Why does my cat's asthma get worse after her inhaler???

[RGPargy]

I feel so sorry for my poor cat. She has suffered with asthma (sp?) for probably about 2 years now and for the last year she has been on an inhaler. Lately however, she has been getting worse after her inhaler. I have been listening to her wheezing and coughing away tonight after her inhaler and i'm beginning to think the worst. I'm terrified of her having a bad attack because short of giving her the inhaler again, i really wouldn't have a clue what to do.

I think i will take her to the vet again on Saturday if i can get an appointment and see what they say.

Does anyone know what else i can do to help my cat? The inhaler doesn't appear to be working anymore......

Anyone?

I'd call the vet and ask to speak to the vet him/herself - they may be able to prescribe something and leave it for you to collect tonight, rather than waiting until Saturday.

If she's really that bad you shouldn't be waiting, tbh.

Good luck.

Which inhaler(s) are you using for her? If more than one are they both causing her problems?

Either way you need to talk to your vet about things at this stage.

She's on ventolin and then a brown steroid one. She is given both twice a day. I have an appointment with the vet so hopefully she'll be able to give me some more options.

RGP - I know bugger all about cats, but am asthmatic. I know this sounds daft, but are they like inhalers for humans, can you pop out the canister?

I only ask because if you've had the inhaler for a while, they can get a bit grubby inside - it's worth popping the canister out and giving the plastic casing a good wash in soapy water. Might be she's reacting to extra contaminant that she's inhaling at the same time? I've actually scratched the inside of my throat before now when a bit of debris (maybe dried residue of the medication?) got loose and I inhaled that at the same time. I'm a bit more careful with the lid/cleaning now!

Hope the vet's appointment goes well.

RD - yes they are actually human inhalers!! I will give her spacer and the plastic casing a good clean tonight and see if that helps a bit. Thanx for that, i wouldn't have thought of that as affecting her but perhaps it is!

Hi RG - in the short term if her symptoms seem worse you may need to increase the dose of the brown inhaler, or the vet may consider giving her steroid tablets in addition until it settles down a bit. If you haven't already seen the vet and have to wait for an appt next week try calling and just talking it through with them for advice in the mean time.

good advice from RD about cleaning too.

Went to the vets yesterday and she said to take her off the inhaler. She gave her a steroid injection and an anti-b injection as she said it sounded more upper respiratory than lower (i.e. not in the lungs) so thought maybe it was somethings else.

Her breathing improved greatly yesterday evening and this morning but today she was still a bit raspy, although not as bad as previously.

I've been given steroids to give her one a day and a bronchial powder to sprinkle on her food once a day.

I have to go back next Monday for an update.

Glad things seem a bit better at the moment.