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- Sep 22, 2018
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Hi, everyone. Recently, one of my cats was diagnosed with asthma. I have absolutely no experience with feline asthma, so I'm honestly quite terrified. I'd be really grateful if any of you can give me some advice about what I should and shouldn't do. First, I'm gonna tell you about my cat.
About two years ago, I adopted a stray cat. He's neutered, so he's either someone's cat who ran away, abandoned, or a part of TNR. He's a male orange tabby, very chubby, and he loves to eat. I named him Miku. After a while, I noticed that every once in a while he'll have a coughing fit. His body hunched and he'll cough with his tongue out. After that, he acted like nothing happened. I took him many different vets and all of them said that he's just having a persistent URI. He took tons of antibiotics but the coughing fit never went away. So I stopped taking him to the vet. It's scary how much drugs he's taken with no improvement at all. I decided to observe him instead, just in case his cough worsened or another symptoms arise. One of the vet told me that he's a senior cat, about 7-10 years old.
Three weeks ago, he had the worst coughing fit. Just like usual, his body hunched, he's coughing with his tongue out, but the cough lasted way longer than usual and he retched and vomited in the end. It's clear that he's having difficulty breathing afterwards so I immediately took him to emergency vet clinic. The vet took an xray and told me he's having an asthma attack. She put an IV line on Miku and he stayed for 4 days in the clinic. During the stay, she gave him intravenous aminophylline and nebulize him with a mixture of albuterol, fluticasone, and normal saline. Thankfully, his breathing difficulty was gone by the second day of his stay. I took him home after 4 days. The vet prescribed oral terbutaline and mucopect (mucus thinner) and nebules of albuterol and fluticasone so I can nebulize him at home.
The second day home, I noticed that he's still coughing but not severe. A couple of coughs and he's back to doing whatever he's currently doing. His appetite hasn't returned to normal yet, but he eats and drinks enough. I contacted the vet and she said it's normal as long as there's no breathing difficulty. I took him for checkup a week later and the vet said he's doing good. His oral meds were discontinued, but I still have to nebulize him twice a day with fluticasone and normal saline, plus albuterol as needed for the next three weeks. I haven't been able to identify what his asthma trigger is. Since I'm allergic to many things, I've been keeping my house very clean. Since he returned from the clinic, I changed his litter from bentonite clumping litter to soy pellet. I tried changing his food to hypoallergenic but he's not having it. He only wants to eat his regular food or nothing at all.
Now, he's still doing the hunched coughing every other day or so. No breathing difficulty, still eating and drinking just fine. I wonder if this is really normal like the vet said? Shouldn't he be free of any symptoms if his asthma is under control? I just can't bear seeing him coughing like that .
About two years ago, I adopted a stray cat. He's neutered, so he's either someone's cat who ran away, abandoned, or a part of TNR. He's a male orange tabby, very chubby, and he loves to eat. I named him Miku. After a while, I noticed that every once in a while he'll have a coughing fit. His body hunched and he'll cough with his tongue out. After that, he acted like nothing happened. I took him many different vets and all of them said that he's just having a persistent URI. He took tons of antibiotics but the coughing fit never went away. So I stopped taking him to the vet. It's scary how much drugs he's taken with no improvement at all. I decided to observe him instead, just in case his cough worsened or another symptoms arise. One of the vet told me that he's a senior cat, about 7-10 years old.
Three weeks ago, he had the worst coughing fit. Just like usual, his body hunched, he's coughing with his tongue out, but the cough lasted way longer than usual and he retched and vomited in the end. It's clear that he's having difficulty breathing afterwards so I immediately took him to emergency vet clinic. The vet took an xray and told me he's having an asthma attack. She put an IV line on Miku and he stayed for 4 days in the clinic. During the stay, she gave him intravenous aminophylline and nebulize him with a mixture of albuterol, fluticasone, and normal saline. Thankfully, his breathing difficulty was gone by the second day of his stay. I took him home after 4 days. The vet prescribed oral terbutaline and mucopect (mucus thinner) and nebules of albuterol and fluticasone so I can nebulize him at home.
The second day home, I noticed that he's still coughing but not severe. A couple of coughs and he's back to doing whatever he's currently doing. His appetite hasn't returned to normal yet, but he eats and drinks enough. I contacted the vet and she said it's normal as long as there's no breathing difficulty. I took him for checkup a week later and the vet said he's doing good. His oral meds were discontinued, but I still have to nebulize him twice a day with fluticasone and normal saline, plus albuterol as needed for the next three weeks. I haven't been able to identify what his asthma trigger is. Since I'm allergic to many things, I've been keeping my house very clean. Since he returned from the clinic, I changed his litter from bentonite clumping litter to soy pellet. I tried changing his food to hypoallergenic but he's not having it. He only wants to eat his regular food or nothing at all.
Now, he's still doing the hunched coughing every other day or so. No breathing difficulty, still eating and drinking just fine. I wonder if this is really normal like the vet said? Shouldn't he be free of any symptoms if his asthma is under control? I just can't bear seeing him coughing like that .