small meals all day and night Friday. Saturday, I was texting my husband when the sunlight caught my phone and cast a light on the back of the sofa. Butch went nuts chasing it! And his nose was totally cleared and back to pink.

Yes, he did have antibiotics, so I can't be sure how much the ACV had to do with clearing up the URI. We had given him his last one Wednesday because the nausea was so bad, and we wanted to get a different antibiotic in hopes it wouldn't upset his stomach so much. As far as I know, the ACV took over for the Clavamox and cleared the rest of the infection. At the very least, it cured the nausea and brought back his appetite.

I told my husband that a few people had said giving ACV to a cat would mess up the cat's pH balance. He's a biologist, and he said a cat would have to drink an entire bottle undiluted for that to happen, and antibiotics are more likely to throw him off balance. We barely made a dent in the bottle to get Butch back to 100%, so I'm a believer!"