Cat Asthma - Please Advise

[MarinaNebro]

Hey all!

I have a 1 year old girl named Bindi, and I believe she has asthma. She hunches over, like in the videos I've seen, and has this cough. I am bringing her to the vet for her annual check up soon, and will find out then.

Until then, I want to know about YOUR experiences with cat asthma.

Bindi has "attacks" more than once a month, but definitely isn't having them every day, or even every week. They last less than a minute, and then she goes back to being her crazy self.

When I first adopted her, she wasn't a very vocal cat. My other cat, Slinky, is quite vocal, so perhaps over the months Bindi has picked up this habit. But, I worry that her meowing is related to her general irritation and discomfort from allergies/asthma. She can also get quite hyperactive, with super dilated eyes, which I also feel might be due to irritation.

Questions:
How much does your cat asthma medication cost?
Do you have insurance? Would you recommend it in this instance?
What other complications might arise with an asthmatic cat?
Have you had any luck with certain litters or food?
Do you believe my observations are correct - her vocalization and hyperactivity?

Overall, Bindi's "asthma" is not at high levels, but I still worry. Before I go to her scheduled vet appointment, I want to educatedly decide if insurance will be the correct option. I have spoken with insurance companies, and as long as I get a plan early enough before diagnosis, Bindi's asthma WILL be covered.

Thank you for your help!

 

[mewcatmew]

The medication is pricey. Flovent is like ~250/inhaler where I am (US). It is a human inhaler, so it lasts more than a month, but if you have to buy ~3 or so per year, do the math. Actually giving the cat a puff of an inhaler is not hard, there are special cat devices such as aerocat. My cat would get a bit startled at the spray noise the inhaler made, so I would spray the medication into the chamber then immediately put over his mouth instead of spraying while the chamber was covering his mouth.

 

[valentine319]

There's no generic allowed for the inhalers so if you get insurance that covers medication before a visit it'll be worth it. Yes non insurance inhalers are all $250 approx.

 

[MarinaNebro]

Thank you!
And do you believe that the inhaler is really the best bet?
I've seen that there are also shots and pills. The pills seem to be the cheapest option, costing only about 50cents per pill!?!

 

[valentine319]

I'll let someone respond to the pill question. I'm not sure what pills are available. The idea behind an inhaler is a pill would take too long. You need something that immediately opens the airways.

 

[MarinaNebro]

Perhaps I misunderstood...

Is cat asthma not something treated daily? Is it only treated in the event of an attack?

 

[LTS3]

YOu may want to join these groups for more info on asthma in cats:

Yahoo! Groups
Yahoo! Groups

A good web site to learn more about treatment options is Feline Asthma with Fritz the Brave - your comprehensive resource since 2001

Flovent is typically recommended. It can be pricey, though. The Yahoo groups above will have info on where to buy Flovent or the generic equivalent for the lowest price. There was an online pharmacy some time ago that was very popular but I think the company operates under a different name and web site now. I think it's this one InhousePharmacy.vu

You will need to buy the Aerokat inhaler device in order to use Flovent. AeroKat* | Trudell Medical International*

I used to buy Flovent from the vet hospita's own in-house pharmacy. It was oddly less than what a chain pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens charges. Vet hospitals tend to mark up the price of medicine. If you don't have the option to buy Flovent from the vet, check local pharmacies for prices. http://www.godorx.com is a good web site to compare prices.

You can use a pet prescription card to save some money on Flovent at the pharmacy. There are various ones you can get online for free and just print out. Here's one Free Discount Pet Prescription Drug Card Program - Pet Drug Card All the phamacist needs to do is enter the info from the card into their system. If you have AAA service for your car, they offer a pet prescription program. There's probably info about that on the AAA web site or just call and ask.

I'm not sure if pet insurances covers asthma. I guess it depneds on the policy. Most pet insurances don't work the same way as Human health insurance. You typicall pay a vet bill up front and submit a copy of the bill for some amount of reimbursement. I'm not sure how prescription medicines for pets work. Maybe the same way? Buy the medicine and submit the bill for reimbursement?

Pills may be cheaper but most cats are difficult to pill and there is a risk of something called
erosive esophagitis with dry pilling. Using Pill Pockets and other things may help but some cats still won't tolerate it. And pills won't help if your cat is having a asthma attack. Cheaper is not always better or easier.

The shots are likely steroids of some sort. Long term steroid use can cause health issues in some cats, like diabetes.

Talk to your vet about the various treatment options and which would work best for your cat's asthma.

 

[LTS3]

Perhaps I misunderstood...

Is cat asthma not something treated daily? Is it only treated in the event of an attack?

It probably depends on the severity of the asthma. Most cats are treated daily just to keep the condition under control. An emergency inhaler is kept on hand in case of a severe attack. Ask your vet about the frequency of the medicine.

 

[lalagimp]

I have two different cats with two different asthma symptoms and methods of medication administration.
Stewart will use an inhaler. He's got a device called an Aerokat that we connect to the puffer and watch him take his breaths with a little mask on his muzzle. He used to have several attacks a week and we got him to lose 4 lbs and now he's maybe once a week or less, so we treat him with albuterol, as needed.
My other cat Amalie will not use the Aerokat. She yowls when it's on her face and doesn't want to participate. She is an ideal weight and she has attacks several times a week. If we could use the inhalers for Flovent, I would, but we have to do oral steroids instead. I give them to her for about 2 weeks and we don't have apparent asthma symptoms for up to 3 months.
When Stewart was heavier, I did order 3 Flovent inhalers through NorthwestPharmacy.com They only process orders by check and it takes up to 3 weeks to receive your product. It's an online Canadian pharmacy and they route orders to participating countries that can fill it. Otherwise he uses our albuterol we get when we buy one for ourselves with our insurance. Without insurance his ProAir is $75.