How do you know when a cat has asthma?

[JackSpratt]

Big Lad knows, but I bribe him with cat milk. (I know, I'm terrible!)

[bunglycat]

I am always wiping Smarties nose, Bungly and Sophies eyesand when i put my hand in my pocket Soph and Bungly run off - they know i am going to wipe their eyes nearly before i do -its the look i give them when i see gungy eyes again !!!

[JackSpratt]

Big Lad is really only seemingly prone to things like colds, he reminds me of those kids you see in the supermarket whose nose you feel the urge to wipe! (And he does get his nose wiped sometimes - much to his disgust!)

[bunglycat]

Smartie does get a snotty nose often too - same thing -give him anti biotics and its back again quickly. Got that checked and he has Herpes disease - snotty nose and also one eye sometimes gets runny !
Poor boy -he has twice as many things wrong as the others !

[JackSpratt]

A snotty nose has developed today - I think the poor lad just has yet another cold. He's only just finished his course of antibiotics from the last time.

[pandora]

Strangely enough one of my boys gets it from time to time but the attacks have been getting less again now.  He does breathe quite rapidly when chasing about too much and occasionally this might bring on a cough.  Had him checked over by the vet but he could not hear anything so he said to just observe him.  found a really good website on cat asthma though.  It was very good and also explained the differences between asthma and other diseases to do with the lungs- which luckily , as in the case of cancer, did not include the coughing or rasping as much.

[JackSpratt]

Will do. He is prone to cold type things due to a bout of cat flu as a youngster (just before I took him on) so it could well be a cough. Either way, he had a bit of a rasp this morning, but calmed down when I talked to him and then pottled off outside.

[bunglycat]

I would monitor it as it can just come on for no reason - Smartie has just coughed tonight !!!- i am listening out for him in case he is starting again with it -the vet does give him steroids and i don''t really like him having them -prednisole ( spelt wrong , probably !)
I always keep them in they are 1mg . and as soon as its back under control ,i put him down to half a tablet .

[JackSpratt]

He is quite wheezy when it happens. He had a bit of a "do" earlier but seems fine now!

[bunglycat]

Hi
It does start with coughing .
My Smartie has it -but only really in summer (the vet called it seasonal asthma!)
It sounded to me like a child with whooping cough- i took him to the vets after 2 days with this occasional coughing and they had to x-ray him and then told me it was asthma- also sounds a little wheezy too -but its hard to tell on Persians as they sound wheezy and snuffly most of the time !!! Thats why he was x-rayed.

[JackSpratt]

Just wondering. Big Lad from time to time makes a kind of coughing noise - nothing that seems to really bother him and if he gets a cuddle it stops. I thought it was perhaps a panic attack. (Don't see why not, heck I'm sure they can panic as well as us.)

I've looked it up but it appears top be difficult to diagnose. (Because its symptoms are similiar to other health issues.)