Leah A. Cohn, DVM, PhD, DACVIM

A new treatment regimen shows promise in managing cats with this serious, often fatal infection.

Inhalant delivery of Aerosolized medication offers a number of theoretical benefits including an enormous absorptive surface area across a permeable membrane, a low enzyme environment that results in little drug degradation, avoidance of hepatic first-pass metabolism, and reproducible absorption kinetics.

Feline asthma is one of the most common bronchopulmonary diseases in cats and is responsible for substantial morbidity and occasional mortality. It is an IgE mediated hypersensitivity response against what otherwise would be harmless environmental Aeroallergens.

Pleural effusion is a relatively common cause of respiratory distress in the dog and cat. Both species are affected by several types of effusion, with numerous causes and variable prognosis.

Cough is a common reason for dogs to be presented for veterinary care, and tracheal collapse is a common cause of chronic cough in dogs. The tracheal lumen remains open during both inspiration and expiration thanks to the support of cartilaginous rings.

Bacterial pneumonia encompasses a wide spectrum of disease from chronic to acute, unilobar or multilobar, and with clinical signs ranging from mild tachypnea or cough to rapidly progressive and fatal pulmonary infection. Cats are subject to bacterial pneumonia far less frequently than are dogs.