
It is quite common for cats to present to veterinary clinics with a chronic cough or wheeze. The problem may be constant or just recur from time to time, and can range from mild to severe. Clinically the disease may resemble human asthma, but the term feline asthma can be misleading as there are a number of different possible causes. Here we look at what those underlying causes can be, and the different forms of treatment available to affected cats.
To return to the comparison with human asthma, when trying to understand the underlying causes it is important to differentiate between asthma (constriction of the bronchi), chronic bronchitis (oversecretion of mucus with a chronic cough) and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Asthma is reversible bronchial constriction caused by eosinophil cells, whereas COPD is irreversible bronchial constriction involving neutrophil cells. We are satisfied with this end product on emedicine bronchitis. It was really worth the hard work and effort in writing so much on emedicine bronchitis.
Treatment The aims of treatment are as follows. 1. Eliminate any suspected infectious agents. This may be a sufficiently long course of antibiotics if bacterial infection is suspected, or a wormer such as fenbendazole if lungworm is suspected. Enhancing your vocabulary is our intention with the writing of this article on emedicine bronchitis. We have used new and interesting words to achieve this.
Dr Matthew Homfray is one of the veterinary pet experts at ***** Our dedicated community of caring pet experts are waiting to offer you advice, second opinions and support.