Cat Asthma?

[jisaacson214]

I have two female oriental shorthair cats, one is 2 years old & the other is 9 months old. I started to notice recently that both girls occasionally have episodes of what looks like asthma. At first I thought they were going to vomit, but nothing ever comes up when they do this & the noise they make is different; more like a high pitched wheeze. The vet listened to their lungs/respiration & determined they don’t have asthma, but didn’t really give me an explanation for what it could be then. This was partially my fault, as I didn’t ask her or push the issue. Both girls have a clean bill of health, are current on their vaccines, and are otherwise happy very active cats. If it’s not asthma, what else could it be? Any suggestions on things I can do to help with this issue?

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Emerson does this too, although he hasn't done it in over a year *knock, knock*. The vet attributed his to seasonal allergies.

 

[neely]

What I find most interesting is that you stated both girls do this, i.e. act like they're going to vomit but nothing comes up & high pitched wheeze. I'm glad you consulted your vet and they have a clean bill of health.

My first thought was a hairball that they couldn't completely bring up. It's also possible it could be allergies as EmersonandEvie mentioned above. Just out of curiosity, what type of food do you feed them? This Article on food allergies may be helpful: 11 Key Facts About Food Allergies In Cats

Best of luck, please keep us posted on their progress.

 

[Marlow cat]

Hairballs have hair (obviously). Frequently failing to cough up a hair probably indicates another problem. Our dear Marlow had an enlarged heart which was causing his breathing problems found by ultrasound. I suggest further testing. But two cats having the same problem seems like allergies. Best wishes.

 

[Krystalb]

My cat was having coughing/wheezing episodes and the first vet I took her to also said she didn’t have asthma based on listening to her breathing etc. and gave her a steroid shot to help with any inflammation.

A few months later, she was still coughing and it was getting worse but I chalked it up to “oh, it’s nothing” because her first vet didn’t seem to think anything serious of it. After weeks of seeing her having some coughing episodes that would last up to 5-10 minutes I finally took her to another vet. Got x-Rays done that showed signs of asthma and they had her start on Flovent inhaler. It’s been too soon to see if the medicine has worked yet, but I’m glad I took her to a different vet.

Long story short, if you feel your kitties are coughing badly or maybe even getting worse, take them to another vet!

 

[WillowMarie]

My cat was diagnosed with asthma after coughing and an x-ray. Inflammation in the airways can show up in the x-ray even if symptoms are not visible, especially if not treated as scarring can occur from constant inflammation. This happened with my Isabelle as the first vet did not prescribe something that worked for her. My kittie has a really strong sense of smell and training her to take the inhaled medication went well until I started spraying the medicine. So she is on prednisolone pills. The first vet who treated her asthma put her on prednisone and it did not stop her symptoms. The symptoms eventually stopped, but started again the next spring when I switched vets. After switching to an all cat vet, she explained that some cats do not respond to prednisone, but if the vet treats both cats and dogs, they may not be educated about this. Isabelle seems to be affected by allergies as she gets worse in spring. Although, I spent a hundred dollars or so on allergy testing that said she was allergic to a plant that blooms in the fall?? Haha, so still not sure what she reacts to, but it is definitely seasonal.

Like someone else said, it could also be due to heart reasons, Isabelle also had an x-ray to look at her heart to rule that out.

 

[Marlow cat]

Our dear Marlow was on flovent to open up his airways. It's a steroid that works as an anti-inflammatory. Takes at least several days to start to work. It's a puffer that humans also take for asthma. It really helped Marlow although his breathing problem wasn't due to asthma. If you can find the allergen that is causing your cat's breathing problem treat that. If not the puffer should help the irrespective of the root cause. Best wishes.