Asthma in Cats

Laurie Anne Walden, DVM

Photo by Zoë Gayah Jonker on Unsplash

Asthma is one of the most common respiratory diseases in cats. It isn’t curable but can be managed with medication. Many cats are treated with inhalers attached to a face mask delivery system developed specifically for cats.
 
Causes
Asthma is caused by an allergic response to something a cat has inhaled, like smoke, vapors, dust, pollens, or other substances. The resulting inflammation inside the airways causes swelling, mucus production, and airway constriction (muscle spasm), all of which reduce airflow.
 
Cats of any age can have asthma, but it’s most often diagnosed in young adults. Asthma episodes can be triggered by stress and exertion as well as by substances in the environment.
 
Signs
Some cats with asthma cough every day; others have only occasional episodes. Cats with asthma can suddenly develop life-threatening respiratory distress at any time if something triggers airway constriction, even if their condition is usually mild. These are the typical signs of asthma in cats:

• Coughing
• Wheezing
• Open-mouth breathing (panting in cats is not normal)
• Increased breathing rate
• Increased breathing effort
• Blue or purple nose, gums, or tongue (a medical emergency)

 
In cats, coughing can easily be mistaken for hacking up a hairball or vomiting. If you’re not sure whether your cat is coughing or vomiting, take a video if possible and schedule a veterinary examination without delay.
 
Diagnosis
Making a diagnosis of asthma can be complicated because the signs are very similar to those of other heart and lung disorders, like heart disease, chronic bronchitis, infections (bacterial, viral, fungal, or parasitic), cancer, and heartworm disease. Physical examination sometimes but not always reveals changes in breathing pattern and lung sounds. In many cats with asthma, chest radiographs show evidence of airway thickening. However, radiographs can look completely normal in cats with asthma. Additional tests are used to rule out other disorders. Some cats need advanced procedures like bronchoscopy.
 
Response to treatment can support a diagnosis of asthma. Airway constriction is partly reversible with medication. For cats with respiratory distress caused by asthma, emergency injection of a bronchodilating drug typically improves breathing within a few minutes.
 
Treatment
Cats with severe asthma and respiratory distress need emergency care including oxygen, bronchodilators, and other medications. They must be handled carefully to minimize stress.
 
The goals of asthma management are to reduce airway inflammation and treat airway constriction. Owners of cats with asthma need to remove as many environmental triggers as possible:

• Use air filtration.

• Keep the windows closed during pollen season.
• Don’t allow smoking or vaping in the house.
• Don’t use plug-in air fresheners, dust-producing cat litter, or anything else that puts particles or vapors into the air.

 
Cats with asthma need corticosteroids for life to reduce airway inflammation. Some cats also need long-term bronchodilator therapy to reduce airway constriction. However, many cats do well with steroid therapy alone, and their owners keep a bronchodilator on hand to give as rescue therapy during asthma events.
 
Metered dose inhalers (the same ones used by people) are a good option for many cats. Inhaled corticosteroids are delivered directly to the airways and are less likely to cause the adverse effects that long-term oral or injectable steroid therapy can cause in cats. It takes time for inhaled corticosteroids to reach full effect, so cats need to start with an oral or injectable form and transition to inhaled medication over a couple of weeks. Bronchodilators are also available as inhalants.
 
Just like small children with asthma, cats can’t time their breathing to inhale exactly when someone puffs an inhaler at them. Spacers were invented to solve this problem for children, and they’re available for cats too. Spacers are chambers with an inhaler attached to one end and a face mask attached to the other. The medication puffed from the inhaler stays inside the chamber until the child (or cat) inhales it by taking several normal breaths through the mask. Cats can be trained to accept the face mask and spacer. The training process takes time; you do not want to slap a device straight onto the face of an unprepared cat who needs to avoid stress.
 
More Information

• Asthma in cats (Veterinary Partner): https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951536
• AeroKat spacer (Trudell Animal Health): https://www.trudellanimalhealth.com/cats/using-aerokat

 
Image source: https://unsplash.com/photos/shallow-focus-photo-of-orange-cat-uhnbTZC7N9k

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