Feline Asthma

Well we think my baby Lombardi has feline asthma. We took him in today and he had a chest xray and got a shot of depo-medrol. Now we have to wait for the next two to three weeks to see if his symptoms stop.

If anyone has any suggestions about treatment options I would love to hear it. I have read numerous articles online of the dangers of long term steroids and things. I am more worried about him being 1 yr 1/2 old and having to take meds the rest of his life. I worry about liver and kidney damage.

I want to be very informed when we go back for the follow up in a few weeks.

Please share any insight!

Thanks,

Amanda

I worked for a Holistic vet for years. She saw many cats with asthma and used a lot of acupuncture on them. It was truly amazing since so many people would have their cats on steroids and inhalers for years and it still wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t control it. But after acupuncture series and occasional tune-ups these cats lived normal lives.

One of my cats, approximately 1 1/2 years old, one day was coughing as though he had a hair ball. Next thing I knew I could liberally see him breathing from the back. I contacted our Vet and she thought it could be upper respiratory condition. Since I do cat rescue, I am very familiar with an upper respiratory condition and I knew he didn't have it. We met her at the office and by this time he was open mouth breathing. She explained anytime a cat open mouth breaths, they can die. We put him on oxygen and she did an x-ray. By this time he crashed. She literally brought him back. He was diagnosed with Asthma. We started him on 2 X a day prednisone for the first 7 days, then 1 per day for 7 days, then 1 everyother day for 7 days then 1/2 a pill everyother day. When we hit the 3rd time of 1/2 a pill everyother day, he had another severe attack. He started open mouth breathing and I swear within 30 seconds his tongue was blue. I have a nebulizer and immediately put him in the mask with albuterol. The vet came over and gave him a shot again of DepoMedrol. We started over again with the Prednisone prodical. At this point we went for 5 weeks and we were at the 1/2 a pill again stage and I could tell it was going to happen again. He was coughing. I took him in and the Vet again gave him a DepoMedrol and back on the Prednisone prodical. At this point we have completed the Prednisone and have just started today 1 every 12 hours of Terbutaline 2.5 mg. I pray this works as my biggest concern is that I work 2 jobs and if he has a problem and I am not home, he will not make it. Asthma is extremely dangerous if you can't get it under control. Since I do cat rescue I work directly with our animal shelter. They have allowed me to put a number of my foster "kids" (cats) on the web. I had to unselfishly put him on it as I feel if anyone is home 24-7 this would be the ideal situation. I pray this new medication works.

Les

Have you figured out what might trigger his asthma? That might be helpful.
A lot of cleaning products & cat litters
with scent (Scoop Away is especially offensive) triggers attacks in my 10 yr. old, Dusty, who was diagnosed with asthma about 6 years ago. She's
not so bad that she's on medication all the time ONLY because the
whole family makes an effort to use products she can tolerate. She's gone over a year
now without going to the vet for the shot but I do keep prednisilone tablets on hand & try to be
very careful about her triggers so I only have to use the prednisilone sparingly.

I have not been able to figure this out. Nothing has changed in the house, the number of "foster" animals is almost alway's the same. They are not allowed outside so we are stumped! He was 1 of three (called the 3 amigo's) dumped at our animal shelter when they were about 4 weeks old. They were forever at my Vets initially due to Upper respiratory and then ringworm. Since then, he and his brother have been with me as no one adopted them. When they were at the Vet's they were diagnosed with a heart murmur but they have out grown that. Hopefully this new medication will work. I am going to explore acupuncture as we do have a Vet that does it in my town. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Les

I have a cat with asthma and allergies.

I got rid of all caustic cleaners. Only natural products are used.
The vacuum is a HEPA filtered version that clears the air.

Most importantly I have 2 large Blueair air filters. That, more than anything else, reduced Gizmo's attacks considerably. Every time she has one it's when I have neglected to clean the apartment properly.

She's also on a special diet (rabbit) which not only made her healthier, she now has a velvet coat and is very active. She also dropped a pound.

I'll find out on Monday if the spots on her lungs (there when I adopted her) have disappeared or grown worse. We're taking another chest X ray. But I know that her quality of life is way better when I take certain precautions that are also good for me.

I hope that your little boy doesn't have to take too much Prednizone. Poor Gizmo had horrible side effects from it and I got her off it immediately.
I would gladly try acupuncture for her conditions if someone here did it.

good luck

And the litter is important. Do NOT use a clay litter! It is full of dust that will trigger the asthma attacks! We use Nature's Miracle and I can't say enough good things about this brand.

I am curious about the symptoms of how you figured your cat had asthma - my cat does the open mouthed breathing but only after playing way too hard or too long and also seems to be "snuffly" at times or have post-nasal drip (seems to swallow). I know it isn't an upper-respiratory thing, and it isn't all the time. She does have hairballs and vomits occasionally (about once every 2-3) and otherwise seems fine.

I had taken her to the vet about the vomiting and told him to check her breathing and he said it was fine. I am definitely asking more when I go again and maybe insist on a chest x-ray for insurance.

thanks for the info.

When we went in for a wellness check up in the summer my vet assured me it was just hairballs. He said my cat was too young and healthy to be asthma. Well the "attacks" started happening more frequently lately. I was on a website with a video of a cat having an attack. We took him in last night and the vet did a check up again and could hear mild weezing in his chest. After listening to our story about how he stretches his neck and coughs he ordered a chest xray. He could see the "doughnut" shapes in his lungs.

My cat never breathes heavy and has mostly started coughing after waking up. His heart never races or has open mouth breathing.

Thanks for all the information that you have given.

Originally Posted by Forget-Me-Not

I am curious about the symptoms of how you figured your cat had asthma - my cat does the open mouthed breathing but only after playing way too hard or too long and also seems to be "snuffly" at times or have post-nasal drip (seems to swallow). I know it isn't an upper-respiratory thing, and it isn't all the time. She does have hairballs and vomits occasionally (about once every 2-3) and otherwise seems fine.

I had taken her to the vet about the vomiting and told him to check her breathing and he said it was fine. I am definitely asking more when I go again and maybe insist on a chest x-ray for insurance.

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My cat wheezes in the classic position--head out, legs tucked under body. I did not notice whether her mouth was wide open (I don't think it was.) Two vets diagnosed her with asthma; the second said she also had allergies and a heart condition.

Six months later Gizmo's illnesses appear to be under control (crosses fingers) but I'll know more on Monday when we do her first chest X ray in a year.

I have noticed Astrid in that position, but she wasn't coughing or wheezing. I wonder if it is more comfortable for her. It is odd because she isn't sitting, or laying down and she will stay like that for awhile.

I have an apartment in an older building on a fairly busy street, and it does get dusty quickly. I guess I need to be a much better housekeeper if she is developing problems. A trip to the vet seems to be in order sooner rather than later.

My RB cat Gaby has asthma most of her life and she lived to be 15 yrs old. She died of something totally unrelated to the asthma. She was on something called Brethine. I don't know if it was a steroid. It kept her attacks under control for years.

Tonight we bought new furance filters that were mega filtrated. I bought a new type of litter that is wheat based scoopable. And we got a humidifer for our bedroom. I don't know if any of these things will help him, but they can't hurt!

We will be waiting until December 4th for a follow up visit to decide if it really is asthma and the course of treatment.

I just want to be well informed before we decide what to do.

The winter season is dangrous because we have not got the windows open to keep air circulating in the houses. Indoor air pollution is often worse than outdoor! Those furnace filters may do the trick. They certainly won't hurt either you or the cat.
The litter also will make quite a difference.

Astrid the cat is just relaxing. My own cat also relaxes with all four paws under the body. But if the cat has its neck fully extended, with the head close to the ground, and is wheezing, that is potentially very serious. I believe it's called the 'meatloaf position?'
Gizmo looks very different when she's wheezing and when she's just resting.

Thanks. What Astrid does is a little different than the meatloaf position (I love that!) - she is in a crouching position with her head and neck just sort of looking around. I have seen her get in this position just prior to a hairball, but sometimes (well, quite alot) she just does while hanging out or looking out the window or whatever. It just doens't look very comfortable, but hey, as long as she doesn't seem to be in distress I guess I will just let her be.

And sometimes when she meows (she is a very vocal kitty) she sounds like she has laryngitis (sp?).

I have been reading this thread and thought I would share this with you....
My kitty Dexter was recently diagnosed with asthma.
While doing research I found this picture which shows a cat in one of the classic asthma postures....

http://www.fritzthebrave.com/asthma/symptoms.html

Good luck with your Asthma kitties.

Wellington takes a quarter prednisone tablet every two days for asthma, and gets occasional attacks. It is much better since we moved to France and hte countryside - clean air is very important. It is strange that it doesn't seem to matter that there is dust in the air from building works - it was the chemical pollution in the city that was bad.

Xocats, that's very similar to what Gizmo does, but since the cat in that picture is overweight, he can't do what Gizmo does..she really pushes from the back and her neck seems twice as long as normal.

Her wheezing attacks were at one point really serious, and she had a look of real distress on her face. Thankfully the filters have made this 'history'--her current attacks are few and far between, and very mild. But I'm getting her chest X rayed on Monday anyway, to see if the spots on her lungs have disappeared.