Conference misery::feline

    My 1 1/2 year old, Murphy has feline asthma.  Hers was not caused by
    smoking, however, as she has never been exposed to smokers.  She was
    diagnosed with it about five months ago, approximately a month after I
    moved to Mass.  She had been coughing.  Her coughing got progressively
    worse over a two day period, and she looked like she was having some
    kind of spasms in her stomach area.  When I took her to the vet, they
    x-rayed her and found that she was not able to fill her lungs to
    capacity.  As a result, she had begun breathing abdominally, which is
    VERY tiring for a cat.  They kept her overnight and put her on oxygen.
    They gave her a time-released cortisone shot,,,,(as you can't give a
    cat an inhaler,,,,like humans with asthma often have).  
    
    The vet could not tell me how she got it, but told me MANY things can
    trigger asthma in cats.  Sometimes they never have another attack, and
    sometimes they do.  Sometimes their attacks are caused by different
    pollens in the air, sometimes they're caused by drastic weather
    changes, and sometimes they are stress-induced.  Her shot was supposed
    to be good for three months, and if I saw any signs of a repeat attack,
    I was to bring her in for a shot.  My vet assured me that she treats
    many felines with asthma, and that they come in for a shot once every
    few months and are fine.
    
    Well two weeks ago, Murphy had her second attack.  It came on so
    suddenly, and scared me to death.  Last time she was coughing for two
    days before she started breathing abdominally.  This time she started
    coughing on Thursday night at around 10:00.  She slept on my bed and
    when I got up in the morning to feed my kitties, she didn't even move. 
    She was breathing abdominally and I called the vet and they said to
    bring her in at 9:15.  Well by 9:00, she was sooo exhausted that I
    thought she would surely DIE before I got her to the vets.  I can't
    BELIEVE how quickly she went downhill.  Anyway, to make a long story
    even longer, I was so preoccupied keeping my eye on her in the car,
    that I rearended the guy in front of me.  Murph ended up upside down in
    her petcrate and I was 30 minutes late for my vet appointment.  
    
    I felt like the worst mom in the whole world and when I got to the vet
    with my very sick, confused kitty, I couldn't help but cry.  They
    gave Murph a shot to regulate her breathing, put her on oxygen and kept
    her overnight.  They didn't want her having ANY stress at all.  They
    ended up giving her the time-released cortisone shot, as well as a few
    others to get her back on track.  Her condition put a scare in them as
    well.  
    
    Needless to say, having an asthmatic cat is not fun, but Murph means
    the world to me, and I would do anything for her.  Next time this
    happens, I'll know enough to rush her in immediately.  
    
    I don't know if this answers any of your questions, but it reflects my
    experiences with my asthmatic kitty.
    
    
    Kristen

    My Casey is asthmatic, and the vet couldn't really pinpoint
    the cause....(we do have a woodstove, tho').  His treatment
    runs along the same lines as .1.  When he seems to be coughing a lot,
    and having obvious difficulty in breathing, I take him in for
    a shot.  It's been quite a while since the last attack.
    (Knock on laminate!)
    
    

    Cats, like humans, can go into respiratory arrest when their lungs
    become too fatigued from the strain of trying to breath.  Once they
    stop breathing, the next problem is cardiac arrest (the heart stops). 
    This happened to my husband last July.  Now, when he shows the
    slightest signs of respiratory difficulty, we get him in for treatment. 
    
    
    Re .1 
    
    What an awful ordeal that must have been for you and Murph.  Glad Murph
    is fine now and neither of you were injured in the accident.
    
    Jo

    I think your vet can teach you kitty CPR.  Also, is it
    possible to have some sort of medication on hand for future
    emergencies?  And to locate an emergency vet so you can bundle
    Murph in there even at nighttime?
    
    p.s. .0 please stop smoking.  Who will take care of your kitty
    when you're gone?
    

    Kristin--->Your story absolutly terrified me! What a nightmare. I'm 
    glad that Murphy is doing better.
    
    Bonnie

    RE: .4
    
       It's funny you should say that -- your p.s. I worry all the time
    about that. Nobody loves them or knows them like I do. My SO tries 
    and he loves them both very much, but I think I have that mother's
    intuition ;-). Since they're indoor only I try to give them everything
    I possibly can to make them happy. Or house is done in Cat-Deco! They
    even have a 5x4x2ft., 6 level, 2 apartment climber complete with a 
    tunnel. Bob made it for them. It's fully carpeted and all the posts
    are tree trunks. They love it! Anyway, I do feel the urge to try to
    quit smoking -- AGAIN. If they ever got sick as a direct result of
    something I did I'd never forgive myself. I'm almost sick just think-
    ing about it. 
    
       Thanks for the info. 
    
    b.r., Hamilton & Abigail
    

    We had an opposite problem.  Tiki had a nicotine habit!
    
    My husband smokes, and his father used to smoke (I never did).  When we
    first got Tiki, my hub lived with his dad, and Tiki would sit up real
    close to them when they smoked.
    
    After we got married and got our own place, of course the apartment was
    fresh and smoke-free...and we couldn't get Tiki's face out of the ash
    trays!  My hub would light a ciggy, and Tiki would be right in his
    face!  When we took him to the vet for his kidney problem he actually
    had a bit of nicotine withdrawal.
    
    Rico isn't effected one way or the other.  Alex hates cigarette smoke
    (her face when one is lit is priceless), but she loves pipe tobacco (I
    got him a pipe this Christmas).
    
    And .0 is right about one thing...smokers ARE getting majorly hassled!
    
    K.C.
    
    P.S.  Hi, Bunni!  :^)

    Hi, K.C.,
    
      I don't know if the smoke bothers Hamilton. He spends alot of his
    time alone, especially since we got Abby. He likes to stay out on his
    cat porch that we got him from Animail (CATalog). Even in the freezing
    cold. All that Persian fur keeps him warm I guess. Or down in the
    cellar in places Abby can't get to yet. Two months later and he still
    doesn't like her. She sometimes squints her eyes as if something's in
    them (smoke, I suspect). That's when I put it out.The thing is, the vet
    told me the cats smelled like smoke and then laid the asthma thing on
    me. 
      That's funny about Tiki being addicted to nicotine. But I guess
    they're as susceptible as we are. I wish I never started smoking.
    
    b.r.
    
      

    Skeeter has asthma.  Her attacks are usually in the spring, when the
    pollen level is at it's highest.  It's hard to sit and watch her start
    to cough and cough.  The vet gave me a supply of prednisone which I
    give her once a day for a week after her asthma starts.  After that she
    if fine until the next spring.
    
    Karen

    I have an older Siamese who has asthma.  He had a second cortisone shot
    two weeks ago (the first lasted 2 months).  This seems to be doing
    nothing.  He is coughing all the time.  He also sounds like a freight
    train - you can here him coming down the hall!  Has anyone else
    experienced the loud chest noises - I hate to have him purr because it
    usually chokes him.
    
    He has had asthma for @5 years but prednisone pills in the winter only
    did fine until this year.  I am getting really worried about him.  We
    are on our way to the vet tomorrow am.
    
    Judi
    

    Re: .10
    
    Please let us know what the vet says.  My Sweetie also has this.  He
    had a bad spell last week when I did spring cleaning (dust all around)
    and putting him back on one pill a day, from one every other day, for a
    few days fixed things.  
    

    By the way, I thought the shots weren't all that long lasting, that
    they were a "quick fix" and that a maintenance dosage with pills might
    be necessary even with the shots....
    

    According to my vet, the time between shots varies with the animal. 
    Some can go 3-4 months.  Mao doesn't seem that lucky!
    
    He is on an antibiotic.  Looks like an upper respiratory infection on
    top of everything else.  He was running around playing with some panty
    hose of mine yesterday!  So I was ecstatic -maybe he'll be better for a
    while.
    
    Vet suggested thinking about a "lung wash".  Has anyone been through
    this?

    I posted this in the "Feline Asthma #137" awhile ago but it is an older
    note and hasn't seen any action.
    
    I have an older Siamese with asthma.  Monthly cortisone injections are
    not working as well.  He is now on oral also and a short term course of
    an antibiotic - just in case.
    
    A "lung wash" has been suggested.  Anyone have any experience with
    this.
    
    Also - we are watching for the other health problems - kidney damage,
    diabetes that sometimes occur with long term cortisone use.
    
    I would appreciate any suggestions - thanks.

    What my vet told me about side effects of prednisone (which I guess is
    the pill your cat is taking?) is that cats tolerate it much better than
    humans, and that to see damage from it in a cat he'd have to be taking
    "six pills twice a day."
    

    That's very interesting!  My vet was much more pessimistic.  Perhaps
    it's the pills and the monthly shots that she is worried about.  Mao
    was breathing very poorly this morning despite all this medication.  I
    am very worried.  I would be even more so had he not gobbled his
    breakfast!
    
    I'm still wondering if this lung wash approach will help him - I'm
    afraid at his age (14) it will just upset him and aggravate the
    problem.

    What exactly is a lung wash?  I had the dim idea it might be a
    diagnostic aid (taking a swab or somesuch) as opposed to something
    that was a treatment in itself?
    
    signed,
    
    thinking good thoughts for Mao
    

    Could you possibly get another vets opinion...or call Tufts (or
    another Medical Center) and talk to their specialist.  Two
    opinions never hurt anyone...
    
    Kitty prayers for Mao....
    
    Sandy

I know I'm coming a bit late to this note, but I just thought of
looking for this topic. Our longhair, Kerouac (yep, we got him in
Lowell;-), has been battling asthma for years; only this season
(spring-summer '94) has it really kicked up, so much so that a
few weeks ago we had to bring him at 2 a.m. to the animal clinic in
Acton, MA. Kerouac seemed a bit better by the time we got there,
and the vet said he'd expected to see a much sicker cat. He
stayed the night, and the vet gave him shots of pregnazone
(forgive the spelling). 

We've had a couple of very frightening nights when he lay on the
floor, gasping for breath, even after we'd brought him home from
the vet. We thought he'd pass on that night, but he has always
pulled through. 

He's been under treatment for years, taking preg and amenophyline 
(spelling again). Lately, the vet's given him something "10 times 
stronger than preg," and my wife and I administer those pills 
twice a day. Because the amenophyline comes in only a certain 
size, we have to break it up--needless to say, Kerouac really 
loves getting that caught in his throat.

Also, we've been keeping him in our air-conditioned bedroom all 
day, and, thankfully, he's seemed to have improved considerably, 
even chasing after Electra, our other cat.

Our vet in Shirley tells us that, in case of an emergency, to 
bring him to Acton, which has an oxygen tent. Hope it doesn't 
come to that....

Bill

Sad to report that Kerouac passed away Sunday (my birthday, of 
all times), because he had a serious asthma attack at the vet's,
where we bordered him--we'd taken a long weekend in Rockport.

He was doing very well, too, with the new, stronger medication 
the doctor had given him. Unfortunately, I think the heat and 
humidity might have triggered his last attack. The vet put him on 
oxygen, more shots, everything, but he couldn't pull out of it 
this time. A couple of months ago, we thought he was going to die 
here, after he had gotten two new, stronger shots, but he pulled 
through, as he had always done.

For the past two months, we'd been keeping him in the 
air-conditioned bedroom, so the weather hadn't bothered him 'til 
then. When I came home from the vet's with an empty carrier, 
my wife took it very hard. (We came home yesterday, on Monday.)
Ironically, I'd gotten him on my birthday, five or so years ago.

He was an excellent, beautiful cat, and it'll take us a long time to 
recover.

    I'm sorry to hear about your kitty Kerouac, taken too early like
    his namesake, but having a positive and profound effect on your
    life in his short time with you.  It's good that he does not have
    to suffer, but sad that now you must suffer his loss.  The image
    of the empty carrier is almost too much to think about.  I'm so
    sorry.  Please know that my thoughts and sympathies are with you.
    
    Carl

     My sympathies on your loss of Kerouac.  I'll add his name to the Silver 
     Lining memorial list.....

     Debbi

     (geez, it's been so "quiet" in here lately [with regard to losses], I 
     thought taking SLM over from Yonee was no biggie - now 2 in 2 days !!)

    My heart and prayers are with you during your time of sorrow.  
    May Kerouac memories stay close to your heart forever.
    
    Sandy

    I'm so sorry about your loss.
    
    Deb

    
    Our heartfelt condolances.  He will live in your memory forever, and
    the happy times will eventually make you smile again.
    
    Feline Sad,
    
    Sue & Crew

    So sorry to hear about your loss of your beloved kitty. 
    I'm sure that you did everything you could for him, and
    I know he appreciated it.  Keep his memory in your heart.
    You'll see each other again someday...
    
    Pam

Thank you all for your expressions of sympathy. As someone just 
told me, "Somehow, some way, Kerouac will tell you he's all right 
and that he loves you."

Thanks again,

Bill

Well, we've just "adopted" a 3.5-month-old Blue Persian who's 
playful, good-natured, and purrs constantly. He'll be a good 
addition; though he can't replace Kerouac, he can help lessen the 
ache.... And his name's Pugsley, Baron of Graymatter.