My Cat Won't Stop Vocalising in the Morning after Starting Flovent Inhaler

[Penny's mommy]

My cat Macy is 2 years old, spayed, indoor only, female. She is part bengal and VERY vocal. She, my husband and I live in an apartment. She always woke me up in the morning to be fed so when I got an automatic feeder I set it for 6:30 AM because I felt 5AM is too early (thats when she usually starts crying). This helped her stop bothering me because she knew she can't make the machine give her food any faster lol. Well we have ants so I'm hand feeding her meals again, with her bowl surrounded by water. She has been fine with this and not waking me up before 7AM, but she was diagnosed with Asthma and we just got her Flovent inhaler and chamber. She's doing good but now she's waking me up at 4AM, 5AM, 6AM, 7AM... All in one morning! She sits there and screams and cries and walks all over our faces and chests, it's getting inappropriate. I've been feeding her around 6:30 to keep her on schedule and not give into her demands. But after I feed her she still comes back and does this until I get up for work... I'm so tired. If it's not about food, it must be something else. This only started after starting the Flovent inhaler (we give it to her around 9AM before I start work). I tried to do research on side effects but I'm not finding anything relating to this. Could this be causing her to be extra hungry? Or be anxious? Does it cause jitteriness like some Albuteral inbalers? For reference she has been diagnosed in the past with separation anxiety, but this can't be it because I'm there?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi-can you talk to your vet about this? Then, try closing the door. She'll still yell but I've read that it takes a couple weeks to break a habit, --if that's all this is about.

Have you tried increasing the quantity of her food? Or making her meals smaller but more frequent? Giving her a meal before bedtime? Can you freefeed some kibble overnight?

Is her food providing enough nutritional benefits? Try another brand that she may derive more nutrition from.

Have you told the apartment manager to deal with the ants?

 

[Penny's mommy]

Hi-can you talk to your vet about this? Then, try closing the door. She'll still yell but I've read that it takes a couple weeks to break a habit, --if that's all this is about.

Have you tried increasing the quantity of her food? Or making her meals smaller but more frequent? Giving her a meal before bedtime? Can you freefeed some kibble overnight?

Is her food providing enough nutritional benefits? Try another brand that she may derive more nutrition from.

Have you told the apartment manager to deal with the ants?

Thank you for your response! She is a little bit overweight mostly due to her breaking our spirits enough times to give her extra food (lol). So I'm trying to avoid that. I am feeding her Purina Pro Plan which is what my vet recommended. I am trying to get her to lose a little weight, or at least not gain anymore, so I am feeding her like 10 calories below what she would need to maintain her weight. This girl is a foodie and will eat everything in sight she even eats food/vegetables we drop on the floor while cooking so we have to be careful. And I just cut down her meals from 4 meals a day to 3. I tried closing the door but she makes that yowl sound that cats make when they're like super scared, so she's not even meowing anymore she starts doing that gutteral yowl. And we live directly above the managers...
I haven't talked to them about them yet, everyone has them right now, even the managers. They're EVERYWHERE and I'm worried if I bring it up to them they'll just spray Raid and Macy will lick it because she eats and licks everything.

 

[Penny's mommy]

Hi-can you talk to your vet about this? Then, try closing the door. She'll still yell but I've read that it takes a couple weeks to break a habit, --if that's all this is about.

Have you tried increasing the quantity of her food? Or making her meals smaller but more frequent? Giving her a meal before bedtime? Can you freefeed some kibble overnight?

Is her food providing enough nutritional benefits? Try another brand that she may derive more nutrition from.

Have you told the apartment manager to deal with the ants?

I will talk to the vet though and see what they have to say, and update here in case anyone else has a similar issue. Oh, and her meals are at 6:30AM, 12PM, and 7-8PM. Thank you.

 

[Furballsmom]

I just cut down her meals from 4 meals a day to 3.

If this were me, I'd try multiple smaller meals. Is she a feral/stray originally? This could be why she's having food issues, but I would see about a different brand of food that supplies more nutrients without so much of a carb load that kibble has. Merrick Backcountry or Natural Balance are decent brands that you could rotate. Not every cat is the same and absorbs nutrients in the same way, and she's working extremely hard to get food.

WIth that said, additionally I would strongly suggest feeding a canned food - many cats will lose weight naturally and gradually, which is the only safe way to have a cat lose weight.

Also, try getting her involved in more exercise. Have you seen these, so you can be sure she's actually overweight?

A Quick and Easy Way to Determine Your Cat's Body Condition Score - The Conscious Cat

With this one, use the arrows at either side of the photo at the top to scroll side to side, and click on the chart to enlarge it.
Fit or Fat: Your Pet's Body Condition Score (BCS)

 

[Penny's mommy]

3-4 meals is more than anyone I've ever seen feed their cat in terms of more, smaller meals. No, she comes from a long line of friendly, pet cats. She was the runt though. I rescued her from a small humane society so I know about her lineage. Yeah she's a little overweight I just took her to the vet and they commented (again) about her weight not that its severe, just to watch out. You can't easily feel her ribs when stroking. I don't know about the kibble, I just know I met with the vet and he recommended Purina Pro Plan and warned me about a variety of other brands because we had two dogs develope heart issues due to certain brands of food (grain/gluten free food), and he helped us with those dogs, so I just stick with what he recommended. She doesn't like wet food I used to feed her wet food with her dinner but she stopped eating it. I don't know if the issue is food because right after she's done eating breakfast she comes back to bed and acts up again. And it only happened after we started the Flovent inhaler. I'm wondering if maybe its making her anxious or restless

 

[Hellenww]

Flovent is a synthetic steroid. I have to take steroids occasionally and they ramp up my energy until my body adjusts to them. I've heard Bengals are high energy to begin with, add to that steroids and the ability to breath well again. She's wide awake so everybody else should be. Hopefully she'll adjust or learn to entertain herself.

 

[Penny's mommy]

Flovent is a synthetic steroid. I have to take steroids occasionally and they ramp up my energy until my body adjusts to them. I've heard Bengals are high energy to begin with, add to that steroids and the ability to breath well again. She's wide awake so everybody else should be. Hopefully she'll adjust or learn to entertain herself.

Thank you! I was wondering if they had this effect... I've never taken steroids so I wasn't sure how it affected us. Maybe she will adjust! She's supposed to get the inhaler every day. It's funny because from 4am-8am she's wide awake and then at 9 when I'm working she's sleepy and looks at us like "its 9am, why are you awake??"

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!

Thinking of a bigger picture with her than just the latest morning meowing etc, I don't think she's food-insecure similar to how a feral might be.

I just cut down her meals from 4 meals a day to 3.

will eat everything in sight

she even eats food/vegetables we drop on the floor while cooking so we have to be careful.

How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat? – TheCatSite Articles

She is a naturally high-energy-output cat, plus it sounds like the inhaler is ramping up her metabolism, and she's crashing in the evening.

Are you weighing her at home regularly and keeping a log, say, every two weeks or so? If she begins losing weight you might consider having her checked for diabetes.

This below is what your vet was referring to. Cat food, both dry and wet, that is AAFCO certified will have the necessary/recommended amount of taurine.

Understanding Taurine for Dogs | PetMD

Dry food can be very carby. There might be useful information here, plus you could go on purina's website and take a look at their products.
How To Choose The Best Dry Cat Food? – TheCatSite Articles

You could also look into purina pro's canned food --unless that's what she stopped eating?
There are a lot of canned foods available that have different consistencies, which could make a difference in whether she likes it.
Canned Cat food Spreadsheets
CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat

Are you giving her physical exercise? Chasing a laser beam, playing with you, and there are interactive toys as well - as an example, hexbug nano toys might be interesting for her. Can you take her for walks? These are things that not only help her physically but mentally and emotionally as well.

By the way, an inhaler doesn't get to the bottom of the issue of whether there's something in your house that's causing/creating her breathing issues.

Is the litter dusty?
Is the litter scented?
Food can also be an issue.
Are you using spray cleaners anywhere in the house--kitchen, bath, furniture...?
Do you use candles or any other air fresheners?
Is your neighborhood environment/atmosphere dusty?
Is your air very dry, or extra humid?
Do you use scented dryer sheets? --wool balls are a great alternative.
Do you utilize unscented laundry detergent?

On the positive side of this issue, do you have air cleaners? Is the air in your neighborhood clean enough that you can open windows? If your air is dry you could consider obtaining a humidifier.

 

[Furballsmom]

3-4 meals is more than anyone I've ever seen feed their cat in terms of more, smaller meals.

I saw this as I was looking for something else and thought of your furbaby
What makes a cat's digestive system healthy? - Royal Canin