Feline asthma is a common respiratory condition causing episodes of breathing difficulty that can be terrifying and life-threatening for affected cats.
Feline asthma causes episodic respiratory distress that ranges from mild chronic discomfort to acute life-threatening crises. During asthma attacks, cats experience the severe distress of air hunger — the inability to move air through spasming, inflamed airways — which is one of the most frightening physiological experiences. Cats in respiratory distress adopt a characteristic hunched posture with extended neck, open-mouth breathing, and flared nostrils that owners must recognize as an emergency. Chronic low-grade asthma causes persistent airway inflammation that reduces quality of life even between visible episodes. Environmental management reducing trigger exposure is as important as medication, requiring household changes including unscented litter, avoidance of aerosol products, and smoking cessation. The AeroKat inhaler spacer allows delivery of inhaled steroids to cats, which has transformed the ability to control inflammation with fewer systemic side effects than oral prednisolone.