For people whose cats have asthma...

[chickpea616]

Hi all!

Quick background: I started fostering Scarlet (front paw declawed, 12 year old calico) in March of this year (2021) - knew nothing of her background or anything else about her. Within a week or two in my home, she would get low to the ground, stick her neck out, and cough the most horrible cough; people thought it was any number of things (hairball that didn't come up, choking on food, URI, etc). Did some more research and posted here (!) and was made aware of feline asthma - I ended up adopting her and taking her to my vet who confirmed asthma (after watching my video of her coughing attack and chest x-rays). She was put on a course of prednisolone and that cleared everything up - I haven't heard a single cough or wheeze from her UNTIL.....today.

She leaned forward ONE TIME and had ONE COUGH....now it *did* sound like it sounded before, however, she's not struggling or anything else, it was simply one similar cough to before. The instructions from the vet were -- if she starts to cough again and have those attacks again, start her on the pred again -- however, that seems a bit much to go through weeks of a medication (and the struggles of administering it) based on one cough. I had inquired about a cat inhaler, and I know they make them (and he gave me some suggestions) but said that it probably wasn't warranted yet and we should wait and see how much this affects her...we are also not sure if it's due to allergies or something else....

So my question is this: how is your cat's asthma managed? Do you have an inhaler? Are there any "maintenance meds" or inhalers for cats (like they have for humans?) Or do we basically have to be reactive instead of proactive? And info is appreciated! : )

 

[fionasmom]

Asthmatic Cats – TheCatSite Articles
Help With Cat Asthma
Search Results for Query: aerokat

I do not, and never had had an asthmatic cat but these threads may help while others read your post and hopefully give advice.

 

[stephanietx]

We have 2 asthmatic kitties. Their asthma is both triggered by seasonal allergies and seasonal changes. They both have minor cases and don't require daily nebulizer treatments and medication. In the past, we have gotten a prednisolone shot, but the vet didn't want to give it to Daisy this year. Tumbles can no longer have the shot because it gives him diarrhea that lasts for several days. The vet gave us a prescription of prednisolone. We did a 5 day treatment and weaned down. Now, we only give it when there is more than 2 asthma attacks in a 24-48 hour period and it's only 1 dose. That seems to be working for now.

 

[chickpea616]

Asthmatic Cats – TheCatSite Articles
Help With Cat Asthma
Search Results for Query: aerokat

I do not, and never had had an asthmatic cat but these threads may help while others read your post and hopefully give advice.

Thank you!

 

[chickpea616]

We have 2 asthmatic kitties. Their asthma is both triggered by seasonal allergies and seasonal changes. They both have minor cases and don't require daily nebulizer treatments and medication. In the past, we have gotten a prednisolone shot, but the vet didn't want to give it to Daisy this year. Tumbles can no longer have the shot because it gives him diarrhea that lasts for several days. The vet gave us a prescription of prednisolone. We did a 5 day treatment and weaned down. Now, we only give it when there is more than 2 asthma attacks in a 24-48 hour period and it's only 1 dose. That seems to be working for now.

Ooooooh, interesting! When I was first prescribed the prednisolone, I did it twice for 2 weeks, then weaned down -- seems like she was on the meds for over a month! Then I filled a prescription to have on hand "just in case", but it's already expired (I only had it for a month) so I was just trying to get a handle on the whole med/treatment/etc thing so I could be prepared.....thanks!

 

[arr]

Our boy Fizzbin was diagnosed with asthma last winter, based on the coughing episodes you described and a chest X-ray. His X-ray was really bad, the vet said he was like an old man cat, even though he wasn’t even a year old yet. Our vet and us considered the different treatment options and decided on prednisolone pills. He started at a high dose and has tapered down to a very low dose every other day. So he’s been on it around seven months. We never saw another coughing fit since he started the pred. He is doing excellent and shows no side effects from the medication so far. We thought he was such a mellow kitten but it turns out he just couldn’t breathe. Now he is our most active cat.

He has a vet visit in two weeks. I’d like to try taking him off the medication and see how he does. I’m scared though because he was a very severe case. But I also have changed a lot of things since his diagnosis. I used to love burning incense and candles and running an essential oil diffuser and I completely eliminated all of that as well as scented cat litter and anything else I could think of. Perhaps those scented things were the trigger and now he will do all right. Maybe we can just use the prednisolone on an as needed basis if he has a flare up.

So, I guess I don’t have any answers yet as far as maintenance goes, but after the vet visit I can come back to this thread and give an update as to how we are going to move forward.

 

[LTS3]

One of my cats has asthma. He takes pred for it, which also helps with his IBD. I use a bacon flavored pill dough to get the pred pill into my cat. Pred can be compounded into other forms for easier giving. Ask the vet.

My previous cat also had asthma and took Flovent with the AeroKat device.

I guess pills vs an inhaler depends on the severity of the asthma and other health conditions the cat may have.

 

[mayabear]

Our boy Fizzbin was diagnosed with asthma last winter, based on the coughing episodes you described and a chest X-ray. His X-ray was really bad, the vet said he was like an old man cat, even though he wasn’t even a year old yet. Our vet and us considered the different treatment options and decided on prednisolone pills. He started at a high dose and has tapered down to a very low dose every other day. So he’s been on it around seven months. We never saw another coughing fit since he started the pred. He is doing excellent and shows no side effects from the medication so far. We thought he was such a mellow kitten but it turns out he just couldn’t breathe. Now he is our most active cat.

He has a vet visit in two weeks. I’d like to try taking him off the medication and see how he does. I’m scared though because he was a very severe case. But I also have changed a lot of things since his diagnosis. I used to love burning incense and candles and running an essential oil diffuser and I completely eliminated all of that as well as scented cat litter and anything else I could think of. Perhaps those scented things were the trigger and now he will do all right. Maybe we can just use the prednisolone on an as needed basis if he has a flare up.

So, I guess I don’t have any answers yet as far as maintenance goes, but after the vet visit I can come back to this thread and give an update as to how we are going to move forward.

May I ask what kind of litter you use? I'm considering trying a new litter for my asthmatic cat.

 

[mayabear]

My cat is 8 and was diagnosed about 3 or so years ago by looking at x-rays. She had the coughing fits like she had a hair ball but nothing came out. She's currently taking prednisolone every other day and Flovent via inhaler 1-2x day. She still coughs sometimes I feel like I've tried everything. My vet said since she has asthma and it doesn't go away, she'll always have some symptoms. I wish she was one of these cats who takes medication only when she has a flare up.

 

[arr]

May I ask what kind of litter you use? I'm considering trying a new litter for my asthmatic cat.

We use Tidy Cats Free and Clean.