Posted by Margaret
I think it was Kel that said her cat had asthma. ...
Yes, unfortunately .. that was me. Our boy has had some minor attacks in the past couple of weeks.
I can totally sympathize with him, because I myself have suffered from asthma .. was bad in my early years in college .. but has been pretty non-existent in recent years .. with just minor flare-ups .. though rare.
Believe it or not .. I also worked with a horse who had asthma!
Anyway .. our kitty was never put on an inhaler. We've tried to be very strict with his oral meds too. From my understanding .. it's not good for anyone (human or animal) to be on those kinds of meds for any prolonged period of time .. they're steriods.
So .. when he has his first attack .. he goes on his meds .. then we gradually taper him back to no meds.
Our boy did have very bad bouts several years ago. He ended up in the emergency clinic twice .. in an oxygen chamber. Problem with our kitty .. he's not a good patient at all. The second time he was in .. the hospital called us and said we should get him out of there, because it was upsetting him, and because of that, he was not relaxing .. and I know first hand that being able to relax is absolutely key when dealing with an asthma attack. (The first time he was there was very funny .. he had the vet so afraid of him (okay, not funny) .. but the vet couldn’t believe what a mush he turned into when he saw me there to take him home (funny)).
Tricks when he was having his bad attacks:
We'd close him off in our bedroom (which is large) .. and put a humidifier on .. as well as the air purifier. The key is to try to keep him calm and quiet .. that’s why we’d isolate him .. which would encourage him to sleep.
We'd steam (and I mean really steam) up a bathroom (both of which are small) .. and we'd sit in there for a while. When I was a kid, and suffering with an attack .. my mom used to make me bend over the bathroom sink with very hot water coming out of the tap, and a towel draped over my head so I could breathe in the steam .. and it would help .. and we’ve noticed it’s sometimes helpful for our kitty.
The meds we keep in the house are “Theo” & “Pred” (Theophylline & Prednisone) .. but again .. we've found a routine that works for our guy. He gets a combination when he first shows symptoms of an attack .. then we carefully guard his status as we gradually reduce the dosage until he’s back off all meds.
The trick is .. you need to find what works best .. but I tend to shy away from over-medicating .. from my experience with the horse .. when he was being medicated .. he kept becoming 'immune' to the dosage .. so we had to increase the meds (we also did experience this to a lesser degree with our cat) .. it was a cycle .. and I was getting worried about just how much he was taking, and what side effects it could have over the long haul .. fortunately .. I experimented .. and found other options that were much healthier for the horse.
Luckily, I have appeared to 'grow out' of my asthma .. fortunately for my cat .. I think we have found a working solution .. it takes a bit of experimenting .. and a vet that's patient and willing to discuss options with you .. but .. I do admit .. we basically came up on our kitty's medication routine on our own with guidance from our vet .. when we felt we had a handle on it, we explained it to his vet, who approved what we were doing.
