Cat Asthma Attack What To Do

The lower respiratory tract or lower airways includes the bronchi bronchioles and alveoli.

Cat asthma attack what to do.

However a cat in the grip of an asthma attack does have problems breathing. Because breathing is so severely restricted during an asthma attack the cat s gums and tongue may take on a bluish color. Feline asthma very similar to human asthma is a chronic inflammation of the small passageways of a cat s lungs. Dead skin flakes that originate around a cat s sweat glands can float in the air stick to dust particles.

Asthma in cats is an immunity related condition and attacks can often be brought on by an allergy or stress. However this is a general sign of respiratory distress rather than specific to asthma. From there they split off into smaller branches called the bronchioles. A full blown asthma attack may at first resemble a cat trying to cough up a hairball or possibly choking on food.

The bronchi begin at the end of the trachea where they split off into two branches. With asthma attacks body posture is somewhat different. During an asthma attack many cats hunch their body close to the ground and extend their necks forward in a characteristic posture figure 2. The alveoli are the terminal portion of the lower respiratory.

It didn t look like a. Asthma with bronchitis in cats. A coughing cat is a rare thing and is commonly linked with feline asthma. An asthma attack is fairly easy to spot.

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. Suspected triggers include pollen grass mould dust mites tobacco smoke cat litter household cleaning products and even some foods. Cats can produce numerous allergens that can trigger asthma symptoms including. When an asthma attack occurs these passageways thicken and constrict making it very difficult for a cat to breathe.

However the absence of a cough does not rule asthma out. You ll notice rapid open mouthed breathing accompanied by wheezing and often by forced exhalations. There is no single specific test that can definitively diagnose feline asthma. Even if you normally give your cat a long acting bronchodilator your vet may prescribe the albuterol so you can have it on hand for emergency situations.

Do not try to give mouth to mouth resuscitation or cpr to a cat having an asthma. After rescuing this big boy from the outdoors his previous owner s abandoned him we found him doing this strange cough. Instead veterinarians rely on information gathering and testing to arrive at a diagnosis.