My kitty has asthma and I am going crazy because nothing I do seems to help her. Sometimes she seems so uncomfortable and not herself. She didn’t even want to play with her favorite toy!
I feel like I’m doing everything I can. I:
Maybe it's important to note that taking her to the vet is really a last resort. The closest 24/7 one is 25 min away. Even when I give her something beforehand she gets extremely upset. I found a vet that will make house calls, but I only used once when she recently had an ear infection and then URI. He examined her and everything was fine.
I'm supposed to go away later this month for 3 nights and am seriously considering canceling and eating the $2k because I haven't found a vet I trust with this situation. If she's going to be home by herself for most of the day, how will the sitter know if she's struggling? Especially if she's not familiar with feline asthma. Also, if the place isn't "home" yet, I don't want to leave her alone when she's still stressing about it. How am I supposed to relax?
As I said, I'm driving myself crazy. Literally. I'm constantly checking on her which I'm sure isn't making her feel better. If I hear a noise in the other room my heart stops because I assume its her coughing. I try to go in another room when I cry like she won't know, because I feel like that's stressing her out too. I know she knows, though.
Am I worrying too much? Am I too obsessed?
I feel like I’m doing everything I can. I:
- Give her .25 terbutaline 2x day, and 1/2 tab Prednisolone tab when it seems like it's flaring up more. I don’t want to give her the Pred but I feel like I don’t have a choice sometimes.
- Have 2 air purifiers which run constantly, except when I'm not home and at night. One of which has a light on it that indicates air quality. If it turns red and I don't know why, I freak out. I also freak out if she has symptoms when the air is good.
- Have an air quality monitor which I check often.
- Have a humidifier. I thought maybe the a/c is causing dry air, which is a trigger.
- Switched to Dr. Elsey's respiratory relief litter.
- Don't use harsh cleaning supplies.
- Keep the windows closed if the pollen is high (advised by the vet).
- Put Jackson Galaxy "Breathe Easy" in her food every day and Jackson Galaxy "Stress Stopper" in her water every day.
- Have Feliway plugs (I have 3, maybe not enough? Maybe not the right placement? I'm limited to where I can put them).
- Try to vacuum and dust as much as possible, yet there always seems to be dust!
- Haven't even been cooking, running the dishwasher, or doing laundry because I'm afraid it will trigger an attack (when I say "attack" I mean coughing like she has a hairball). I switched to unscented The Ecology Works Anti Allergen Solution Laundry Detergent and Ecover Automatic Dishwasher Soap Tablets, but have not used them yet since I just switched, and am actually still afraid.
- Been coming home earlier from work (more like 7pm instead of 8pm). Maybe me getting home late is stressing her out?
- Not listening to music because I am afraid the sound will stress her out.
- Maybe it's stress because we moved recently (hence the stress stopper and Feliways). We moved about a month ago and the apartment is still not "home." I had to get new furniture but I'm afraid to start moving stuff around, not just because of potential dust, but also because I hate to keep making noise and changing her environment. I know that I have to just get it done, but she started having an attack one day when I was unpacking. I read that you should keep your cat as calm and stress-free as possible, so of course I feel terrible.
- I thought moving would help. My last apartment was like a cave. Small, dark, and had no air flow. We smelled everything that people cooked. The neighbor's Taco Tuesday used to bother her (actually, me too), even with the air purifier on. My apartment now is much bigger, and I rarely smell anything.
- I'm constantly struggling with: leave the air conditioner on or off (what if there's dust in the vents that I can't see?), open the windows or keep them closed (I personally need air flow and the air quality monitor suggests opening the window to air the place out, but if there's pollen, that might worsen the situation), should I clean now or wait until she naps? What if she doesn't nap soon?! She tends to follow me around. Is it better to clean and risk her having an attack?
- I'm obsessed with the idea that there might be mold somewhere-because of google. There must be black mold in the washer/dryer, washer/dryer closet, and walls! I'm constantly sniffing for weird smells.
- The cabinets do have a smell kind of like spices from the prior tenant. It's been a challenge getting it out. I tried washing with baking soda and vinegar, leaving baking soda in there, leaving vinegar in there, leaving both in there, adding an activated charcoal pouch. It lingers...I haven't even been able to put anything in one cabinet because the smell is still so strong, kind of like vegetables. But, if it is the cabinets, what do I do???
- I write incredibly long threads on cat forums.
Maybe it's important to note that taking her to the vet is really a last resort. The closest 24/7 one is 25 min away. Even when I give her something beforehand she gets extremely upset. I found a vet that will make house calls, but I only used once when she recently had an ear infection and then URI. He examined her and everything was fine.
I'm supposed to go away later this month for 3 nights and am seriously considering canceling and eating the $2k because I haven't found a vet I trust with this situation. If she's going to be home by herself for most of the day, how will the sitter know if she's struggling? Especially if she's not familiar with feline asthma. Also, if the place isn't "home" yet, I don't want to leave her alone when she's still stressing about it. How am I supposed to relax?
As I said, I'm driving myself crazy. Literally. I'm constantly checking on her which I'm sure isn't making her feel better. If I hear a noise in the other room my heart stops because I assume its her coughing. I try to go in another room when I cry like she won't know, because I feel like that's stressing her out too. I know she knows, though.
Am I worrying too much? Am I too obsessed?