Cat Inflammatory Airway Disease: Feline Asthma

Feline asthma is an allergic inflammatory airway disease causing episodic breathing difficulty that responds well to inhaled corticosteroids.

Key Facts

Feline asthma affects approximately 1-5% of cats, more commonly in Siamese and related breeds
Allergens including dust mites, cigarette smoke, and aerosol sprays trigger bronchoconstriction
Acute episodes cause open-mouth breathing, a crouching posture, and may progress to respiratory crisis
Diagnosis uses chest radiographs showing hyperinflation and bronchial thickening plus response to bronchodilators
Inhaled fluticasone via AeroKat spacer is the preferred long-term treatment minimizing systemic side effects
Albuterol inhalers provide emergency rescue bronchodilation during acute episodes
Environmental management eliminating triggers significantly reduces episode frequency

Welfare Considerations

Feline asthma causes genuine respiratory distress - affected cats in acute episodes are breathless and frightened. The crouching open-mouth breathing posture represents severe respiratory compromise. Without treatment, asthma is progressive with increasing airway remodeling. Inhaled corticosteroid treatment dramatically reduces episode frequency and severity. Environmental allergen management directly improves welfare by reducing the frequency of frightening acute episodes.

What You Can Do

Remove cigarette smoke, scented candles, and aerosol sprays from environments with asthmatic cats
Switch to low-dust clumping cat litter as litter dust is a common asthma trigger
Train your cat to accept the AeroKat inhaler spacer to deliver long-term inhaled fluticasone
Keep an albuterol rescue inhaler available and know how to use it during acute episodes
Seek emergency care for any cat showing open-mouth breathing or extreme respiratory distress
Control dust mite exposure through regular bedding washing and HEPA air filtration