Feline asthma is a common chronic airway disease in cats causing intermittent breathing difficulty and coughing, which significantly impacts quality of life without appropriate diagnosis and treatment.
Feline asthma causes intermittent but genuinely distressing episodes of breathing difficulty that significantly impair quality of life. During acute episodes, cats experience the profound distress of air hunger — the sensation that breathing is insufficient — which in humans is rated as one of the most aversive physiological experiences. Between episodes, subclinical airway inflammation may cause chronic mild discomfort that is difficult to detect. Effective management with inhaled corticosteroids dramatically reduces episode frequency and severity, improving quality of life substantially. However, identifying and eliminating environmental triggers — cigarette smoke, dusty litter, aerosol sprays, scented products — is equally important and often overlooked. Cats with well-controlled asthma can have excellent long-term welfare outcomes, but owners who attribute episodes to hairballs or interpret subtle respiratory signs as normal risk delays in diagnosis that allow disease progression. Owner education about the use of spacer devices for feline inhaler delivery is essential for medication compliance.