Help With Sneezy Kitty

My cat Sam had his annual vet visit last week. He got his rabies shot, and after x rays for a cough showed mild asthma, a steroid shot. Now, 6 days later, he has sneezed 7 times today that I know of. I don't think I've ever heard him sneeze before and we've had him for 4 years. Should I be concerned?


Denise & Mr. Smith (GA) & Sam

 

I'd be concerned about any breathing change in an asthma kitty. He may have mucus building up.

Please check out the fritzthebrave.com website - you can learn a lot about feline asthma there. Did your vet prescribe albuterol (rescue inhaler, bronchodilator) and flovent (inhaled steroid, takes ~10-14 days to take effect)? If not, I think you should call the vet and ask why not, after you've reviewed the Fritzthebrave and especially the Dr Padrid protocol. Also check out the Aerokat, which is extremely helpful in administering the inhaled meds.

Asthma is nothing to play with. An injected steroid can reduce symptoms for a while, but the disease has to be dealt with for the long term. A flare up can kill your cat, or land him in the ER to the tune of $1000 (oxygen/nebulization treatment is very expensive.)

laur

 

Thank you for the website - I will check it out.

The vet said that Sam's asthma is very mild. We told him about the cough last year, and at that time he couldn't hear anything wrong in Sam's chest. This time he said that he could hear something, that's why we did the x-ray.

Other than the sneezing he seems fine; no coughing, runny nose or eyes. I'm thinking that he may have picked up a virus at the vet's office. I'm home with him 24/7, so I'll keep an eye on him and call the vet Wednesday if the sneezing continues, or of course, if anything else shows up.

All opinions welcome!

Denise & Mr. Smith (GA) & Sam

 

Hi Denise

I strongly second Laur's recommendation to look into inhaled medication for asthma. You should at least have a "rescue" inhaler (albuterol) at home for emergencies. I would also test your cat for heartworm, if you are in a heartworm area (i.e. not northern Canada!) and put your kitty on monthly prevention from here on out.

If you heard the sneezing over a short course of time, he may have simply had something irritate his nose. If he keeps it up, if there is any discharge, call the vet. If you see him breathing with his mouth open, take him to the vet or the ER asap ok?

 

Thanks Jess - I don't know if I'm in a heartworm area or not (would that show up on x-ray? vet said Sam's heart looked great!). I'm in central New York. I will talk to the vet about getting a rescue inhaler, but he really talked as if there was a good chance that Sam would only need the steroid shots (at what interval we don't yet know, depends on how he does). I don't want to just brush off the asthma, but that is what the vet said, and Sam only coughs occaisionally. The reason I kept bringing it up to the vet was because we lost one cat to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and I was told at that time that one symptom I might have missed was a cough. So I've been pretty paranoid about Sam's cough. I think this was the third time that I brought it up with the vet, and for the first time he heard something on listening to Sam's lungs that made him think a closer look was warranted. Sam actually hasn't coughed at all since getting the steroid shot.

Today he has sneezed a few times - not as much as yesterday. He does seem just a tad under the weather. He has peed, pooped, purred, preened (is that right?) and played a little. No discharge from the nose, but a couple of times his eyes did seem a little watery. He hasn't had any trouple breathing. Not even for the short time he played. His appetite is hearty as usual. I do have to call the vet tomorrow to let him know how the shot is working so I will bring up the sneezing.

Thanks again, and any more opinions are welcome
Denise

 

I am going to be very blunt here in hopes of saving you the grief and loss that we are experiencing.

In my opinion, if a cat has asthma (mild or not), it woud be insane not to have a rescue inhaler on hand. They cost less than $10. You do not know what may set off an asthma attack. The bronchial passages spasm and it becomes very difficult for the cat to breathe. The cat can die or suffer brain damage. The cat certainly suffers terror while it cannot get enough air. The rescue inhaler is your chance to intervene.

Also, why would you want to put your cat through a roller coaster of systemic steroids? It wears off, has a greater suppressing effect on the cat's immune system, and the lung damage continues to accumulate. Steroid shots and pills definitely have their place, don't get me wrong, but an important treatment component is the inhaled steroid.

I think you need to do some reading (such as Fritzthebrave) then ask your vet some hard questions about his experience with asthma. And I most strongly recommend a second opinion if he doesn't prescribe inhaled meds.

Mini had some physical issues with his airway, but he was in great shape. He had been to the vet the week before and had perfectly clear lungs. He died just hours after this video was taken, almost certainly of an asthma attack. He also had "mild asthma".

Asthma, even mild asthma, can and does kill. Please be safe, not sorry.

laur

 

Hi Denise

NY state would be an unlikely but possible area for heartworm. There are sometimes certain changes to the lungs and vessels that indicate heartworm on x-ray, but this can't be counted on.

Unfortunately feline heart disease cannot be diagnosed (or excluded) on x-ray :sad:

A rescue inhaler is for a bad asthma attack. Just as people with asthma have a regular medication for everyday, they also carry with them an inhaler in case of attack. You won't know that Sam needs it until he needs it (can't stop coughing, is struggling for air). ALbuterol (the inhaler) is pretty cheap, and you can get an AeroKat online. (That is the delivery chamber for the inhaler. Cats won't suck on the end of the inhaler like humans do.) Check out Fritzthebrave.com for more info, picture, and links.

I would not depend on occasional steroids shots for asthma -- inhaled medication is the way to go as you avoid the risks associated with systemic steroid use.

Does your cat have access to outside? I would run some more tests if he were my cat, but esp. if he went outside. These would include blood tests for toxoplasmosis and cryptococcus, a regular fecal test, and a Baermann fecal test. (This tests for worms that could go through the lungs.) The Baermann is expensive, IIRC, so you could also just deworm him with a broad-spectrum dewormer like Panacur. It's likely that all these tests would be negative but they are done to rule out anything curable before treating a chronic disease for a lifetime.

You could also test for heartworm antibodies and antigen. Heartworm is not treatable in cats, though, so if $ is a concern, you may want to ditch this one (although HW test is not too pricey, if I remember correctly).

Hmm coughing is a VERY rare sign of heart disease in cats. In dogs, yes, but in cats, not really. Coughing is associated with respiratory disease.

 

Jess - thank you for the information. I talked to the vet yesterday and he seems to think that the immunosuppressant effects of the steroids brought out a latent virus in Sam. He said to give it 2 more days and if Sam isn't any better, or is worse, that the infection has likely turned bacterial and he'll prescribe antibiotics. Well, Sam is 99% better today - only 2 sneezes so far, and he just acts more himself. The vet also said that Sam's asthma is negligible, and that is why he thinks this course of treatment is best. He said Sam may only need 1 -2 doses of steroids a year, and that we will probably have to go to the slower acting pill form so as not to bring out the virus. I know you say that systemic steroids are not the best idea, but what if the cat doesn't need daily inhaled meds? What damage could periodic low doses of systemic steroids do? Believe me, I want to do what's best for Sam, but I don't know what is truly necessary at this point, and what is overly aggressive/alarmist. I would appreciate more advice from you.

Thanks,
Denise

Edited to add: Sam hasn't been outside since we adopted him. He was actually living with a feral colony when a local rescue group was trapping spay/neutering them. After his neutering and ear tipping they discovered that he was not feral.

Also, I've always felt so guilty about losing our other kitty to that heart disease. I really thought I missed something. One night he threw a clot causing him to lose control of his back leg. We rushed him to the emergency vet, but he didn't make it through the night. That's why I want to do what is right for Sam - but I don't want to "kill a fly with a hand grenade".

 

Hi Denise

There is no definitive answer here. Asthma is a chronic condition involving lower airway inflammation, and it stands to reason that there would be some at least low-level chronic inflammation all the time. The question is then, why wouldn't you treat a constant condition ... constantly? But on the other hand, if he truly has such rare symptoms, is it worth putting in a daily medication?

(Let's make sure he's having rare symptoms. At rest he is not breathing more than 30 breaths per minute; you don't see him flaring his nose or using his abdomen to breathe after exercise or at any other time; he doesn't have a change in the sound of his purr or make noise when he breathes, right??? He is able to sustain rough play/vigorous exercise without problems? The only symptom you ever, ever see is a cough that happens twice a year? He has never had a very hard time breathing, gasping, panicking, right??)

So there are two options. One is to use a very low dose of steroid -- inhaled or oral -- constantly. We're talking low dose, twice weekly. The other is to only treat the symptoms as they occur, and be prepared to give additional meds as/if his condition worsens.

If you really see two coughs a year and there are absolutely no other symptoms, it's reasonable to be prepared to treat just when those symptoms occur. However, I would absolutely make sure to have an albuterol inhaler in the house. If he has a coughing attack he needs the inhaler in order to open up his airway and allow him to breathe. You don't know if/when he would have a bad attack so you can just have it (hopefully) sit around and only collect dust, knowing it will be there if your little one needs help. Alternatively, you can keep an injectable medication around but the inhaler is faster I would definitely have this "just in case".

Hope this helps.

 

Jess - thanks again for taking the time to comment.

I've never seen the other symptoms you mentioned, however I'm going to wait a day or two to make sure Sam is over the virus ( 0 sneezes so far today) and then make him play hard and really see what happens. I did count his breaths while he was totally at rest this morning and got 15 on the nose.

As far as Sam's coughing - sometimes he would cough twice in one week, then two months would go by without a cough. Through our talk the other day the vet and I also figured out that the cough was more prevalent when it was dry in the house; during the winter, and when the air conditioner has been running a lot. We're going to get a humidifier for this winter to make it easier on Sam.

So, I think we're going to go with the vets recommendations for now. If anything changes I'll be back here looking for tips on using the inhaler!

Oh - the vet said that the inhaled meds are expensive, and that we most likely wouldn't need them as a rescue inhaler. I would still like to get this. Is a prescription needed, and if not does anyone know where I could get this?

Thanks again,
Denise