kitty asthma?

[kauna]

I took Agnes to the vet today. She was a little congested last week and seemed to be getting better. I didn't think anything of it but she did have a few coughing fits (while congested) but hasn't had any as of late. I being the crazy sphynx mommy took a couple of videos of it because it's hard to describe while at the vet and kept the appointment for today just to have her looked at. I worry about anything to do with her heart and would feel better having the vet take a listen.

While we were there she listened to her heart and lungs and all sounded clear. I showed my vet the video and she said it looked like asthma. She recommended we get some baseline chest x-rays just in case she has another episode that is very similar. Good thing I did, her lung x-rays were really "busy" in vet terminology also meaning not great. We are scheduled to have a trans-tracheal wash later in the week to get a sample of the fluid. As of now, we are suspecting it Asthma related and will know more later. While she is sedated we are going to have her teeth cleaned.

Does anyone have experience with asthma in their kitties? The vet is hesitant to put her on any steroids because she is still pretty young, only 2yrs old and long term steroid use can be contributed to diabetes later. (something I would like to avoid if at all possible) How hard is it to give an inhaler if needed?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Yoda mom]

@kauna , Glad you got Agnes to the vet - Amd video taped too .
always good to go with your gut


**** Just be sure to insist " NO Ketamine" anesthesia
My vet uses "ISO" Isoflurane or similar gas inhalant

I don't have experience with asthma but wanted s to send big hugs and positive vibes for Agnes!

Surely others will chime in!

The search box on the upper right is good to pull up previous threads as well as "similar" threads at the bottom of each thread opened
Search Results for Query: Asthma | Sphynxlair

Please keep us updated often

 

[admin]

I took Agnes to the vet today. She was a little congested last week and seemed to be getting better. I didn't think anything of it but she did have a few coughing fits (while congested) but hasn't had any as of late. I being the crazy sphynx mommy took a couple of videos of it because it's hard to describe while at the vet and kept the appointment for today just to have her looked at. I worry about anything to do with her heart and would feel better having the vet take a listen.

While we were there she listened to her heart and lungs and all sounded clear. I showed my vet the video and she said it looked like asthma. She recommended we get some baseline chest x-rays just in case she has another episode that is very similar. Good thing I did, her lung x-rays were really "busy" in vet terminology also meaning not great. We are scheduled to have a trans-tracheal wash later in the week to get a sample of the fluid. As of now, we are suspecting it Asthma related and will know more later. While she is sedated we are going to have her teeth cleaned.

Does anyone have experience with asthma in their kitties? The vet is hesitant to put her on any steroids because she is still pretty young, only 2yrs old and long term steroid use can be contributed to diabetes later. (something I would like to avoid if at all possible) How hard is it to give an inhaler if needed?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Great info thus far, please keep us posted. Do you have the video to share so others may see if they have a similar issue? You can just add the URL if on youtube or any other video sites.

 

[Toa and Ross]

Sorry to hear Agnes may have asthma. If I remeber correct Ossi from @Zab has asthma. Maybe she can give some advice. Hugs!

 

[Catzzzmeow]

I think it all depends on the personality/tolerance of the cat. Our Jouët recently had an X-ray of her heart taken. Her lungs looked a bit “busy” as you put it. The vet asked if she has coughing or wheezing episodes because by the looks of the lungs he would have thought she has asthma. We have never seen her with any coughing or wheezing, but I said she snores like a man lol. He said snoring would not be due to asthma/lungs but got a good laugh out of my comment. He said that if she ever did exhibit signs of asthma he was sure she would do great on an inhaler because she is very cooperative when being handled.

 

[Zab]

One of my babies has bronchitis. She is 5 yrs and had the strangest cough. I was sure she had something stuck in her throat. The vet took x-rays and came to this diagnosis. We take asthma spray once a day and have been doing it for almost a year. It is no problem taking the medicine. We use the aerokat tube and as long as I keep the cat with her back to my front it's easy to control the movements and also if I tip the cats head up you can see the breaths and count them easily.
I've noticed she is more thirsty and also pees a lot more. But it's better than to see her suffer from coughing so as long as she seems like a happy cat I'm gonna give her medicine. They live in the moment and I try to do that as well....

Good luck and if you have any questions at all, feel free to ask and I shall share what little knowledge I have on the subject!
/Zab

 

[kauna]

Thank you @Yoda mom @Toa and Ross @Catzzzmeow @Zab for the support. I appreciate it one of the reasons I love this group! @admin I will have to figure out how to upload the video. It was taken on an iPhone so not the best quality and of course I would catch her at the tail end of the episode.

The vet I use doesn’t use ketamine only propofol for anesthesia but good to know. Her blood work all came back ok so we are all set for her procedures on Friday. Once we have the results I will definitely update every one. Until then lots of research and reading on the subject :bookworm:

 

[kauna]

Aggie update, her culture came back positive for an infection. We are trying antibiotics but having a lot of difficulty with them. I was able to successfully pill her the first few doses of Clavamox but she got smart. She was also vomiting on it so we decided to discontinue. We started amoxicillin and again vomited on that too.

I did get a copy of her results and it is as follows:
Interpretation: Mixed chronic neutrophilic and eosinophilic inflammation; Hemosiderosis (See Comment)

Description: Cellularity is low (direct) to moderate (cytospun and sediment) consisting predominately of inflammatory cells amid few clusters of ciliated respiratory epithelial cells amid scant mucus.
Leukocyte differential consists of 7% neutrophils, 90%macrophages and 5% eosinophils amid scant mucus. Macrophages often contain light blue grey globular pigment consistent with hemosiderin. No microorganisms or atypical cells are identified.

Comment: Although no microorganisms were indentified, culture and sensitivity testing is recommended given the neutrophilic component. Eosinophilic inflammation can be associated with allergic/hypersensitivity reactions (e.g chronic allergic airway disease/asthma), parasitism, fungal infections and or paraneoplastic syndrome. Hemosiderosis is a common finding in thracheal washes collected from cats with diverse disease condition, including feline asthma, heart failure, trauma, infection, foreign body migration, lung lobe torsion and/or neoplasi.

so a lot of gibberish... but vet said pointing to asthma. Will keep you posted on the upcoming treatments and plan. So far just trying to figure out the antibiotics...

 

[kauna]

Aggie asthma update

She had recheck chest x-ray yesterday, mildly better but still not good. No recent asthma attack episodes (that I have seen anyway, not sure when I am at work) On another course of antibiotics and I think I am now a pro at giving her pills (y) Going to recheck chest films in a couple weeks and likely will have a rescue inhaler and oral medications to be given daily, called brethine (sp?). Not entirely sure of the cost of all this going forward just yet but no matter if it's what she needs.

Will keep everyone posted going forward

 

[kauna]

Ok I think I have finally figured out this posting video thing. I happened to catch one of Aggie's attacks. I shared it on the sphynxlair facebook page also. I am just not sure how to adjust it as it was recorded from an iPhone :meh: If anyone can point me in the right direction on editing it would be greatly appreciated.

Asthma

• kauna
• Nov 18, 2017
• 2
• asthma

Asthma attack

 

[Yoda mom]

@admin @Catzzzmeow ' may have some editing advice on the video
I am not on facebook to see your video of sweet Aggie

Did you show the video to your vet?
I took a vid of m yRoby amd he was diagnosed with seasonal allergies as soon as my vet saw the video
Amd prescribed me so,e over the counter Chlor tabs and instructions for his size

@kauna , here is a link
Share Social Media Videos

Healing head smooches to Aggie

 

[Catzzzmeow]

I am not able to view the video. If you upload it to Youtube you can then attach then URL to your thread in here and we can view it.

 

[admin]

Ok I think I have finally figured out this posting video thing. I happened to catch one of Aggie's attacks. I shared it on the sphynxlair facebook page also. I am just not sure how to adjust it as it was recorded from an iPhone :meh: If anyone can point me in the right direction on editing it would be greatly appreciated.

Asthma

• kauna
• Nov 18, 2017
• 2
• asthma

Asthma attack

You should be able to take the video from Facebook and post the URL directly here in the post. I found it on the FB group - hope its the right one.

 

[TheTopaz]

I had an older, rescued sphynx cat diagnosed with asthma, and only a few days later the same cat was diagnosed with HCM. A lot of vets seem to have a lot of trouble with these two diagnosis, as they have similar symptoms (and possibly can exist at the same time). In our case since the cat had HCM, we refused any steroid treatments for asthma since it will accelerate any heart issues. The vet cardiologist and general vet both highly suggested for us to avoid the rescue inhaler.

If your cat is diagnosed with asthma, I would definitely consider doing an HCM scan soon too just to be safe. I was in a sphynx FB group where I saw a lot of overlap between these two issues.

Wishing you all the best for your kitty!

 

[kauna]

Thank you @admin i really wanted to post it for others to be able to see it.

@TheTopaz thank you for the advice I am considering the heart scan also just to be sure. We did a tracheal wash and sent the culture for analysis and is consistent with asthma.

@Yoda mom Thanks she’s doing pretty good so far

 

[Yoda mom]

@kauna, has the vet ruled out seasonal allergies?
My Toby sneezed on and off and vet had me use $3 tabs from Walmart amd imstructions for dosage
When he had symptoms and it cleared up in s few days

Head smooches!

(Just saw the above culture check consistent with asthma )
Would seasonal allergies present the same way in a culture check?

 

[kauna]

@kauna, has the vet ruled out seasonal allergies?
My Toby sneezed on and off and vet had me use $3 tabs from Walmart amd imstructions for dosage
When he had symptoms and it cleared up in s few days

Head smooches!

(Just saw the above culture check consistent with asthma )
Would seasonal allergies present the same way in a culture check?

I am it sure if she has allergies, but it wouldn’t surprise me they tend to go hard in hand. I have both myself

 

[kauna]

An update to this post. Agnes had an asthma attack last night. Her last one was over a year ago. We were able to use her rescue inhaler and she was fine afterword. Since starting her on allergy serum injections we have not had to use her daily inhaler or terbutaline. In looking at her log of asthma attacks (yes I kept a log to keep track of them) she usually had them in November and April. I am going to keep an eye on her and see if she has additional attacks, and if it continues a vet visit will be in order.

 

[Zab]

An update to this post. Agnes had an asthma attack last night. Her last one was over a year ago. We were able to use her rescue inhaler and she was fine afterword. Since starting her on allergy serum injections we have not had to use her daily inhaler or terbutaline. In looking at her log of asthma attacks (yes I kept a log to keep track of them) she usually had them in November and April. I am going to keep an eye on her and see if she has additional attacks, and if it continues a vet visit will be in order.

So sorry to hear this. You now are a pro on this and you did the best thing for Agnes! It's so cool you keep a log, I did this too with my girl Fisen and her meds and inhalers. Sadly she is no longer with us. I had an inhaler as a kid myself and my asthma was acting up spring and fall, maybe that's the same for cats? Hugs are sent your way!

/Sabina

 

[Condo commando]

So I'm trying to follow this ...are we saying that asthma is seasonal in April and November?

 

[Yoda mom]

@kauna , awhhh. hugs n positive vibes for Agnes. kudos to you for keeping a log too for patterns. please keep us updated.

 

[kauna]

So sorry to hear this. You now are a pro on this and you did the best thing for Agnes! It's so cool you keep a log, I did this too with my girl Fisen and her meds and inhalers. Sadly she is no longer with us. I had an inhaler as a kid myself and my asthma was acting up spring and fall, maybe that's the same for cats? Hugs are sent your way!

/Sabina

Aww thanks! It seems to be every April/Nov that she has her asthma flares.

@Condo commando yes, for her it seems to be seasonal. I have to double check with the vet what the recommendations are going to be. She hasn't had a flare up since starting the allergy serum injections and we discontinued the steroid inhalers as they would interfere with the allergy testing results. I just never put her back on the medication as she hadn't had any attacks we (the dermatologist and myself) thought the allergy injection were also helping to lessen the asthma symptoms as well.

@Yoda mom thank you for the well wishes as always.

 

[Sheldon13]

In people it is very common for asthma to flare up with the weather change. I imagine it would be no different for cats.

hugs


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[Condo commando]

In people it is very common for asthma to flare up with the weather change. I imagine it would be no different for cats.

hugs


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

Learn something new every day. Boy that just makes it harder to figure out when it's allergies vs a virus vs bacterial infection vs asthma too.......

 

[Yoda mom]

@kauna , hugs n head smooches. I notice my bengal has seasonal allergies I can set with a watch what month they act up