Asthma Meds Not Helping

alonza

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We took my 10-year old, overweight cat to the vet last week due to excessive coughing. She's always been a little wheezy, but in the days prior to the vet visit, she was having about 4 coughing fits an hour, though she seemed didn't seem particularly bothered otherwise. Our vet immediately pronounced her condition to be grave the moment she left the cat carrier. He took an x-ray, told us a suspicious lump near her heart was probably cancer, and insisted that she stay overnight in an oxygen tent. We got a call from the radiologist the next morning that the supposed cancer was actually fat and that she had severe asthma, so we took her home and kept an eye on her. She was much, much worse leaving the vet than she'd been coming in, but after 24 hours of lethargy and severe coughing fits, she calmed down and seemed to be improving. The vet had given her a steroid and an antibiotic shot and she's now on 2 pills twice a day for asthma.

However, in the past couple of days, she's gone downhill. She's started to sneeze in addition to her coughing, though no fluids seem to be coming out, and her eyes are weeping too. Even when she's not coughing, she sounds very congested, and she seems to be struggling to breathe much of the time. Worryingly, she's been having what feel like silent hiccups too - little spasms that shake her whole body like hiccups would. She's a more lethargic than usual, but she's still getting around okay, cuddling, giving baths, and eating, though not so much as usual. I'm just very concerned for this breathing problem, particularly considering that the asthma medicine doesn't seem to be working. Her vet won't prescribe an antibiotic since the shot she was given should supposedly cover her for two weeks, but I have to believe that there's something else that can be done for her. Does this seem familiar to anyone else?
 

margd

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I'm a little surprised to hear the vet won't give an antibiotic prescription to take at home because of the antibiotic injection.  My vet has frequently given both, although perhaps different antibiotics were involved.  The reason I'm wondering about the second antibiotic is because my cat Milo suffered from asthma and his flare-ups never went away without a course of clavamox.  The clavamox always worked.  

Perhaps my own history with Milo is coloring my thoughts on your situation, but I'm wondering if you need a second opinion.  Your girl needs to go back to the vet.  It's not clear to me if this is an emergency, but I'd definitely try to get her in to the vet on Monday.

In the meantime, do you have a humidifier you can set up near her?  Also, try steaming up the bathroom with a hot shower and take her in there.  The steam should help her breathe a little easier.
 

LTS3

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Inhaled asthma medicines work better. Ask your vet about this. At the very least you should have an emergency inhaler on hand if your cat has a severe asthma attack. You will need the Aerokat device to give any inhaled medicine. The inahler fits into one end and you place the other end which has a rubber mask over the cat's nose.

http://www.fritzthebrave.com/ has lots of good information about asthma treatment.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/felineasthma/info is a good feline asthma group to join.
 
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