Feline Asthma in Senior Cats: Signs, Triggers, and Treatment

Feline asthma is a chronic disease of the airways that, like asthma in people, flares into coughing and breathing trouble and then settles again. The catch is that its most common sign, a dry, hacking cough, looks so much like a cat working up a hairball that it is easy to overlook for months, and telling a cough apart from a hairball is the first thing worth learning. It can start at any age and lasts for life, and in an older cat it matters to tell an asthma cough apart from the breathing changes of heart disease.

This is a plain guide to what feline asthma is, how to recognize it, and how it is treated. It does not stand in for your own vet, who can confirm the diagnosis and set up the right medication for your cat.

What is feline asthma?

Feline asthma is an allergic disease of the small airways deep in the lungs. Cornell's feline health center defines it plainly: asthma is a disease of the lower airways of the lungs that affects between 1 and 5% of cats. The trouble starts with the immune system overreacting to something the cat breathes in. Cornell explains that asthma is caused by an allergic reaction to inhaled allergens, particles that stimulate a cat's immune system. That reaction inflames and tightens the airways, which is why VCA describes how feline asthma and bronchitis cause narrowing and swelling of the airways in the lungs. Narrowed, swollen airways are harder to move air through, and the cat coughs and wheezes to force it.

Is that cough a hairball or asthma?

This is the confusion that delays so many diagnoses. An asthma cough and a hairball retch can look nearly identical, because the posture is the same. Cornell describes the classic asthma stance: affected cats assume a characteristic crouched posture and extend the head and neck forward while wheezing or coughing. That is exactly what a cat bringing up a hairball does, so an owner sees the low crouch and the heaving and thinks nothing of it. The tell is what comes next. A hairball cough produces a hairball, or at least ends in a swallow and a shrug. An asthma cough is dry and brings up nothing, and it tends to come in repeated bouts rather than one and done. A cat who hunches and hacks like she has a hairball but never produces one, again and again, is a cat worth having a vet listen to.

It is worth saying plainly that this is not primarily a senior cat's disease. Cornell notes that the average age of cats diagnosed with asthma is between 4 and 5 years. Cats often carry it from young adulthood into old age, so for many senior owners this is a condition they are already managing rather than a new one, and the concern shifts to keeping it controlled and not mistaking it for something else.

What are the signs of feline asthma?

Cat asthma symptoms range from an occasional cough to an all-out emergency. Cornell lists the common ones as difficulty breathing, wheezing, rapid breathing, coughing or hacking, open-mouthed breathing, which can be mild and intermittent or come on as a full attack. The line to watch most closely is open-mouth breathing. A cat panting with her mouth open is a cat in real respiratory distress, and VCA counts it among the serious signs, noting that most cats with asthma show coughing, difficulty breathing, open-mouth panting, and other signs of respiratory distress. Open-mouth breathing or obvious struggle to breathe is a same-day emergency, covered further in the guide on a senior cat breathing fast or hard.

What triggers feline asthma?

Cat asthma triggers are almost always things she breathes in. Because asthma is an allergic response to something inhaled, flare-ups often trace back to particles in the cat's own air. The specific allergen is not always identifiable, but the usual suspects are the airborne irritants of an ordinary home: cigarette smoke, dust, aerosol sprays and perfumes, and the dust from some litters, particularly scented or heavily clumping ones. You cannot allergy-proof a house, but you can lower the load. Switching to a low-dust, unscented litter, cutting out smoking indoors, going easy on sprays and plug-ins near her spaces, and running an air filter are all reasonable steps. None of this replaces medication, but reducing what she breathes can mean fewer and milder attacks.

How is feline asthma diagnosed?

There is no quick in-clinic test that settles it. As Cornell puts it, there is no single, specific test that can definitively diagnose feline asthma. Instead the vet builds the case from the history, a physical exam, and imaging. Chest x-rays are the most useful piece, because in an asthmatic cat the radiograph often reveals a characteristic bright branching pattern along the airways left by the inflammation. Just as important is ruling out the other things that make an older cat cough or breathe hard, above all heart disease, and less often a chest mass such as lymphoma, since the treatments differ completely and getting it wrong matters. That is why a coughing senior cat is often worked up for the heart and the lungs together.

How is feline asthma treated?

Treatment aims at the two problems in the airway: the inflammation and the constriction. The mainstay is a steroid to calm the inflammation. VCA describes the pairing as corticosteroids, which reduce inflammation, given alongside a bronchodilator that helps relax the muscles in the lungs to open the airways during a flare. The order matters: Cornell notes that bronchodilators are usually not used on their own, because opening the airway does nothing about the underlying inflammation that drives the disease. Many cats are treated with an inhaler fitted to a feline spacer and mask, which VCA describes as delivering the medication by inhaler (or puffer), which delivers the steroids directly to the lungs and spares the rest of the body the side effects of long-term oral steroids. The common inhaled drugs are fluticasone (Flovent) and albuterol (Ventolin), the same medicines used in human asthma. Getting a cat to accept a mask takes patience, and if inhalers are a struggle, the same medicines can be given as a pill or liquid instead.

Can feline asthma be cured?

No, but it is very manageable. Asthma is a chronic disease, so the goal is control rather than cure, and most cats need long-term medication, possibly for life. Treated well, the outlook is genuinely good: Cornell says that with attentive care, owners can help their asthmatic cats live happily for years. The reason to take it seriously rather than wait it out is the other end of the range. VCA is blunt that if asthma is left untreated, death may occur in severe cases, because a bad attack can close the airways enough to be fatal. A well-managed asthmatic cat and an ignored one can have very different lives.

When to see the vet

Treat any open-mouth breathing, gasping, or blue-tinged gums as a dash-to-the-clinic emergency, day or night. Short of that, book a visit for a cat who coughs or hacks repeatedly, especially the dry kind that never produces a hairball, or who wheezes, tires easily, or breathes faster than usual at rest. If your cat is already diagnosed, a regular check-up is the place to review how well her current medication is holding the cough down, since asthma that seemed controlled can drift as she ages.

Frequently asked questions

What does feline asthma look like in a cat? Most often a dry, hacking cough, with the cat crouched low and her neck stretched out. Cornell describes affected cats who assume a characteristic crouched posture and extend the head and neck forward while wheezing or coughing. It can also show as wheezing, fast breathing, or open-mouth panting.

Is my cat coughing up a hairball or is it asthma? The posture is the same, so the giveaway is the result. A hairball cough produces a hairball; an asthma cough is dry and brings up nothing, and it recurs. A cat who repeatedly hunches and hacks without ever producing a hairball should be checked for asthma.

What triggers asthma attacks in cats? Inhaled allergens and irritants, since Cornell notes asthma is caused by an allergic reaction to inhaled allergens. Common household culprits include smoke, dust, sprays and perfumes, and dusty or scented litter.

Is feline asthma curable? No, but it is controllable. It is a chronic condition that usually needs long-term medication, possibly for life, and well-managed cats can live happily for years.

What do you do when a cat is having an asthma attack? Open-mouth breathing or clear struggle to breathe is an emergency: get her to a vet immediately. If your vet has prescribed a rescue bronchodilator inhaler, use it as directed on the way, and keep her as calm and cool as you can.

The bottom line

The hardest thing about feline asthma is that it hides behind the most ordinary cat sound there is. A cough gets filed under hairball, the cat looks fine the rest of the time, and months pass. Biscuit does bring up a genuine hairball now and then, and telling that apart from the dry, repeated hack of asthma is exactly the distinction worth learning: the hairball ends in a hairball, the asthma cough ends in nothing and comes back. If your cat is doing the second kind, the crouch and the hack that never resolves, it is worth a vet's stethoscope. Feline asthma is not something you cure, but it is very much something you can control, and a cat whose asthma is well managed can go on breathing easy for years.

Sources

• Cornell Feline Health Center, Feline Asthma: What You Need To Know
• VCA Animal Hospitals, Asthma and Bronchitis in Cats