Feline asthma

IMPORTANT: If your cat is in any distress or discomfort, please consult your own vet as your first priority.
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cathyday
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Feline asthma

Post by cathyday »

Dear All

Does anyone on this forum have experience of feline asthma? Our youngest JJ has recently had a couple of nasty coughing fits and breathes really quickly when awake. He's seen the vet tonight who says his breathing is rapid and wheezy. She feels he has asthma. I'm gutted as he's so lively and loving I cannot believe he could have this.

He's to go back on Monday for more tests. If it turns out to be asthma what's the treatment and prognosis? Does anyone know?

I'd be grateful for any input. Really down right now as I thought we'd at last got ourselves a moggy with no health issues....
booktigger
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Re: Feline asthma

Post by booktigger »

I've never dealt with it before Cathy, think there have been threads on here though. I know how gutting it is to feel you have a cat with no health issues and then get a curve ball, good luck
LittlePenBigHeart
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Re: Feline asthma

Post by LittlePenBigHeart »

I don't have a cat with a diagnosis of feline asthma but there's been a question mark over one of our cats for a few months now, so we saw a specialist who gave us some information about feline asthma. I'll try to remember as much as I can.

There are different treatments for it. Initially, if the diagnosis is feline asthma, they might want to put your cat on steroids, to see whether it makes a difference or not. However, the steroids can put quite a lot of pressure on the renal (I think) system, so they try to keep them on as low a dose as possible, and look at switching to the inhalers as soon as possible, if it's possible. The inhalers aren't like human ones, obviously, they're specially adapted for cats.

Overall, the prognosis can be very good, but it will be affected by how well your cat takes the steroids and/or the inhalers. It can also help to make some adjustments around the home environment. For example, avoid using air fresheners, perfumes, body sprays, etc around your cat. Try to keep them away from paint fumes as well...basically, if there's a chance it could cause difficulty for any humans, avoid it around your cat. When ours had his breathing problems, it was while we were renovating our kitchen. There was dust, dirt and mould in the air, and I was gloss painting the cupboard doors. Suddenly, Dylan had trouble breathing. But since that one first attack, he's been absolutely fine. Just to be on the safe side, though, we try to avoid perfumes and so on around him.

Anyway, I don't know how much help my barely coherent ramblings might be, but hopefully it'll help put your mind at rest a little until your appointment.
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