Upper respiratory infections are the most common infectious disease challenge in cat shelters, requiring systemic management to protect individual and population welfare.
URI causes significant welfare harm through nasal congestion (which eliminates cats' ability to smell food, dramatically reducing appetite), eye discharge causing pain and corneal damage, oral ulcers from calicivirus causing severe mouth pain, and generalized malaise. Kittens with severe URI can develop life-threatening anorexia within days. The shelter environment amplifies URI through stress-induced immunosuppression and high pathogen density. Population management - reducing length of stay through efficient adoption processes, targeted foster programs, and return-to-field for feral cats - is as important as medical management for reducing URI welfare burden. Treating URI without addressing population management is treating symptoms while perpetuating the cause.