Symptoms for Feline Asthma

If your cat shows signs of having asthma you need to take the subject seriously because asthma is both for your cat and you an unpleasant and partially painful issue.

In the following we want to help you find out if your cat just has an harmless cough or if there are real asthma symptoms occurring.

Symptoms for a Cough

Short coughs that don't hold on for longer than two minutes and don't come again more than two times can be considered harmless. If cough attacks just happen 1-2 times a month (or even less) without any signs of breathing trouble you can stay at home with your cat and have a nice time. You won't need to see your vet.

Close observation can't be bad though, because also cats can develop allergies. For example it could be that your lil' tiger reacts allergic to haispray that you are using just once a month. When you suspects that it could be something like that just stop using the "hairspray" (or other things you suspect) and see if the coughs come again.

Symptoms for Feline-Asthma

1. Gasping cough attacks that last longer than usual coughing and - above all - takes place a lot more often.
Asthma attacks most commonly happen in the early morning and at night because it than that the body doesn't produce any cortisone which could alleviate the airways' inflammations.

2. Dyspnea as well as whistling noises that come from your cat's throat are further signs for feline asthma.

3. In quite a lot of cases the eyes are also wide open because dyspnea causes for cats as well as us humans panic.

What is Asthma? In a Nutshell!

Asthma attacks are caused by bronchoconstriction as well as the constriction of the airways.

Inflammations lead to those dangerous constrictions and are caused themselves by certain substances.

The constrictions can be so strong that it leads to dyspnea which can lead to death even. Therefore asthma should be considered dangerous and a meeting with your vet is inevitable.

Those substances that can trigger feline asthma are treated in an other article of ours. In there is also valuable information on how you can ease your cats life if it is in asthma: Feline Asthma - Help your Cat



Picture: CC 2.0 by Just me...

Feline Asthma - Help your Cat

Before showing you possible therapies that can help your cat with feline asthma we want you to know how you can ease and improve your cat's life at home by undertaking very simple preventions.

To help your cat as much as possible you should have a close eye on her and note down in which situations the asthma attacks happen.

That's important because it's not always certain substances that can trigger an asthma attack but also certain situations in which a cat feels "confined". (You probably also know cases of human-beings who get their attacks inside of elevators or while being in a very stressful situations. Cats ain't that different!)

If you, for example, notice that a cat starts coughing and gasping whenever a child picks it up and won't let go of the cat you know for sure where to tie in!

But pretty often (and sadly) the sole avoidance of situations won't help you a lot. Then it can be suggested that your cat reacts in an allergic manner to one (or several) substance(s) which make her airways swell.

A lot of substances are known to trigger asthma attacks. The most important are listed below:

Mites and Dust
Solution: Wipe the floor with a humid rag instead of vacuum-cleaning it. The vacuum-cleaner swirls up a lot of dust and therefore is bad for your cat's airways. You also should wash blankets and similar stuff at least once a week to give mites and dust not a chance!

Pollen
Solution: Keep the windows closed during times of pollination or apply nets to your windows that keeps the pollen out. Keep your cat at the same time, of course, inside especially in the morning and evening.

Dry Air
Solution: Air dampers like a room fountain and small bowls filled with water that are positioned above a heater can help to create a less dry atmosphere for your cat.

Cigarette-Fume
Solution: Stop smoking near your cat or inside your apartment/house - or stop it completely... ;)

Mold
Solution: Detect the source where the the mold comes from and eliminate it yourself with the right products for that purpose. You can, of course, also ask a specialist.

Chemicals (e.g. shampoo, washing powder, hairspray, sanitizer, ...)
Solution: Keep the chemicals away from your cat or start using (by now lower-cost) eco products.

The Asthma-Therapies for Cats

Cortisone
When you are visiting an ordinary vet who learned the orthodox methods he will tell you to treat your cat with cortisone. This cortisone can either be given inside of pills or also be injected via syringes.

Cortisone is a hormone naturally produced in the body that soothes inflammations and makes them go down again.

As nice as it sounds, Cortisone that's being given via syringes and pills for a long time can cause diabetes which lowers the cats already restricted life quality even more.

An alternative to the often hated syrenges and pills is a respirator for cats that becomes slowly known all over the world. Certainly the following page can tell you more about this invention: http://www.trudellmed.com/animal-health/aerokat.

Homeopathy
The former notorious treatment with homeopathic means acquires not only vogues in human medicine. And the use of this kind of therapy in veterinary medicine proves a bit that it is more than a big placebo.

But please note that homeopathy is now allround-magic-therapy that shows results after just two days of treatment. It is still a therapy - an alternative one - that needs time and just acts in a different manner.

Homeopathy also should performed by a specialist who knows what he's doing. Otherwise it's eventless at the best case!

Take care of your cat,
your Healthy Cat Team!



Picture: CC 2.0 by Mel B.

Cat in Heat - Signs and Symptoms

From the fourth month of your cat's life at the latest (!) you should think very deeply about your cat's possible next steps in life. Because this is the time your cat's youth goes to an end and she comes of age.

You could compare the time your cat goes through then with a young girl's first menstruation. Therefore a midnight meeting with the neighbors' tom can bear adverse consequences.

Just a little Sex-Ed

Broadly speaking being "in heat" or "calling" is the time(s) of the year when the cat is able to become pregnant. The follicles (eggs) come to maturity in the cat's ovaries and contingent upon that as well as the day's length and the season hormones are released that make the cat change her behavior as well as her scent in a manner that will attract potent male cats.

Cats, contrary to us human-beings, can never get pregnant from the first mating. That is like that because ovulation can only be initiated by the pain the cat feels when she is penetrated by the tom's penis (which caries lots of small "barbed hooks" on it).

This is also the reason why cats in professional breeding have to "take the tom" several times.

In one kindle of kittens there can be up to three different fathers!

The In-Heat-Check-List

If your cat is in heat can it be checked best by watching her closely. The following check list will help you look out for the right signs.

1. Completely Mad
Cat owners who experienced their cat being in heat describe her during that time pretty often as "completely mad" and irrational which means that the usual character of the cat changes until almost nothing is left of it anymore. But don't be afraid - as soon as the heat is over your cat will cool down to her old shape again. ;-)

2. Talkative
Even calm and silent cats become talkative during this period and seem to be meowing all the time. Do you also feel slightly reminded of a teenage girl's behavior so far?

3. Clingy Kitty
Calling cats seek attention and love not only among other cats in the neighborhood but also from you as care giver. She will want to be petted and noticed between 22 and 24 hours a day but it also means she trusts and loves you (as much as any other tom near her...). ;-)

4. Tail up High!
Especially while petting her you will notice that as soon as you come close to her lower back her hindquarters will lift up and press firmly against your hand. Her tail will be upheaved and she will probably purr manically.
She does that to make mating easier for the tom.

5. Roller-Coaster
The best known sign for a cat being in heat is her constant rolling and lolling on the floor as well as their rubbing on all reachable furniture around. They also seem to be never sleeping - just like you (during her calling).

Therefore: If one or more of your cats shows signs of being in heat we advice you to call your vet and let her spay or castrate.



Picture: CC 2.0 by Zemlinki!