I work with several cats who have asthma and use inhalers. What’s that you say? You’ve never heard of cats who use inhalers for their asthma? You’re not alone.
Sure, it usually it takes a bit of patience to train them, but they eventually get comfortable with it. Some of them really enjoy the treatment because they get extra special treats afterward that are reserved only for post-inhaler moments.
One of my clients told me about this video she found on YouTube that shows the method that one person trained her cat, Luna, to use the inhaler. My client used the same techniques and it worked like a charm!
This is great adivce!
I used an Aerokat inhaler with one of my cats for several months, but I never experienced that problem. I agree, best to contact the manufacturer and ask.
Ok; thank you!
Is it a problem if my flow vu flapper on the aerokat isn’t moving? I assume my cat is still getting the treatmeant; it just isn’t as easy to count his breaths. Please advise! Thanks!
Hmmmm, good question. I’m not sure. Contacting the manufacturer would be a good idea: https://www.trudellmed.com/contact-us . Let us know what you find out!
That was me–and it did work like a charm! My guy doesn’t have asthma, but he has a chronic respiratory viral infection that goes into bacterial often. The inhaler (Flovent) helps decrease the inflammation and seems to extend periods between needing antibiotics. He sees me reach in the direction of the inhaler and comes running–it’s the magic cone of treats. Now, he doesn’t enjoy having it on his face and does try to mildly wiggle away from it, especially when he’s congested. But, it’s only a few seconds, so very doable. And obviously he’s not distressed enough to avoid it the next time!
Thanks for revealing yourself, Val! I love this video. I like that his treatment is “the magic cone of treats”. :-)
I’m curious, did you do any EFT with him around the inhaler situation? (For readers: Val is an EFT coach. See info on her website at http://www.panthertap.com/)
Thanks Kari! No, never had to do any EFT with him–I just did the mask training with treats for about 10 days (before the inhaler medicine go there from Europe–had to wait more than a month), and it was great. He never got treats on the sofa prior to that, so he thought that was pretty cool. It’s been the best treatment he’s ever had, that and I think the high CBD hemp is probably helping too.