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We adopted our rescue girl almost 2 years ago and she came to us with a host of issues. One of them was that she has always sounded a bit stuffed up when she breathes. The vet has listened to her breathing multiple times in the past 2 years and the conclusion has always been that the sound is coming from her nose, not her chest or lungs and that it's likely due to the herpesvirus because it comes and goes with weather/stress and she also sometimes gets discharge from her eyes. We have always just tried to manage it by making her as comfortable as possible, but really, she's a happy and playful cat and doesn't seem bothered by it at all.
Just over 2 weeks ago, she had a sudden episode where it seemed like she was either going to have a hairball or struggling to breathe. She jumped up on the kitchen counter and within seconds she was standing upright on all fours and making a wheezing/gagging sound while her abdomen was contracting. This lasted about 15-20 seconds. It freaked me out. I monitored her for the next few days and she was fine. But, about 12 days later it happened again, this time she jumped up on my office desk to look out the window and within a minute she was wheezing and licking her lips. Again, she was sitting upright and looking out the window while it happened.
Well, we went to the vet yesterday and were told that it's likely asthma. However, because it's infrequent at this point we were told to just monitor her for the time being. Our vet is very thoughtful and patient and doesn't like prescribing meds hastily unless necessary. She said to monitor her and try to get a video of it next time it happens. She said that sometimes we need to wait and monitor with symptoms in order to get a proper diagnosis - especially with asthma because it's notoriously hard to diagnose.
So we are in 'wait and see' mode... she is doing fine now and hasn't had another attack since. She was just running around playing last night and this morning. But, I'm just hoping to get some advice from others who have had asthmatic kitties. What are some things I can do around the house to make her more comfortable? Is there a chance that she's not asthmatic? The first attack was really scary because of how badly her abdomen was contracting and releasing. In your experiences, how quickly does asthma progress?
This video is the closest thing I found to what it looked like the 2nd time:
The difference between this and other typical videos of asthma attacks I've seen is it doesn't seem to be as much of a cough but more of a wheeze and she's standing upright as it happens.
And to make it more complicated - the first attack was much more like a hairball where there were rapid clicking sounds and less wheezing, except it lasted longer and nothing came up. Her tummy was moving like this, but with no tongue sticking out and it lasted for a good 15 seconds I think:
Now I'm starting to wonder if the 2 events are unrelated since they were different.
Just over 2 weeks ago, she had a sudden episode where it seemed like she was either going to have a hairball or struggling to breathe. She jumped up on the kitchen counter and within seconds she was standing upright on all fours and making a wheezing/gagging sound while her abdomen was contracting. This lasted about 15-20 seconds. It freaked me out. I monitored her for the next few days and she was fine. But, about 12 days later it happened again, this time she jumped up on my office desk to look out the window and within a minute she was wheezing and licking her lips. Again, she was sitting upright and looking out the window while it happened.
Well, we went to the vet yesterday and were told that it's likely asthma. However, because it's infrequent at this point we were told to just monitor her for the time being. Our vet is very thoughtful and patient and doesn't like prescribing meds hastily unless necessary. She said to monitor her and try to get a video of it next time it happens. She said that sometimes we need to wait and monitor with symptoms in order to get a proper diagnosis - especially with asthma because it's notoriously hard to diagnose.
So we are in 'wait and see' mode... she is doing fine now and hasn't had another attack since. She was just running around playing last night and this morning. But, I'm just hoping to get some advice from others who have had asthmatic kitties. What are some things I can do around the house to make her more comfortable? Is there a chance that she's not asthmatic? The first attack was really scary because of how badly her abdomen was contracting and releasing. In your experiences, how quickly does asthma progress?
This video is the closest thing I found to what it looked like the 2nd time:
The difference between this and other typical videos of asthma attacks I've seen is it doesn't seem to be as much of a cough but more of a wheeze and she's standing upright as it happens.
And to make it more complicated - the first attack was much more like a hairball where there were rapid clicking sounds and less wheezing, except it lasted longer and nothing came up. Her tummy was moving like this, but with no tongue sticking out and it lasted for a good 15 seconds I think:
Now I'm starting to wonder if the 2 events are unrelated since they were different.
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