Anybody been thru the process before and know what the approximate costs and details are about getting a cat seen for potential asthma?
She has a really jerky/compressed in/out breath that makes her stomach look hiccupy and she often has several fits of dry heaving all day. She used to throw up constantly but not so much anymore but she still has her training to jump of the couch whenever that arises.
Thanks 🐱
Medication is nothing more than a standard inhaler (~$25-35). You will need to get a special hand-held chambered device called an aerokat (~$40) that you press to your cat’s face and spray the inhaler into so they actually receive the dosed amount. Dosage will be once every 12 or 24 hours, whatever is just enough to prevent the attacks. Works a treat. Oddly enough, the cat won’t mind sticking an inhaler device over his face for a handful of seconds as long as you pet him at the same time.
Oh, and if you record the event happening, it makes diagnosis a lot quicker. It’s pretty unmistakable.
Sorry I can’t help with the diagnosis cost. Those can vary so wildly where I live. That and I totally forgot how much that was
I actually did! :) I sent it to someone who can help get it to the right vet, thank you so much for your advice :)
I haven’t tried it myself and have no idea if it’s any good but I remember seeing commercials for 1-800-PET-MEDS. That might be a resource for getting a motivated diagnosis and access to the inhalers, if no local vet will do it.
Sure thing! It’s not as daunting as it may seem. We found that a single dose in the morning was sufficient and haven’t discovered him having any episodes in the past year, so that’s rad.
Does she need to be dosed EVERY day or can she go between?
Every day. It’s a steroid so consistency is generally ideal. Missing a day here or there has occurred, but it was not desirable. Good question for the vet though. I am not a registered cat doctor
I know for me I was a Ventolin addict until I started on one of the combination long acting ones and I barely use it like 2x/week
What kind of litter do you use? I’m hearing low-dust and unscented
Looks like a brand called So Phresh. It’s 99% dust free and fragrance free. Seems to work OK. Full disclosure, my cat in question is indoor/outdoor so there are countless variables at play here. But it’s good litter as far as I can tell and I would prefer not to inhale that stuff myself.