Kitty diagnosed with Asthma

Hello,

Just found this site, I am up and cannot sleep as we had to rush our kitty to the emergency hospital as he was having a hard time breathing, he is our first cat, rescued last year at age one.

A week ago he started "hacking" so we thought he had a fur ball, bought some OTC med but nothing came up and he got worse last night, was breathing with his mouth open and was in distress.

He is in am oxygen "tent" at the hospital and thankfully is doing a little better, after X-rays Dr thinks Asthma but is sending the films out to a radiologist to make sure.

Is anyone familiar with asthma?

All I can think of we did something wrong, I am so upset at myself, we didn't know what was happening to our little guy.

Siting by phone waiting to hear from vet.

You did nothing wrong. I've just posted in the cardiomyopothy thread about a cat I had. He had asthma type symptoms as a result. If it is asthma you can get inhalers like human one to treat it. You'll be told to get something called an 'aerokat '. This is like the nebuliser (?) used for asthmatic babies. It takes a while to train your cat to it, but with patience and lots of treats it can be done. There are tons of videos on YouTube showing how it's used.

Try not to worry. Once you get the right meds your cat will do a lot better.

My pony developed asthma last summer. It's same treatment, different dosage. Once the meds got into her system she did really well , and now you wouldn't know she had a problem.

PM me if it'll help.

Hi Columbine and thank you.

So pleased your pony is doing well!

Still up waiting for vet to call! Have been reading up on the aerokat.

Am researching on the web, am wondering if anyone has any suggestions for cat litter and food for cats who have asthma? Am reading maybe grain fee food would be best?

Am reading grain free, only wet food, special litter...my head is spinning!

You sound like me! In general, I believe that feeding the most natural diet you can is best for all animals. Having said that, I've not had great success with raw diets for dogs, and my remaining cat is resolute in his addiction to 'junk food'!

I would definitely try to go grain free if it was my cat in this situation. In general, wet is better than dry because cats don't have a strong enough thirst drive to compensate for the lack of moisture in dry food. I've always fed a high proportion of wet to dry...again, old cat set in his ways won't change...

I found a herbal supplement to support the respiratory tract helped my pony. I've no idea if it's possible to get the same kind of thing for cats, but it might be worth looking in to. In general I believe that herbs can't hurt, but do check with your vet (I did) before starting anything like that.

Good luck

Forgot to say, I would have thought that if the litter is low dust and the tray is kept clean there shouldn't be too much of an issue

Hi and thanks again for your reply,

That is interesting about the herbal supplement, will ask the vet about that, glad your pony is doing well.

Kitty is still in the ER on oxygen but am picking him up tonight

Am on my way up to Petco to buy grain free canned food and a better litter, I can spend ages in there asking questions, looking at ingredients!!

Am so new here so not sure, do you have a cat now? the one in your avatar is adorable

Our is a Russian Blue, the sweetest little boy ever and has only one ear, we also have a dog, only ever had dogs before so never been around cats, absolutely love this little guy though.

I'm new too. Yes I do have a cat now...Shadow, a British blue shorthair who's the brother of Cali (my avatar pic). Thanks for the compliment. He's sorely missed.

I also care for a very friendly, elderly semi feral tabby at the stables who's called Pushkin. I kind of have a 3rd cat that I've been talking about in the ferals and strays forum. I'm waiting to get her back from the vet. There's another semi feral I'm trying to trap spay and re home too...the trap part is proving more difficult than I thought!

In addition to these and the pony I have 2 dogs...life can get pretty hectic here

Good luck with your boy. He sounds stunning. Try not to stress too much. Asthma is very treatable once you have the kit. Training to use the aerokat can be fun and games though. You have been warned...:happy2:

Sorry. Will get my act together one day :doh3:
I found the herbs for my pony online from a specialist in equine herbs. My experience is that vets are pretty skeptical. The way to go is to research yourself, find the product that feels right to you, then take all the info to your vet and just run it past them. Don't expect them to say it'll work, just check that they're happy for you to try it.

"You'll be told to get something called an 'aerokat '. This is like the nebuliser (?) used for asthmatic babies.'

You were right about the 'aerokat' being like something that is used for asthmatic babies but it is called a spacer not a Nebulizer.

You did not do anything wrong. You didn't know.  I am more familiar with people with asthma (I am a nurse) than with animals but My kitty was also recently diagnosed with asthma. I too thought he had hairballs. He would hack and cough but never cough anything up, after trying otc hairball remedies I made an appointment to see the vet.  His chest Xray showed changes in his lungs indicative of asthma. Luckily Cookie didn't go into respiratory distress.  Not sure what your vets plan will be but my Cookie was first put on Prednisolone (an oral steroid. It starts off at a higher dose and is tapper down slowly). For long term cookie will be on flovent which is an inhaled steroid (the medicine you would use with the areokat). Although your cat may also be put on a Bronchodilator (it is also an inhaled medicine but is for use in an emergency like you described "breathing with mouth open and in distress").

I have also changed cookies litter. I started using Yesterdays news unscented. I noticed that the litter I was using before this one claimed to be dust free but whenever I cleaned or scooped the litter I could see the dust clouds in the air. I do not see that with Yesterdays News. It takes some getting used to but I have noticed a lot less (close to none at all) dust in the area around the litter box. So it is worth a try to see if you and your cat like it.

I hope you and your kitty are doing well.

Read the reviews. Discuss with your vet.

Here's a good web site to learn more about feline asthma and treatments: http://www.fritzthebrave.com/

My now GA cat had asthma. He was treated with inhaled Flovent given through the AeroKat device. The Flovent is the same that Human asthmatics use. Your vet will give you a prescription and you buy it at any Human pharmcy. I actually bought Flovent from the vet hospital's pharmacy because it cost less than at the Human pharmacies.

I don't know if a diet change would help with asthma but a grain-free diet is healthier for cats in general. Using a low dust litter and keeping the house fairly clean and dust-free can help with the asthma.

CisforCookie said:

"You'll be told to get something called an 'aerokat '. This is like the nebuliser (?) used for asthmatic babies.'
You were right about the 'aerokat' being like something that is used for asthmatic babies but it is called a spacer not a Nebulizer.

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I didn't think nebulizer sounded right, but I couldn't think of the right word! :doh3:

My cat was diagnosed with asthma in November and he did well on Prednisolone 5mg twice a day for several months until a relapse a couple weeks ago and two severe asthma attacks. In researching all the treatment options, the best treatment seems to be Flovent 250mg taken two times a day using the Aerokat and also having an albuterol inhaler onhand for after he has an asthma episode (for two days you would treat him with this inhaler). If your vet is willing, there is a reputable online pharmacy call Inhouse Pharmacy that carries the inhalers at quite a discount compared to if you purchased them here. Your vet can fax the prescription then you can order the meds. I'm slowly going to wean off the Prednisolone after Sonny uses the inhalers for two weeks. Good luck with your kitty and I hope you consider this line of treatment as everything I've read says this is the best treatment for feline asthma.

Hi Columbine,

I know you miss your Cali but am pleased you have Shadow, that's really special that they are siblings, that has to be nice!

Yes, you do have a hectic life, kudos to you for all that you do for animals in need, I have my rescue kitty, a very rambunctious little rescue dog and often have the wonderful dog of my neighbor who passed away last year, he loves to come here and play and he goes back and forth between me and his "grandparents"

Our kitty ended up staying on oxygen again last night, thought we could pick him up last night but he needed to stay, just spoke with the vet and he is now out of the oxygen, yay!! am picking him up tonight and he will have to inhalers, he is on pills right now.

Have to get the Aerokat from amazon. Been reading about herbs, natural supps that have helped asthmatic cats, must talk to our local vet about it all, she is always great.

Thanks again for everything!

CisforCookie: Yes, was told to get the Aerokat, also kitty will come home with 2 inhalers, one for emergency, right now he is on pills that will taper down.

Very scary what happened, did not know just how critically sick he was but knew to race him to the ER, I tell you he is the sweetest, most precious boy, lived on the streets and so sick when found, only one ear and he has stolen our hearts for sure!!

Hope you kitty is doing really well.

Mosimom: Thank you for the great link!

LTS3: Never would have thought we could take the prescription to a human pharmacy, just sounds so strange doesn't it! Today am getting it at the animal hospital but am going to call around the human pharmacies for the future.

Yesterday went to Petco and bought grain free wet food and a new litter, it's from Dr Lerey's (not right in front of me but think that's the name) also not going to spray anything in the house etc.

hope you and all your kitties are well.

sonnyvincent: Great info about the online pharmacy, thanks! Been doing lot's of research and it does seem what you are describing is the way to go, vet said we had options, can give pills but doesn't like to give them for the long run, right now he is on some kind of pill and we will wean him off them.

Sure hope Sonny is okay, the attacks are not fun.

Good to hear your boy's doing better babyblue. I hope he'll be back to his old self soon.

Good luck and lots of to all the asthmatic cats and their carers here. I know how awful it feels when they have a flare up. :cross:

babyblue said:

 
LTS3: Never would have thought we could take the prescription to a human pharmacy, just sounds so strange doesn't it! Today am getting it at the animal hospital but am going to call around the human pharmacies for the future.

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Pets do use Human medcines "off label" under the treatment advice of a vet. Always check with the vet first to see if the medicine can be bought at a Human pharmacy.

Here's a list of cat medicines that Target pharmacies have: http://www.target.com/pharmacy/petrx-cat-medications-condition Flovent is listed right there under Allergies and Asthma Other pharmacies should be able to fill medicines from a similar listing.

You can check approximate pricing for medicine here: http://www.goodrx.com/

Consider using a pet prescription card to save some money on medicines for pets bought at a Human pharmacy. There are lots of different ones out there. All are free of charge and do not require a membership or sign up or anything. Here are a few:

http://www.aspca.org/about-us/corpo...a-pet-rx-and-help-a-pet-rx-prescription-cards

http://www.petdrugcard.com/index.html

http://www.freepetrxdiscountcard.com/

http://www.aaa.com/aaa/AAAPrescriptions/PresSavings_FAQ.htm

my mom's cat has had asthma and has had it for the past 3 or 4 years. we were so scared at first, with all the wheezing. but we took him to the vet immediately because we looked at him like our little baby, and they said he's over weight and has asthma. they started to give him one injection a month to help control it and calm it down, it did help. I'm not sure what the medicine was, sorry. but I would ask your doctor. you should keep your cat an indoor cat also if you're worried about its health, a lot is outdoors that it could catch too. also around allergy seasons I noticed my cat would wheeze a little more. I hope this helped, and I hope your cat is doing a little better. good luck

These are how Sonny's asthma attacks typically look. I missed the first 30 seconds or so getting my phone out and to the recorder, but they usually don't last a whole long time. He's now started wheezing half the time he has an attack, and has had 6 attacks (2  minor, 2 like the one in the video, and 2 scarier ones) in the last week. He just started the Flovent last night and it can take a week or two to show improvement so I hope in the meantime he does OK.  He did so well from November until a week and a half ago, I'm not sure what happened

Here's the video I took in October to show the vet shortly before he was diagnosed:

Thank you everyone for your help, very appreciated.

Oh, poor Sonny, how is doing now? So sorry he's having those attacks.

Brought kitty home last night but am worried, he's on the liquid steroid so not sure if this is a side effect and have a call in to the vet so waiting to hear.

His stomach area is still moving weirdly, he seems to be pulling it in harder than usual every 4 secs or so, it's like a twitching, also I don't know if he's sneezing, he's making a weird noise and rubbing his nose, if I don't hear from vet very soon am taking him back in. He settles for a bit then does it.

I feel just awful, looking back we should have taken him to emergency 2 days before we did, just thought it was a fur ball but when I looked at the videos of a cat hunched on the floor extending it's neck and hacking that's what he was doing.