Has anyone ever had a cat with asthma?

[Neveryours]

Sorry I did already post this on the litter tray but I never seem to get any engagement over there, so thought I’d post here as well as I’m really worrying.

My 11 month old cat has been coughing. She’s only done it 3 or 4 times in the last 6 months and it only last about 20 seconds. At first I got extremely worried and thought she was choking but then she stopped. The second time my partner said it was a hairball, i can’t remember if she’s done it once or twice since then but I didn’t worry as I just took DPs word for it that it was a hairball because he has had cats all his life and I haven’t. However, I just saw a video of a cat having an asthma attack and it sounds exactly what happens to her and now I’m worried.

I am going to take her to the vets to get checked out but I just wondered what I could expect if she does have asthma? Life long medication? Will this impact her life at all? She is insured for 5k per condition per year. I wonder if the 5k will cover tests and medication though. I’m basically just trying to mentally prepare myself for what might happen, so any experiences are welcome

My daughter has a 5 year maincoon who has suffered with asthma since he was 1, he is treated daily with an inhaler, she has trained him using treats to stay still whilst she sprays the inhaler into the spacer and he breathes it in. Life. Expecting is normal.

My cat had asthma. He grew out of it as he aged.
He had a Ventolin inhaler
it was expensive from the vets, but a relative had old part used ones that they were discarding - which helped in terms of cost.
Rather than a spacer device off the shelf (too big for a cat?)…I just used to adapt any small yoghurt pot with a hole cut in the bottom.

My three year old moggie has asthma. She uses a little spacer and inhaler. It took a few weeks to teach her how to do it, but she's fine now and comes up to me to wait for it when it's due.

Thank you for the replies. Is the inhaler just a one time purchase or do you have monthly costs? My girl is insured so it’s fine, but just wondering 😊

Teaching method that I used:

Detached mask from spacer and showed her it a few times. Left it in her feeding area - a few days

Put a splodge of cat yoghurt onto the outside of her mask and got her to lick it off - every day, about a week

Put the cat yoghurt further into the mask and got her to lick it out of the inside - every day, about a week

Connected the spacer and inhaler and put the mask onto her face for a few seconds then gave a treat afterwards - every day, about three days

Sprayed the inhaler into the chamber then got her to tolerate the mask for about three seconds - about a week - husband needed to hold her to stop her backing away. Gave treat afterwards

Eventually, I was able to hold it on for the required ten breaths - there's a little valve so you can count.

Now, I can do it without holding her and she'll come and ask for it. She still gets a little treat afterwards. No more asthma attacks and her breathing is fine. Sometimes she flares up a bit in hayfever season, so I give her an extra puff for a couple of days.

Mine has one puff a day - it's a steroid inhaler and it lasts for about three months. It costs just over £50

One of ours has late onset asthma (he's 8) and is being treated with steroids. He's generally wheezy and struggling more than he used to but is very content if he just gets to cuddle up on our bed.

The spacer and mask costs over £90 😬 there's two masks included, the larger one is for a dog, the smaller one is for cats. It just fits over the nose and mouth.

My cat has asthma.

Beyond initial diagnosis (x-ray usually) cost is not too bad. Sometimes they will want to do a bronchial lavage but that involves anaesthetic so not without risks.

She needs check ups once every 6 months when things are otherwise well... At the moment we are battling an upper respiratory tract infection that doesn't want to budge though so in and out the vet right now!

Her spacer is a £55 one from Amazon, so not the Aerokat but also not the cheapest. It has little valves so you can see when she is taking a breath. Her inhalers are human ones, a ventolin for emergencies and flixotide (?) for steroid therapy. Cheapest to ask for a prescription and then purchase from a human pharmacy. You will also probs give the pharmacist a good chuckle, I know we did the first time!

It doesn't stop her - she is much better with treatment now and hardly coughs. I know some cats can suffer really badly. There's some great support groups on Facebook with loads of tips.