Albuteral Crazies

My cat’s asthma has been flaring up, I guess bc of allergies. She keeps coughing and we’ve started to increase her Pred again and add back theophylline (we had gotten her down to just 1/2 Pred and 1-2 puffs Flovent 2x day). But it’s not working, or maybe it just needs a few days. She started coughing again so I gave her albuteral, and now she’s running around like a crazy, licking herself frantically like her skin is crawling. I called the emergency vet bc it’s late and they said a side effect is excitability, and she should calm down within the hour, but it’s the licking part I’m concerned about. Anyone have this experience?

I don't have direct experience with this, but I have heard that musculoskeletal twitchiness is another fairly common side effect. I am guessing that might explain the licking/skin crawling part.

If the vet suggested the side effect of excitability should diminish with the hour, I would think that would also apply to the licking. If that isn't the case, you might want to call the vet and ask about that specific side effect and if it would be expected to last longer than the excitability.

She did calm down in an hour. She’s still licking but it’s probably allergies and I’m taking her to the dermatologist next week.

The pollen is terribly bad this year. Even if your cat doesn't go outside you're bring some in on you and your clothes. We throw everything into the wash when we come in and do a full shower hair wash to get as much off as possible. This doesn't mean it couldn't be other allergies, it's just that the pollen is making everything else worse.

Kflowers said:

The pollen is terribly bad this year. Even if your cat doesn't go outside you're bring some in on you and your clothes. We throw everything into the wash when we come in and do a full shower hair wash to get as much off as possible. This doesn't mean it couldn't be other allergies, it's just that the pollen is making everything else worse.

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That’s a good point. I noticed her allergies really act up when she’s on the table by where I hang my jacket. I could not for the life of me figure out what it could be. Maybe that’s it. Thanks.