Murphy: Conquering Feline Asthma

Murphy Playing with Catnip Toy

My Murphy is 9 years old, and was diagnosed with feline asthma in December 2007. Let me tell you a little bit about my baby, Murphy. She is a 9-year old American Shorthair Tabby, and has always been very healthy, thankfully, up until last December. She started coughing persistently, gagging, choking, and I could hear her windpipe actually shutting down because she wasn't getting any air. Then, she started to throw up. I drove her directly to the emergency vet clinic at 4:45 a.m., and there, after many x-rays and radio-graphs, the emergency vet found that she had this terrible disease, feline asthma.

Immediately, I started researching and found myself on a Yahoo forum called "FAIM" and decided to write in to see who else might be having the same or similar circumstances. Much to my surprise, I received handfuls of e-mails from people who are dealing with feline asthma. FAIM is a very supportive group of individuals with over 1,200 members worldwide (maybe more), and each day, I learn something new about feline asthma, the do's and the dont's, and most of all, I receive support from caring, concerned individuals.

Murphy

But, we have successfully controlled her asthma with the use of inhaled medications to the point where her attacks are very infrequent, and not life-threatening. I use what is called an Aerokat, a plastic chamber that is attached to the Flovent inhaler. It is made specifically for cats with feline asthma. The Aerokat has a muzzle sort of plastic mask that fits right over her little face, and much to my surprise, she has taken to that very well. I depress the canister, and Murphy breathes the medication in through the mask. It has become a part of my daily morning and evening routine.

Murphy being Grumpy

I say to her every morning and evening when I'm giving her the treatments, "Breathe easy, Murphy. Breathe easy." And, so she does. Just the other day, I caught Murphy playing with one of her catnip toys. She didn't do that before her diagnosis, because she was too sick. I looked at her, and to me, she was actually giggling, laughing, having fun. My life has changed considerably with the diagnosis of feline asthma, but I swear to my grave that I will do everything in my power to make certain that Murphy receives the best care possible, and that she lives a long, healthy, and enjoyable life. I know that Murphy trusts in that. She believes in me, like I believe in her.