Diagnosing respiratory infections in cats

The following article was written by Cynthia Nichols. I am reprinting it with her permission in the hopes that it will help others who's cat may be having the same health problem:

Does your cat really have feline asthma?

When my 9 year old cat began wheezing and hacking I first assumed he had simply caught a cold. After a few days had passed and he had not gotten any better but had instead become worse, I took him to our vet.

The vet determined that Ricky had Feline Asthma and stated that it was rather common in older, heavier cats. He prescribed a steroid (Prednisone) for Ricky to be given daily but cautioned me that the prognosis was not good.

Ricky did not improve on the steroid and gradually grew worse. He got to the point where he could barely eat because of the wheezing. Back to the vet we went, where we were given a stronger prescription.

Again, Ricky did not improve and became sicker. He was not happy and he certainly was not healthy. I decided that the kindest thing to do would be to have him put down. I did not want him to suffer, but I hated to lose him, so, in a last attempt to find some way to help him, I began to search the internet for information about Feline Asthma. What I found saved Ricky's life.

Article after article stated that many times cats are diagnosed with Feline Asthma when in reality what they are actually suffering from are chronic respiratory infections. The symptoms are largely the same: hacking, coughing, wheezing, wretching being the most common. The articles I read stated that these chronic respiratory infections were often easily treated with a simple course of antibiotics.

I obtained Amoxicillin and started Ricky on a course of that. Within just a day or two of starting the antibiotic Ricky began to improve- dramatically. By the time he was through with the medicine he was like a new cat- running and racing through the house, pouncing and playing like a kitten.

Ricky is eleven now and still going strong. He still comes down with a respiratory infection every now and then but a short course of antibiotics clears it right up.

If your cat has been diagnosed with Feline Asthma and has not responded to steroid treatment, I would encourage you to inquire about a course of antibiotics for chronic respiratory infections. It could save your cats' life.