I'm Confused About Albuterol And Flovent

[furrypurry]

Re: My boy and his asthma symptoms. I talked with my vet about trying to switch him from oral steroid pills to an inhaler. He called in a script for albuterol. Is that something that can be used long-term/daily or is it just for emergencies? Everything I'm reading sounds like it's a rescue type drug. Is it even a steroid? I am so confused.............sometimes I think my vet is, too.

 

[lalagimp]

it's used for attacks. It's non steroidal. If his attacks are persistent, then you should use Flovent or an equivalent.
Stewburger has maybe 1 or 2 attacks per week, or less, so he gets albuterol.

 

[LTS3]

Flovent is the most common inhaled medicine to use daily. I'm pretty sure albuterol is more of a emergency use only type inhaler for cats because it works very quickly. The Fritz The Brave web site says this:

Bronchodilator Medication Detail: Albuterol (Proventil®, Ventolin®, Salbutamol)


The bronchodilator albuterol acts more rapidly than the oral or injected terbutaline and is more effective than the theophylline compounds. It can be easily and quickly administered by the caregiver during signs of respiratory distress. It is typically used on an as-needed basis for asthmatic cats already on daily steroids and displaying cough or wheezing. Albuterol is regarded as a safe drug. Side effects may include temporary musculoskeletal twitchiness, elevated heart rate, excitability, insomnia, anorexia, although extremely uncommon.
Feline Asthma with Fritz the Brave - Inhaled Medications


This group is helpful for all thigs feline asthma: Feline Asthma Yahoo Group

If you feel the vet isn't very knowledgable about feline asthma, seek out the opnion of another vet. Giving the incorrect or out dated treatment can affect your cat's health.

 

[furrypurry]

I am about to pull my hair out. I just started going to this vet because the last one was useless. I seriously am beginning to wonder if this one has ever treated an asthmatic cat, although he's been in practice for over 15 years. I will be at his doorstep tomorrow morning to have a face to face talk with him.

Next question - will the albuterol chamber even work with the Aerokat? I haven't taken it out of the foil pouch yet but it appears to be square in shape where the Aerokat is round.

 

[LTS3]

The end of the Aerokat is a universal piece that any metered inhaler can fit into.

Some people find that sharing information found online with the vet is a good step is coming up with the right treatment plan, especially for diseases a vet may not have much experience in. Published articles and studies in veterinary journals are best. General articles written by a "pet expert" on an informal website may be baised or unreliable.

http://www.cliniciansbrief.com/site...files/InhaledCorticosteroidsAirwayDisease.pdf
http://www.fritzthebrave.com/meds/inhaled_protocol.pdf

 

[furrypurry]

I found a video online so now I understand how it fits. I feel like I'm having to hunt for information that my vet should have provided me with. My whole point of asking for the inhaler was so that we could discontinue the oral steroids, as they really make his herpes flare. The inhaler may do that, too, but I was hoping it wouldn't be as hard on him.

 

[Willowy]

Inhaled steroids are easier on the system, yes. They don't have as systemic of an effect, it's mainly confined to the lungs. As a person with asthma, I think what you want is an inhaled corticosteroid (like Flovent) for daily use and albuterol for acute attacks. Sometimes you have to tell vets exactly what you want :/.

 

[Darkwave]

Hi - I have no experience with feline asthma, but a fair amount of experience with asthma itself, since I have it.

Asthma has both an inflammatory component (treated by corticosteroids) and a bronchoconstriction component (treated by beta-agonists, generally).

Beta-agonists come in both long-acting (LABA) and short-acting. Albuterol is a short-acting beta-agonist, while the oral steroids and Flovent are both corticosteroids. So two different types of drugs.

Corticosteroids come in both oral and inhaled forms - the oral forms work systematically, while the inhaled steroids work only locally on the lungs.

Different individuals have different flavors of asthma, and need different combos of the two types of drugs. Many of us are on combination inhalers that contain both a LABA and an inhaled corticosteroid (examples are Advair, Symbicort, Breo, Dulera) and then we also carry an albuterol inhaler as a rescue.

I hope this background information on general (not feline) asthma is somewhat helpful.

 

[texasgmp]

Albuterol also comes in a liquid suspension that works well for horses and cats.
And it can be used on a daily basis.
We had a young horse in cutting training in the barn I worked at. He got 20cc an hour before his training sessions. We also had to change his feed from hay to milled feed so he wasn't breathing hay dust.
I have also had a couple of cats that were given this , the dosage was in drops from an eyedropper. The liquid can be flavored at the pharmacy so it's not objectional to cats. I found bubblegum was the flavor for mine.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Inhaled steroids are easier on the system, yes. They don't have as systemic of an effect, it's mainly confined to the lungs. As a person with asthma, I think what you want is an inhaled corticosteroid (like Flovent) for daily use and albuterol for acute attacks. Sometimes you have to tell vets exactly what you want :/.

That up there about sums it up.

My male two year old gray tabby cat, Atticus, who is the subject of my post in the cat huffer's thread, has asthma. So while I'm huffing him because he smells so good, he's huffing his Flovent through his AeroKat. And yes, Willowy is right: sometimes you have to break it down for your vet.