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- Dec 28, 2017
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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! : )
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! : )