Asthma treatment questions

Hello all,
It looks like my cat Gypsy might have asthma. Her symptoms are a
constant cough, labored breathing (crinkly sounds in her lungs). We had
her on antibiotics and that helped a bit but not much. We've also had
blood work done and ruled out worms. On Friday she's having and echo to
rule out anything linked with the heart (she's 10 years old and the vet
wants to make sure). Her x-rays show some kind of cloudiness in her
chest and bronchial area.

That said, how often does she need to have an inhaler treatment? It's
torture for her (and us) to get her to swallow a pill so I'm not sure
how she'll take to inhalers.

Thanks for the info and insight.

Paula

Paula Sims wrote:

That said, how often does she need to have an inhaler treatment? It's
torture for her (and us) to get her to swallow a pill so I'm not sure
how she'll take to inhalers.

Most people who do inhalant therapy administer a glucosteroid
(typically Flovent) twice a day; a few do it once a day. Also,
a quick-acting bronchodilator (usually albuterol) is kept handy
for rescue and the treatment of flare-ups. Sometimes albuterol
may be prescribed as an on-going therapy, although a
longer-lasting bronchodilator is increasingly preferred for
routine use. In either case, the bronchodilator may add one or
two "puffs" per day.

Most cats, if they are even marginally handle-able, can be
taught to associate the inhaler with good things, so that they
will come readily for their treatment and hold (relatively)
still for it. Check out www.fritzthebrave.com and the Yahoo
inhaled medications group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/felineasthma_inhaledmeds/ to read
up on methods and see success stories.

Lung infections can be stubborn and may not yield to the first
or second antibiotic prescribed, so make sure your vet does
whatever is necessary to rule out any lingering infection before
deciding that your cat has developed *chronic* asthma. If your
cat is showing symptoms of asthma and infection is ruled out, I
would expect your vet to prescribe either injected or oral
steroids to relieve him and stabilize his condition while you
are getting him adjusted to inhaled therapy. The inhaled
steroids take a little time to build up.

--

Wayne M
(indulged by Will and Heidi)

I had a cat years ago who was a severe asthmatic. She came to realize the
the medications made her feel better and over time was very willing to take
her medications. I routinely dosed her with a prescription medication that
was in capsule form. She couldn't swallow the capsules but would let me
open one up and dump it into her mouth twice a day then she would get a
treat of special canned food that she liked. At the time she took 3
medications 6 times a day but never any inhalers. This was in late1980's
and they just didn't do the inhalers with cats back then at least none of
the vets I dealth with ever wanted to do so.

My best advice is keep her in air conditioning in the summer. Humidity is
very hard on a cat with asthma and the air helps keep the breathing less
labored. Don't let her outside no matter how much she wants out the pollen
and dust are killers. Also invest in a good hepa filter for the house or
atleast for the room she spends the most time in. Don't use chemicals to
clean with the chemicals can bring on an attack if you have to scrub use
plain water and maybe some vinegar.

Learn to watch your cat closely for signs of distress and behavior changes.
It got so that I could pick up on Skippis body language and tell before she
was in a full blown asthma attack and get her treatment stepped up enough to
keep her comfortable.

Celeste

"Paula Sims" wrote in message
.net...
Hello all,
It looks like my cat Gypsy might have asthma. Her symptoms are a
constant cough, labored breathing (crinkly sounds in her lungs). We had
her on antibiotics and that helped a bit but not much. We've also had
blood work done and ruled out worms. On Friday she's having and echo to
rule out anything linked with the heart (she's 10 years old and the vet
wants to make sure). Her x-rays show some kind of cloudiness in her
chest and bronchial area.

That said, how often does she need to have an inhaler treatment? It's
torture for her (and us) to get her to swallow a pill so I'm not sure
how she'll take to inhalers.

Thanks for the info and insight.

Paula

Thanks so much for the help and guidence. I'm sure I'll be referencing
the links often.

We had her on Baytril for over 6 weeks and most recently another
antibiotic (a version of Augmentin) and they did little good. An
injection of a steroid was given and Gypsy seemed better. We're also
going to be doing a cardiac work up to catch other stuff.

Paula


In article , gwmitchell104
@pobox.com says...
Paula Sims wrote:

That said, how often does she need to have an inhaler treatment? It's
torture for her (and us) to get her to swallow a pill so I'm not sure
how she'll take to inhalers.

Most people who do inhalant therapy administer a glucosteroid
(typically Flovent) twice a day; a few do it once a day. Also,
a quick-acting bronchodilator (usually albuterol) is kept handy
for rescue and the treatment of flare-ups. Sometimes albuterol
may be prescribed as an on-going therapy, although a
longer-lasting bronchodilator is increasingly preferred for
routine use. In either case, the bronchodilator may add one or
two "puffs" per day.

Most cats, if they are even marginally handle-able, can be
taught to associate the inhaler with good things, so that they
will come readily for their treatment and hold (relatively)
still for it. Check out www.fritzthebrave.com and the Yahoo
inhaled medications group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/felineasthma_inhaledmeds/ to read
up on methods and see success stories.

Lung infections can be stubborn and may not yield to the first
or second antibiotic prescribed, so make sure your vet does
whatever is necessary to rule out any lingering infection before
deciding that your cat has developed *chronic* asthma. If your
cat is showing symptoms of asthma and infection is ruled out, I
would expect your vet to prescribe either injected or oral
steroids to relieve him and stabilize his condition while you
are getting him adjusted to inhaled therapy. The inhaled
steroids take a little time to build up.

"Paula Sims" wrote in message
.net...
Hello all,
It looks like my cat Gypsy might have asthma. Her symptoms are a
constant cough, labored breathing (crinkly sounds in her lungs). We had
her on antibiotics and that helped a bit but not much. We've also had
blood work done and ruled out worms. On Friday she's having and echo to
rule out anything linked with the heart (she's 10 years old and the vet
wants to make sure).


Excellent.



Her x-rays show some kind of cloudiness in her
chest and bronchial area.

Did the cloudiness look a little like donuts and railroad tracks? That's
usually what asthma looks like on an x-ray in a cat's lungs- its due to
bronchial wall thickening caused by inflammation.



That said, how often does she need to have an inhaler treatment?


Usually, but not always, an inhaled steroid (most commonly Flovent 220) is
given twice a day. Inhaled bronchial dilators (most commonly albuterol) is
given during an attack. Inhaled albuterol is very rapid acting (within a
few minutes). Most of the time, the Flovent will control the symptoms so
the albuterol is only used occasionally.

The vast majority of the inhaled steroid goes directly to the lungs where
its needed most, and very, very little gets into the system. Thus, here are
virtually none of the side effects that are usually associated with systemic
steroid therapy.

It's
torture for her (and us) to get her to swallow a pill so I'm not sure
how she'll take to inhalers.

You'd be surprised how quickly cats adapt to inhalation therapy! But you
absolutely *must* use an Aerochamber or Aerokat. For a more complete
understanding of inhalation therapy and aerochambers a/k/a "spacers", please
visit my site:

http://www.maxshouse.com/inhalation_...ay_disease.htm

http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_asth...bronchitis.htm



Thanks for the info and insight.

Good luck,

Phil.