Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 5/27/2011

Question
QUESTION: Our cat is a male orange tiger, approximately 13 lbs. He suffers from asthma which only occurs in the spring for a month or two. Our vet prescribed 100mg of Aminophylline and we give him a 1/2 every 12 hrs and 5mg of Prednisone-1 tablet a day for 3 days, then 1/2 daily for 3 days and then 1/2 every other day. We are at the 1 tablet a day. He is still having moderate to severe coughing(hairball type sound)and breathing issues. What should we do? Can we up the dosages? I know Prednisone is not good for cats, but the 5mg a day doesn't seem to be helping much nor does the Aminophylline seem to be. Thank you for your help.

ANSWER: Have you contacted your own vet to tell them that the medications are not working as well? If not, that should be the first thing you do. Some vets will have an oxygen cage for cats that they can be given albuterol in and that will help a lot with his breathing.

Cats that are asthmatic usually need some type of year round care just as human asthmatics do.

You can always increase your pred by a half a pill in the evening or morning until you speak to the vet- but you don't want to give too much. 5 mg twice a day is not an overdose for a cat.

But you really must contact your local vet tomorrow and get him in or at least talk to them about his dosage and the use of an inhaler of some type.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much. We planned on calling our vet tomorrow morning, but our cat is having severe breathing problems tonight and there's no one at the vet's office to ask. Should we leave the Aminopylline as is? Also, should I give one 5mg of Pred and then a half at the same time?? I gave him a whole one this morning. Should I just give him a half right now or a another whole? Thank you so much for helping us.

ANSWER: I am not a vet Keenan, but I have asthma myself. I can only tell you that my Doc always makes me take a higher dose to start then taper off. The key is getting the inflammation down fast. If it were my cat I would give another whole one but I cannot prescribe any kind of dose for you to give.

You could call an ER vet and just ask them if that is the correct dose. They will try and talk you into bringing him in, but unless he is breathing through his mouth or his gums are bluish, he should be okay until morning.

Mouth breathing is very serious in cats. They will NOT do it unless they are in dire, dire stress. So let that guide you as well.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you again. He is not doing any mouth breathing. He does not have year round asthma. He only gets allergic asthma at this time of year. He has had it for a few years now. He only gets these symptoms each spring for about a month or two. He has been to the vet many times for this in the spring and our vet has told us that he has allergy related asthma to something that blooms at this time of year, pollen, etc. He shows absolutely no symptoms the rest of the year. Not even a single cough. Many thanks for your help. We greatly appreciate it! Have a great weekend.

Answer
Make sure you ask your vet about having an inhaler on hand for this cat. I know that sounds odd but vets do use them for cats. It would be albuterol so find out about getting him one.
I am glad he isn't in distress.
Having allergic asthma is probably the worst kind to have. I am blessed that I don't and mine is very mild but I control it carefully.
Please let me know how he is doing in the next few days. Have a safe Memorial Weekend yourself!