Wendell has asthma-advice?

(Ginger-lyn Summer) wrote:

One final suggestion is that heartworm in cats can cause asthma. A
simple blood test can tell you whether this is the case.

While I agree that heartworm can cause coughing and asthma-like symptoms, is it
true that heartworm is easy to test for? I ask because the vet (not our regular
vet) that tested the stray cat we took in said that heartworm can be hard to
diagnose in cats. He did a chest x-ray as well as a blood test because the
cat's eosinophils were elevated, but now I wonder if that was necessary.

(Ginger-lyn Summer) wrote:

One final suggestion is that heartworm in cats can cause asthma. A
simple blood test can tell you whether this is the case.

While I agree that heartworm can cause coughing and asthma-like symptoms, is it
true that heartworm is easy to test for? I ask because the vet (not our regular
vet) that tested the stray cat we took in said that heartworm can be hard to
diagnose in cats. He did a chest x-ray as well as a blood test because the
cat's eosinophils were elevated, but now I wonder if that was necessary.

(Ginger-lyn Summer) wrote:

One final suggestion is that heartworm in cats can cause asthma. A
simple blood test can tell you whether this is the case.

While I agree that heartworm can cause coughing and asthma-like symptoms, is it
true that heartworm is easy to test for? I ask because the vet (not our regular
vet) that tested the stray cat we took in said that heartworm can be hard to
diagnose in cats. He did a chest x-ray as well as a blood test because the
cat's eosinophils were elevated, but now I wonder if that was necessary.

WEndell has been my cat for 2 years and he never has contact with other cats.
That pretty much rules out heartworm, right?



Carli
"That's not a bee. That's a bear in a bee costume."

WEndell has been my cat for 2 years and he never has contact with other cats.
That pretty much rules out heartworm, right?



Carli
"That's not a bee. That's a bear in a bee costume."

WEndell has been my cat for 2 years and he never has contact with other cats.
That pretty much rules out heartworm, right?



Carli
"That's not a bee. That's a bear in a bee costume."

He was only out for a few seconds; I shook him and he came back. I'm assuming
it was fainting; he really might have just been zoned out, but I've never seen
him like that before. It was very very scary. They showed me his x-ray and it
was filled of little "donuts." They said it was not a horrible case of asthma,
though, that it could be treated, and the meds seem to have worked well today.
Right now he's sleeping in my armoire, where he's usually not allowed but I
made an exception.



Carli
"That's not a bee. That's a bear in a bee costume."

He was only out for a few seconds; I shook him and he came back. I'm assuming
it was fainting; he really might have just been zoned out, but I've never seen
him like that before. It was very very scary. They showed me his x-ray and it
was filled of little "donuts." They said it was not a horrible case of asthma,
though, that it could be treated, and the meds seem to have worked well today.
Right now he's sleeping in my armoire, where he's usually not allowed but I
made an exception.



Carli
"That's not a bee. That's a bear in a bee costume."

He was only out for a few seconds; I shook him and he came back. I'm assuming
it was fainting; he really might have just been zoned out, but I've never seen
him like that before. It was very very scary. They showed me his x-ray and it
was filled of little "donuts." They said it was not a horrible case of asthma,
though, that it could be treated, and the meds seem to have worked well today.
Right now he's sleeping in my armoire, where he's usually not allowed but I
made an exception.



Carli
"That's not a bee. That's a bear in a bee costume."

CarliEntin wrote:
WEndell has been my cat for 2 years and he never has contact with
other cats. That pretty much rules out heartworm, right?



I'm not sure, but I think they can come from mosquito bites? In any
case, the first thing the vet wanted to do was Check Cheeky for
heartworms when she presented with the coughing and struggling to
breathe. It cannot hurt.