How to Treat Pet Asthma

Asthma is a disease that can affect humans and animals. If you have it, your airways are more sensitive to allergens or airborne particles. When these particles reach your airways, the tissues become inflamed, producing excess mucus that makes breathing much more difficult. This is when you will use an inhaler to calm your airways and breathe regularly again.

Cats can experience the same thing. Although not common, felines can develop asthma if they have a type 1 hypersensitivity reaction when aeroallergens reach their lungs. These allergens can include:

• Dust
• animal skins
• Pollen
• fungal spores

If an asthmatic cat breathes in one of these allergens, their inflamed lung tissue produces mucus that clogs the airways. The cat will not be able to inhale or exhale as long as the tissues remain irritated. It’s always a good idea to keep your cat away from asthma triggers like smoke, perfume, outdoor allergens, or other nearby airborne triggers when an asthma attack begins.

A typical asthma attack in a cat may exhibit the following symptoms:

• Heavy, rapid breaths that sound wheezy
• Slow movements or lethargy
• Panting with little or no sound
• Squat neck extension
• Blue gums or lips
• Wet cough

The good news is that asthma is manageable. It shouldn’t shorten your cat’s lifespan if you eliminate household aeroallergens and act quickly when asthma symptoms appear.

Cats having an allergic reaction to something in the air may have the following symptoms, which differ from an asthma attack:

• To sneeze
• Runny nose
• Watery and red eyes
• Wheezing
• Rashes on their skin

External symptoms are the main things to look for in distinguishing your pet’s asthma from allergies. Allergies lead to things like sneezing, which is more like a head cold. Asthma will interfere with your pet’s breathing.

How to Treat Feline Asthma

First, it is essential to rule out other causes of lung or throat irritation. There is no official test to diagnose an asthmatic cat, so your vet will need a detailed medical history. Describe your cat’s most recent potential asthma attack and the details that preceded it, such as your location and activity.

Your veterinarian may order chest x-rays or bronchoalveolar lavage to check for bronchitis virus particles. If the tests are negative, your cat is more likely to have asthma.

It is essential to follow your veterinarian’s instructions for treating an active feline asthma attack. However, you can follow these general steps to make your chat more comfortable:

• Move them to a different place with cleaner air, indoors or outdoors.
• Provide any prescribed medications such as anti-inflammatories to widen your cat’s air passage.
• Pet them to reassure them, because asthma attacks are frightening experiences for animals.

You can also note how often these attacks occur, what could trigger them, and how long they last. Your veterinarian will need the most accurate information about his medical history to make an accurate diagnosis and possibly provide your cat with an anti-inflammatory prescription.

Vets theorize that cats are more likely to develop asthma than dogs because they spend more time outdoors, but there’s no definitive research to prove this. Yet dogs can also develop asthma. It depends on their genetic history and environmental triggers.

Canine asthma has the same symptoms as feline asthma. Both conditions impair the airways with factors such as:

• Wheezing, heavy breathing
• Lethargy or fatigue
• Calm or silent panting
• Extend their neck to breathe
• blue lips, tongue or gums
• Dense, wet cough

Allergens can also be the same. Anything airborne and small enough to irritate lung tissue can trigger asthma, such as perfumes, air fresheners, smoke, and pollen.

You may notice more frequent asthma attacks in your dog as he gets older. Their lung tissues can become more sensitive, so you can always replace their back and forth or walks with water aerobics or time on the indoor treadmill.

Dog owners also find that asthma becomes more difficult to treat if their dog requires mobility assistance. Teaching them to use a wheelchair often requires an outdoor space to ensure enough space to practice walking straight and turning. If asthma symptoms return when your dog is outdoors, work with your veterinarian to find an indoor space large enough for their health needs to accommodate your dog more effectively.

If your dog starts having an allergy attack, he will likely exhibit the following symptoms:

• To sneeze
• Red and watery eyes
• Runny nose
• Facial contortion due to continuous sneezing
• Rashes on their belly

Although sneezing can disrupt his breathing, your dog should be able to inhale and exhale without difficulty. It’s more likely an asthma attack when they can’t breathe fully and don’t have a runny nose or red eyes.

How to Treat Canine Asthma

Try taking your dog to a different environment when you think he’s having an asthma attack. This will keep them away from any irritants that inflame their lungs, like pet dander or outdoor allergens.

If moving doesn’t help your dog breathe, you can take him to an emergency veterinary clinic. A veterinarian can administer respiratory medication to relax your dog’s bronchial muscles, a steroid to calm his inflamed tissue, or an antihistamine.

Discuss the possibility of obtaining a prescription for your dog for one or more of these solutions. Having them at home might be the best way to help your dog if his asthma becomes frequent and disrupts his quality of life.

Help your pet with his asthma

You can easily tell your pet’s asthma from allergies by checking all of their symptoms. If they can’t breathe, it’s an asthma attack. Depending on the severity of the attack, your local veterinarian or pet emergency care clinic can help you with medication or steroids. Moderating your home’s air quality with long-term solutions like air filters or cleaners could be the next step to making your pet comfortable at home.