Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / June 2006

We have a cat that we've owned for about a year and a half. He's always
had minor asthma issues, but lately they have gotten much worse. He's
had depo medrol shots, he's on terbutaline and cyproheptadine but he's
not improving. We had to take him to the ER last night because he was
struggling to breath. This has all happened in the last few days and
we're trying to figure out if there are any environmental triggers in
our house. The only major change to air quality that coincides with his
asthma attacks is due to the new AC unit we had installed in the attic
last weekend. I would think that a new AC unit would improve his
asthma, not make it worse, unless there is something about the
installation that is causing it to throw more allergens or irritants
into the air. One of our other cats developed a stuffy nose with
sneezing right around the same time. The workers dropped a lot of dirt
and lint down from the attic into the hall when they did the
installation. I have long since cleaned it all up, but maybe there
could be left over dust in the carpet. We keep a pretty clean house and
vacuum thoroughly every week.

I'm relatively certain it's something in our house because whenever we
take him to the vet he doesn't hack, cough, gag, or wheeze like he does
at home and they always say that he seems to be breathing normally.
Another possibility could be outside alergens. We live in Austin, TX
and there are a lot of those this time of year. There are so many
possible factors it's hard to know where to start.

Any suggestions on controlling household triggers (especially regarding
the new AC) would be greatly appreciated. I'm starting to get a little
scared that we aren't going to be able to get a handle on this.

Thanks,
Dave