You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Feline Asthma Syndrome is present when cats have  recurrent acute bronchoconstriction.

In human medicine asthma is a chronic disease characterised by episodes of acute bronchoconstriction. The resulting signs include :

• Cough
• Wheezing
• Shortness of breath
• Increased respiratory rate
• "Tightness" of the chest

Asthma attacks may be triggered by exposure to allergens, inhaled irritants or inflammation of the airway mucosa.

Feline asthma syndrome has not yet been confirmed to have the same aetiopathogenesis as human asthma, but there are close similarities. Clinical signs in uncomplicated feline asthma include :

• Cough
• Wheezing
• Dyspnoea
• Increased respiratory rate

If there is secondary infection other signs may be present including a fever, inappetance and lethargy.

There appear to be  two main forms of the disease in cats :

• Little or no cellular infiltration in the lungs or airways- thought to be due to sensitivity to inhaled substances
• Eosiniphilic infiltration of the lungs and airways - thought to be due to Type I or II hypersensitivity and involves mast cells and histamine. These cases require corticosteroid therapy.

On chest radiographs there is a generalised mixed pattern of increased radiodensity (alveolar, interstitial and bronchial changes) and sometimes evidence of hyperinflation with increased radiolucency of the lung field.

Bronchial or broncheoalveolar lavage may or may not show up the presence of eosinophils, and blood samples may also show an eosinophilia (over 1.5x 10⁹ eosinophils/litre blood).

Occasionally suspicious allergens may be detected by intradermal skin tests.

Treatment includes :

Emergency treatment:

• Oxygen in acute phase
• IV atropine OR
• IV adrenaline

In addition :

• Bronchodilators - eg Beta-blockers (eg clenbuterol 1mg/kg body weight/twice daily); methylxanthines (eg aminophylline 10mg/kg body weight 2-3 times daily)
• Corticosteroids - particularly if there is eosinophilic infiltration

Use of nebuliser chambers to administer these drugs is increasingly popular and can be very effective BUT great care is needed as animals in respiratory distress - especially cats - can be made worse and even die with their use. 

Updated January 2016