Asthma Cat Update

I am happy to report that Asthma Cat seems to no longer be Asthma Cat. I gave him one and a half steroid pills the day we visited the vet and he hasn't coughed since. Yippeee!!
He seemed a little strange on the steroids so I am glad he does not need them all the time. For a few days there he was very sleepy and hyper vigilant. I know, I know, this sounds oxymoronic, but it was true. He was either completely knocked out or he was jumping at every little thing...He would stumble around the house with eyes as big a bus tires to then finally collapse like the dead in my lap for hours. It was very strange.
He is completely back to normal now. In fact, I think the whole experience has actually brought us down to DEF CAT 4, as Saren and Solo are not initiating as many death matches. They are actually snuggling at night again and even *gasp* playing with each other sometimes.

The amazing adventure of Asthma Cat

Every year with no fail, sometime in November, my cat Solo starts coughing and proceeds to cough his way through the entire winter. He has done this since he was a kitten. It never gets really bad, a couple days, here and there, where he coughs a lot .
About four days ago he started coughing and just kept going. He has yet to stop. It has been agonizing to watch. You know when you have a dry hacking cough and you just cough and cough and cough. Your ribs get sore, your throat hurts, your super crazy annoyed.
See, you've got to understand about me and my two cats. The ARE my children. When I first got them my mom used to have dreams of my giving birth to kittens and being so happy. She used to joke that she hoped that got into a good school. I simply can not imagine my life without them (for this reason I have told them both that they are required to live forever).
I am a pretty au'natural kind of person (I used to be a herbalist for a living for heaven's sake). Like myself, my cats are pretty spoiled when it comes to a lack of chemicals/toxins in their life. They eat raw food, they are unvaccinated, they get herbs, and they have only been to the vet to get fixed (and even then I dosed them on arnica the whole time).
However, when your cat coughs for 4 days straight...it's time to go to the vet.
So, this morning off we go. Solo was pretty distressed that we were leaving the house. He spent the whole ride on my lap, purring and coughing. He didn't like the vet (who does?) There were loud noises (tow-truck outside???), and strange people (who didn't bother to say hi to him). While I wasn't there for it, I am pretty sure the most traumatic part was the x-rays. I know this cause the only way you are going to get x-rays of a cat in that position is if you grab all four limbs and hold him down. Poor boo...
Turns out he has asthma. I kinda think this is a good outcome of a vet visit. He doesn't have an infection, or pneumonia, or bronchitis, or heart problems, or etc...he's just asthma cat.
We got some kinda scary drugs for him, but luckily he doesn't have to be on them all the time and the dosage is up to me once we get the coughing under control. I plan to research other ways of keeping the asthma to a minimum, but at least I now have something to use when he coughs for four days straight.
We are all safe and sound at home now. Solo is curled up in the quiet dark bedroom taking a nap. Hopefully he will no cough as much tomorrow, and perhaps the next day he will not cough at all.
The amazing adventures of Asthma Cat continue...

~Sinor Solo Velvati~

hehehe, I love this photo of him, laying on a bed of strewn rose petals, like the lover that he is. Solo loves everyone and he is a suck for attention. We call him Solo Velvati (you must say this with an Italian accent) because he is so velvet soft.