allergies and asthma meds used

HI all
Robbie's had allergy induced asthma (I call it that cause it is mostly gone/dorment in the winter flares up in Spring and summer just like mine) He's been on inhaled steroids in the past and they really didn't help (did a year of that) or at least they maybe made his wheezing a bit better but nothing drastic and he HATES the aerokat and the whole process so we went off the inhaled and onto pills when he was having a bad bout - I'm fairly certain that and the occasional shot he got during really bad flare ups is what pushed him over the line into diabetes to begin with 2 YEARS ago- about 2 weeks after the last shot he got he starting having the diabetic symptoms (pls note this was 2 years ago) I didn't know what was going on and by the time I brought him in he'd lost 4 lbs and was full blown diabetic. Happily with the help of this forum and insulin he was OTJ in about 3 months and had remained so for almost 2 years when a couple of months ago things went down hill again. He's now back on insulin and we're working on things with the help of the PZI forum and others.
Some facts
He's 19 lb Maine Coon, 10 years old
He has not had prednisone or cortisone pills or shots in 2 years
We use only an emergency inhaler to help clear him up if he has a real coughing fit(typically few and far between but getting worse this season)
He ALWAYS wheezes when he purrs - sounds like a broken bag pipe
Sometimes snores loudly - but only when his allergies are kicking in
His right nostril is almost always stuffed up
He has "eye googy" that is crusty ALL the time and when his allergies get bad like now he has red rings around his eyes and looks miserable.
All of this has gotten much worse in the last year - I've talked to the vet about an antihistimine and he's all for it - told him I wanted to hear what others on this forum use since I'm not sure of interactions with the diabetes. (I think the vet gets insulted that I won't just listen to him but he's getting used that )
I'd love to hear what has worked for anyone out there in terms of controlling allergies and also any input on asthma - we have read and visit Fritz the Brave and used to post on the yahoo forum when we were using the inhaler regularly.
Thanks

 

We used the aerokat with Waldo. So no advice there. but wanted to sya sending purrs and prayers for Robbie. (I just love his picture)
jeanne

 

thanks Jeanne - appreciate the input!

 

That's a sign that his asthma isn't under control. If he's wheezing, he has inflammation in his airways.

When you used the Flovent, what dose did you use and how many puffs did he get? Did you ever try using Albuterol first and then Flovent? Albuterol opens the airways and helps the Flovent work better.

 

I don't think that adding an antihistamine will make any difference in the diabetes/insulin combination. Antihistamines work on the immune system and don't think it would affect the way the pancreas works. You can certainly try an over the counter medication like cutting a chlortrimeton pill in half to start with. If antihistamines don't work the next thing to try would be amytriptaline - in people its an antidepressent but in cats it actually has an antihistamine effect. I don't know if you have a allergy veterinarian in your area but it might be worth a consultation. Jan

 

thank you for that input. I always used the albuterol first with the flovent - it was 1 puff and I'd have to go back and check my notes from 3-4 years ago to see what the script was for -
I was supposed to have a vet consult on Friday but I was so sick I slept all day - I'll be calling him Monday to see what he would advise as a allergy med. I don't think we have a specialist out here - kind of in the boonies in an odd way - but I can ask about that too.
He's been sneezing and his eyes are red-rimmed always a sure sign his allergies are bothering him
Whenever we've had the vet listen to his lungs - and frequently it's been when he's wheezing -he has only heard congestion in the lungs one time and it was minor - it's mostly higher bronchial area but clearly there is inflammation. I have to figure out how to get it under control. I could try the flovent again but it really seemed to produce no difference in his wheezing or odd purring sounds but it's been a few years so we'll have to consider that I guess - just want to make sure whatever we do there isn't a huge impact on this BG levels with whatever we use.

 

Have you had chest x-rays done? I have heard to use the chlortrimeton, as well. My cat that has allergies used to get the pred shot as well, hasn't had it in a while because she is already overweight and I don't want to chance it. Hope you get a call in with the vet to see what they say.

 

Yes, we had chest x-rays done - he was fully examined and diagnosed with asthma over 6 years ago - he's been spot checked over a dozen times and we regularly have the vet listen to his breathing when it's bad and when it's not - the situation stayed pretty much status quo until about 6 months ago when I noticed it was getting a bit worse and since spring has sprung he's sneezing and wheezing a lot more.