Re: ? Help please- Yoko was just diagnosed with Asthma too..
Hi Yoko,
The oral steroid pills like prednisone is definitely something to avoid, especially since he's already diabetic (I think injections are even worse but I have not tried that on my Tyler). I had to take Tyler off of the oral prednisone right away since the medication goes into the bloodstream whereas the inhaled steroids go directly to the lungs.
My understanding is that at this time, there is no known negative side effects from using inhaled steroids like Flovent for cats. I know it's overwhelming but it will get better in time...the biggest hurdle imo is sending the script and undergoing the purchasing transaction out of the US. You'll find that Flovent has a bit of sticker shock to it as it can be as expensive as $300+ in the US - however, for the same exact brand and dosage, you can get it at a Canadian/New Zealand pharmacy for $70-85 for the highest dose version (250 mcg) and cheaper for the lower dosage (150 mcg). Flovent in the US is the same thing as "Flixotide" in Canada and New Zealand and the dosing is something like US 120mcg = 150 mcg (Canada/New Zealand) and US 220mcg = 250mcg (Canada/New Zealand).
The Aerokat mask is about
$54 at VetRxDirect and does not require a script.
Someone referenced the Yahoo message group called FAIM, which stands for Feline Asthma Inhaled Medication user group and was started by the creators of Fritz the Brave. I had hoped that when I switched Tyler from dry to wet food, that somehow, someway, the asthma was caused by something in the dry food...so I had him taken off of the steroid medication completely - testing to see if he would get another asthma attack again since he was on wet food only at that point...it seemed promising for 3 weeks until he started dry heaving again. :/ Then I started using the mask and inhaler (and I really didn't want to given how intimidating and unwieldy the contraption looked) but watched a lot of YouTube videos to see how the heck it actually worked. My specialty vet actually encouraged me to watch YouTube videos to see how it is done (and saved me a trip to the vet just to see a demo and practice). I saw how other cats naturally didn't take to it right away, but with perseverance and lots of treats, they were able to get what looked like mission impossible, to totally possible and incredibly well trained! I'll embed some of my favorite videos after my ramblings.
The other thing to note is that the medication must be given to your cat every single day. Although I personally do not think it needs to be as exact and timely as insulin, the general rule of thumb is the same. Twice daily, every 12 hours per the FAIM user group...yet because my cat has mild asthma, I do not give him the medication every 12 hours, but every 24 hours - 2 puffs at a time- and so far it's done the trick (not recommended by FAIM user group but my vet was more flexible about dosing frequency).
The severity of the asthma will also dictate the dosage. The FAIM user group has a set of documents that describes what the recommended dosage is based on mild, medium, and severe asthma symptoms (which is also defined very well).
Here are "How To" videos for administering inhaled asthma medication...I hope this helps alleviate some of the overwhelming information/cost/lifestyle change overload.
Here's a video w/ a very easy going cat - I wish Tyler was this easygoing...close but not quite like this cat!
[youtube]eUIipTvJJkk[/youtube]
Here's a narrative in conjunction w/ a demo. This gives you the step by step instructions which will be helpful when you want to ensure you're doing it right.
[youtube]LqbNSsu7IaA[/youtube]
Here's a video for dealing with extremely antsy/difficult to tame cats...this is patience at its best:
[youtube]dH4k_dOdNbY[/youtube]
