Asthma Inhaler

[kgropp16]

Moscato's been taking an oral steroid to treat her asthma symptoms. Her vet and I discussed the option of weaning her off the pills and transitioning her to an inhaler, specifically AeroKat. In addition to word-of-mouth, I've done a little bit of research and it seems like oral steroids aren't the best for long-term treatment.

I'm curious to hear what other TCS members have to say about inhalers vs pills when it comes to asthma. Does anyone have any experiences or recommendations for acclimating their kitties to the inhaler?

 

[foxden]

I believe both @Willowy and fodder have cats that use or have used inhalers. I know this is an early response, but I thought experts would be able to help.

 

[LTS3]

The AeroKat is easy to use once the cat is used to it. Some people start by placing an empty toilet paper tube, cut down smaller if the cat balks at a whole tube, over the cat's nose for a few seconds and then rewarding with a treat. Then you can work to placing just the rubber mask part onto the nose for a few seconds and rewarding with a treat. Then work up to the whole device but no inhaler medicine attached. The noise of the inhaler medicine when depressed may or may not scare a cat. Most cats are ok with the quick noise and will hold still to inhale for however long the vet prescribed.

 

[white shadow]

Hi kgropp16 !

Do you know about the specialized online community for people who are managing their cats' respiratory conditions?

Feline Asthma & Respiratory Diseases...a...Group with 4511 members
Welcome to the Feline Asthma Message Board. This board opened in January, 1999 and is the largest central resource available for Feline Asthma, with many members from around the world. It is designed for people who are owned by cats who have asthma or any other respiratory disease or disorder. We discuss anything and everything about feline respiratory systems from medications; including inhaled medications, symptoms, diagnostic tests, triggers and prognosis. We also provide a vital component to the treatment of Feline Asthma- emotional support. Anyone whose cat has trouble breathing is welcome. We also have a companion website, Feline Asthma & Respiratory Diseases, which provides a comprehensive overview of the disease.

=====+++=====​

You'll find those folks here: Feline Asthma & Respiratory Diseases

That companion website is here: Feline Asthma & Other Respiratory Disorders

From my experience, it's easier to manage all the info flow from these groups with a brand new email address (Yahoo is good) dedicated for the group.

Hope that helps.

 

[kittens mom]

foxxycat uses one for her Honeybee.

 

[foxxycat]

Hi there,
My Honeybee has been puffing away on her Aerokat since March 2013. She's been diagnosed with Asthma via X-rays. There's these tram lines/donuts to indicate inflammation. The flovent/Flixotide is a corticosteroid and it gets deeper into the tissues of the lungs than oral pred without the side effects.

You also will need an inhaler of Albuterol as a fast acting bronchodilator. You can get a script for this from the vet and it runs around $40-$70 at the pharmacy. This is only for emergencies OR if you are new to asthma treatments=we often recommend giving a puff of albuterol ten minutes before the Flovent in the first 10 days of starting Flovent inhalers=it doesn't treat inflammation BUT will open airways to allow the flovent to get deeper. Often people discontinue this after a week or so of being on Flovent.

The Flovent/Flixotide takes 10-14 days to build up in the lung tissue BUT I have seen results in as few as 3 days with my own cat.

I purchase the Flovent/Flixotide overseas at kiwidrug.com. I also use inhousepharmacy.vu as well. Both are good pharmacies. The price in US for this runs $350 and overseas $50-$60 an inhaler. So I buy it overseas. I only use the 220/250 mcg strength. I don't even bother with the 125 one. It's not strong enough to treat the asthma in cats-it sounds like a high dose but due to cats chemical makeup different than humans=they process medication differently than we do in some instances. I always recommend start with 220/250 one. The 220mcg is the US measurement. Overseas it's 250 mcg-it's the exact same thing-just a different way of measuring.

The only difference in inhalers here=they have a counter on them. The ones overseas don't have a counter so you will need to keep track of how many puffs. They are suppsed to have 120 puffs in the Flovent ones=I give 4 puffs a day=so about 25 days is what I get-some people use it all the way to the end-I only do it for 25 days unless we skip a dose-which sometimes she hides under the bed in the morning so If I don't grab her right when she first says good morning to us=I won't be able to give it=it doesn't seem to be a problem but we have been puffing away for 4 years now.

Some people dial back to 125 one six months later-I don't recommend this. I tried this with Honeybee and she was wheezing and coughing again-so we just keep her on what works. They recommend blood work every year to check levels-I haven't done this. I go every other year unless of course she's doing something different- vomiting/lethargic/changes in eating/pee/poo etc. For the past 4 years she runs around like a nut, climbs trees and does the normal cat things.

The first 2 months I had her-she was unable to run around. the biggest signs=fast breathing in her sleep, coughing in the middle of the night, resting often after playing. The first vet blew it off as her being nervous even though she walked around the clinic and said hello to everyone=I said does that look like a nervous kitty?! So 4 days later I took her to the ER vet because I didn't like her breathing or wheezing..xrays showed inflammation-so I made appointment with my regular vet-she wasn't familiar with asthma treatment with the Aerokat but she was open to it..so your vet may not be familiar but as long as they write the script-doesn't hurt to try.

One more note=I always recommend getting a heart ultrasound in the beginning=in the group posted above-we sometimes get a case of a cat who has cardiac issues that mimic asthma. So for Honeybee we did 2 heart scans=I do it every 2-3 years-just to make sure all is well. It's a very quick test-and most times they don't have to sedate-the worst part is shaving the area of chest but the actual ultrasound is minutes.

I went to a cardiologist for animals instead of internal vet. You can price around-some places are very expensive but this is just a routine check to make sure heart is ok. I get nervous about vets giving cats pred when they don't know the condition of the heart-this is just my advise=it's not yet procedure for vets in treatment of asthma=but I am hoping by working with new patients of Asthma-that they can be proactive in the treatments and more vets will offer this service.

If nothing else-it gives a good baseline for future issues=more than likely you won't need to do another ultrasound unless there's symptoms not being treated or able to be treated. (Last summer was horrible for her asthma-I got a heart scan and the doctor said he has seen more patients come in with issues = due to the high humidity etc) So try to keep the AC going when it's hot out-no perfumes/hair sprays etc.

Youtube has tons of videos to show you how to train. The key word-TREATS and FOOD! Honeybee gets her breakfast after puffs. So it wasn't hard to train her.

Any questions about anything feel free to ask.

 

[fodder]

There is a lot of great info here already. More than i can offer for sure.
I was also given the same advice from my vet. At first i was worried that my girl would not approve, she is quite nasty at times and doesn't like to messed with however the transition was very easy. It only took a few attempts before she realized it was no big deal and was making her feel better.
The inhalers have to be used more regularly to maintain prevention but they do a good job. My cat was prescribed seretide for her asthma.

Some info i can give you though. Just for educational purposes. I also have asthma myself and the inhalers that you get from your doctor are EXACTLY the same as the ones the vet provides. I live in New Zealand and while the vet charges around $20 for one inhaler i get them for myself absolutely free. I strongly suggest doing your research before acting on this advice but it can save you a lot of money if your circumstances are similar.

 

[mewcatmew]

The best advice I can give is puff the inhaler into the aerocat chamber then immediately put it over the cats face. I have puffed it while the mask is over his face and it scares my cat. Just make sure you put it on the cat immediately after puffing, I have him right there waiting so I extend the puffer away from him, puff, then onto his face within 1 second of the puff into the chamber. (That is, if the puffing scares your cat in the first place!)

 

[foxxycat]

the price for inhalers in the states is $$$ vs $$ on the New Zealand site which is why I gave the advice. I wouldn't pay $380 for the same thing I can get for $50 online.

 

[fodder]

I couldn't actually find the inhalers on that kiwi site. I'm actually quite amazed you can get them from here as they are prescription only medicine in this country. Still sounds like they are over charging you though. $50 for one inhaler is steep! I'm assuming that is USD to which is about $70 NZ.
For me the most expensive inhaler i get is ventolin and it's about $8 for 3 months worth.

Maybe you should visit your doctor. It sounds like you might have a cough wink wink.

 

[foxxycat]

the inhalers are flixotide on that site. sorry I forgot to mention! They come singles and 3 and 5 or 6 a pack-I always get the $250 pack-forget if it's 5 or 6.

yes my insurance won't cover flovent. I tried.

 

[foxxycat]

yes you have to send them a prescription. The vet fills out a script-I take a picture with my phone and email it to them-they have a fax number but it never seems to work for me. The pain is when they call you to verify bank account numbers but other than that-so easy to order! In fact I have to make another order for the late summer/fall.