Severe cat asthma can permanently damage the lungs or even lead to death.
Cat asthma attack death.
Cats suffering from asthma attacks often assume a characteristic crouched posture and extend the head and neck forward while wheezing or coughing.
With asthma attacks body posture is somewhat different.
Cats can produce numerous allergens that can trigger asthma symptoms including.
While most parents see asthma as a major cause of missed time from school and work some might not realize that severe asthma attacks which require emergency room visits and hospitalizations can.
Symptoms can range from mild to severe and chronic coughing can be easily mistaken for hairballs.
But the allergens in the cat s saliva can increase the possibility of an asthma attack.
For people with asthma many seemingly innocent things in the home can trigger an asthma attack including dust mites mold and pollen from the outdoors unfortunately for animal lovers pet.
Chest x ray of a cat with asthma notice the characteristic bright branching pattern.
When an asthma attack occurs these passageways thicken and constrict making it very difficult for a cat to breathe.
Diagnosis of cat asthma.
For mild or moderate asthma just keep your house extra clean and use air filters.
Cats themselves do not cause asthma.
Cats with asthma may wheeze cough avoid exercise and experience difficulty breathing.
A full blown asthma attack may at first resemble a cat trying to cough up a hairball or possibly choking on food.
Asthma with bronchitis in cats.
With asthma the cat s body will be hunched lower to the ground and its neck and head will be extended out and down in an effort to clear the airway of mucus.
Diagnosing cat asthma is not always easy.
The lower respiratory tract or lower airways includes the bronchi bronchioles and alveoli the bronchi begin at the end of the trachea where they split off into two branches from there they split off into smaller branches called the bronchioles.
Bronchioles in a normal lung allow air to pass freely asthmatic bronchioles are contricted and may accumulate fluid in the passages.
Feline asthma very similar to human asthma is a chronic inflammation of the small passageways of a cat s lungs.