Appreciate any Feline Asthma Advice for Cini Mini

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Cini Mini's Mom

Cini Mini's Mom

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Hi Everyone,

I get on the floor with Cini when I test him for BGs. I usually face him in front of me and I grab an ear and poke. Well, when I was done getting his +9 just now I was getting up and my foot bonked him on the nose. He made a scrinchy face and then he started wheezing! :shock: It lasted for about a good minute and then he calmed down.

Do you think it was just a reaction to getting hit in the nose? I hope his asthma isn't coming back. :cry:

It's been about a month since his last asthma episode and Flovent inhaler. Usually he's seasonal reactive and with the warmer weather here in Arizona he's not had a recurrence. Till just now. But I don't know if it was a nerve reaction (like sneezing when you get hit in the nose) or maybe asthma creeping up?
 
Racci has asthma also and when they take Flovent, it is a preventative. It is a treatment that they are supposed to stay on to keep them from getting attacks. Please give me some more information. What dosage was he taking and how often and when did he start and when did he stop his Flovent? Is that the only attack he's had lately? When was his last attack? Do you have Albuterol or something like it in the house for attacks? Yes, it sounds like an attack but with that poor boy's history........ I'll be better able to help with those answers.

One thing you should know though, is that the steroid in Flovent ddoes not act on the body like injections or pills do. It does very little damage, since it goes directly where it is needed and not through the bloodstream.

Racci has had asthma for 5 years almost and she hasn't had an attack now for about a year but that is because I give her Flovent religiously. Every time I fooled myself into believing she was done with it, and stop her medicine or cut it back, sure enough within a month or 2 she has an attack.

Melanie & Racci
 
Hi Melanie,

Answers to your questions:

What dosage was he taking and how often and when did he start and when did he stop his Flovent?
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It's the 220mcg inhalent Flovent, two puffs twice a day. For this last episode, he started taking it on 12/9/11 and tapered down to 1 puff every other day with the last dose being 12/31/11.

Is that the only attack he's had lately? When was his last attack?
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Yes, that was the only episode. See above for when the last attack was. Before that, he hasn't had an asthma attack in over a year.

Do you have Albuterol or something like it in the house for attacks?
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No

You may want to also read Cini's profile. Long story short, he may have been mis-diagnosed as asthmatic and may have had toxoplasmosis all this time which he has been treated for. If that's the case, the tubercles in his lungs may have been damaged.
 
So he's only been completely off for a very short time and he was taking a large dose. I did read his profile which is why I said he's been through so much that it is hard to tell, poor little boy, but yes it does sound like it. Racci takes 1 puff 2x a day of the 220. Asthma in cats usually does not go away unless it is an allergy to one specific plant or tree or something.

There is a post on the board for both Albuterol and Flovent available for $25 each. The flovent is only the 110 but what I would suggest is getting the Albuterol for an emergency just in case. If he is not on the Flovent, you want to have something in the house to help him right away if he should have an attack. It may be his other condition but it may be his asthma. Was his asthma dx'd by xray? That is usually the way they figure it out. It shows up cloudy by the lungs. I don't know if it can be confused with his other condition because I'm not familiar with it.
 
Nose bump = long sneezing fit and funny breathing for a while. I know because sometimes when KT runs from his wallpaper-peeling poops, he forgets to stop when he gets to the wall 65 feet away - slides right into it nose first... :-D
 
His asthma was MISdiagnosed by x-ray years ago by a Vet who had no experience with Toxoplasmosis, which also shows up looking like asthma on an x-ray. The way to confirm if it's one or the other is to do a Toxo test. Instead the Vet said "Here let's give him a steroid injection." and I did that for years. And here we are today. I still beat myself up about that. ohmygod_smile

I think I am going to wait it out and see what happens. So far Cini is doing fine, not having difficulty breathing. I'll touch base with the Vet tomorrow (not the incompetent one, the new one ;-) )

Thank you for the info on possible reduced cost for inhalers. I do need to find a better source because, as you know, these things aren't cheap!
 
Oh, and almost forgot to mention.
Before the Toxo treatment (when the new Vet suspected it was Toxo) Cini had an x-ray done and there was a mass in the middle of his chest, about where the sternum is and there were several shadows on his lungs.

After the Toxo treatment (and all the other hurdles we crossed to get there) the Vet took another x-ray and the mass was gone and now there's one, small shadow on one lung.
 
It just makes me sick that there are so many bad vets out there! I can't believe that they were actually giving him steroid shots! If you do ddecide he needs asthma meds again, buy them online from Canadian drugstores. They are a fourth of the price or better, which is still pretty heavy duty but it's unbelievable what a difference there is and do join the Feline Asthma Inhaled Meds boarId, if you haven't. They are as good with asthma as this board is with diabetes. I'm so sorry that happened to him, as if he wasn't born with enough problems.

I had a bad vet once that screwed Racci up when she was a baby still with of all things, her spaying! The stitches opened and her belly never went back in shape properly. Needless to say I got rid of him. The next vet was good but only cared about money. I spent thousands a year there yet he wouldn't give me a discount for ferals. My next one was a great guy but when Racci got diabetes he readily admitted that his knowledge of feline diabetes was rudimentary. Still at least he admitted it and was willing to learn with me and I was in the middle of moving anyway. I got lucky here and found a vet who takes care of cats only and has been a specialist in cats for 25 years so she is very well versed in feline diabetes and asthma.

I hope all goes well. Please keep me posted. If worse comes to worse and he does have an attack that won't stop, you can bring him in the bathroom and turn the shower, tub and sink hot water on with the door closed and see if the steam opens him up as a quick emergency measure. I've done it before. I also open Racci's mouth to make her breathe. She tends to clamp it shut and do reverse sneezing. It makes her stop sometimes.

I never even heard of his disease. How common is that?
 
Toxoplasmosis is an organism found in poop. It gets transmitted if the poop sits too long and is allowed to dry. Dry climates, like Arizona where I live see cases of it the most.

That's why doctors don't want pregnant women to scoop litter boxes.

As cat owners, we all have likely gotten it and are now carriers. You come down with symptoms like the flu.

When it causes the most problems is when your immune system is depressed, such as elderly or ill people.

For Cini it was likely picked up after he had his vaccine reaction and was still immune depressed from that.

More reading here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001661/
 
Just wanted to say - WOW - you are a great bean Cathy. I read Cini Mini's profile and I can't believe what you guys have been through.

My cat Merlin (avitar) has asthma. I don't know that he's ever had an attack as you two are describing it. :?: He used to cough sometimes but it wasn't an "attack". He also panted. I have his dose figured out now and he doesn't cough or pant anymore. He gets AM 250 mcgs of flixotide (aka flovent) and PM 125 mcgs. This combo keeps him comfortable. I do it just like blood testing with my former diabetic... on a table and he get's a treat after. Here's a video of us doing his puff!
http://s975.photobucket.com/albums/ae234/TraciMaselli/Trinket/?action=view&current=MVI_0450.mp4

I don't know if his asthma is seasonal - I don't think so. I adopted him and as soon as he got here he had the symptoms. I have learned that you need to keep using the flovent or the coughing will come back. I guess what I'm saying is - are you sure stopping the puffs is a good idea?

Regarding prices: albuterol is cheap - if I remember correctly it's on the Target and Walmart cheap list. I got mine at Target. That's only used for attacks. I've only used mine a few times in a couple years. The flovent (flixotide in other countries) is what's very expensive. I get mine at 4 corners online pharmacy. No scrip needed. Decent prices. I have Merlins inhalers bought for the year already. On this site flovent is flixotide:
http://www.4cnrs-asthma-allergy.com/flovent.html

Good luck! Keep up the great work!
 
Hey Traci and thanks! It's all Cini, I'm just here to help :-D

Thanks for the link to 4 Corners, someone else sent me that link as well and I will definitely order Cini's next Flovent inhaler from there.

I'm going to talk to my vet tomorrow about all this. She's never mentioned Albuterol, so I'm curious as to why she didn't think it was needed.

I saw your video with Boomer and that is great!

I couldn't afford the cat mask so I made one out of these clear disposable cups from Wal-Mart. They are narrow enough that they fit Cini's face perfect.
 
Cathy,

I may have an old mask for you if you want but it's really an old style. If you join the board I was telling you about, FAIM, they most probably will be able to provide a newer mask kit for you just for postage. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/felineasthma_inhaledmeds/ I'm surprised the dr. didn't give you something like Albuterol for attacks also.

I also use 4 Corners or Planet Drugs http://www.planetdrugsdirect.com/. You can get either Flovent or Flixotide from them but they really aare the same thing from the same manufacturer.

Thanks for the info about the toxo. I never realized it was so easy to get or was so bad for cats. I'm glad I keep Racci's box so clean now. You're probably right about me having had it though. With all the cats I've cared for plus my own and chronic bronchitis, it would make sense. Racci is very fussy and lets me know when she poops so I go in and clean it right away but neither Calli or Midnight did.

Melanie
 
I just want to reiterate what others have said. My Oscar was a seasonal cougher. No one told me "asthma" for years. He started flovent everyday almost two years ago, but it was too late to prevent lung scarring. Now he has a permanent wheeze that not even steroids will help and lung scarring that shows up on x-rays. Just because he isn't wheezing all the time doesn't mean that he doesn't need the flovent to keep things under control all the time. I don't want someone else to have to go through what I am going through now with Oscar.
 
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