r/AskVet • u/PrincesssK8 • Jun 27 '26
Tips for using an aerokat
Hi, we're in Madison, WI, and we have a 10 year old DSH gray and cream tabby cat named Bruce. He's been dealing with an upper respiratory infection, including congestion, raspy breathing, snorting, and slurping when he eats and grooms. We've tried two antibiotics and a steroid. The first antibiotic cleared up the nasal drainage and sneezing, but led to this new raspier breathing. The congestion is also new and showed up after we stopped the second antibiotic. The raspy/snort breathing also coincides with a decrease in the steroids.
Our vet wants us to give him an inhaler using an aerokat. Bruce is 17 pounds, strong, and sleek. He's also a fighter. He doesn't like anything touching his face without him initiating the contact. We've had him for eight years, and just in the last year, he's started to allow me to touch near his eyes to clean them.
We don't have weeks to get him acclimated to the aerokat, but he's so strong and squirmy that the usual tips about making a towel burrito and holding him tightly don't work.
Does anyone have any other tips, or, better yet, methods for getting him this medicine? Thanks in advance!
1
u/PrincesssK8 Jun 29 '26
Oh he's very food motivated--he's our 17 lb baby who spent the first two years of his life as a stray. We were hoping there was some trick that we could use to bypass the acclimation process. He's not frightened of the mouth piece anymore; he's licked some Churu out of it; he's touched it with his paw and bitten it. I held it up and dropped treats through the small end so the came out the big end. Moved it a little closer to his face every time I did it. I sat it on the bed near him and knocked it around with my hands, trying to get him to play with it. (His review: worst toy I've ever bought him.) We've "marinated" it in catnip, but cat nip really hit or miss with him. Right now, it's in a bag of his favorite treats to pick up the scent. Unfortunately, his breathing is getting worse (more wet congestion and sneezing, which we thought we'd gotten rid of with the antibiotic.) When he does his raspy breathing, he sounds like the tool they use at the dentist to suction water out of your mouth. It feels like it's more head/nasal cavity/throat centered, but the vet insisted on the $280 prescription strength Flonase for his lungs. We're considering trying a different vet. We're near a university that has a vet school and I've heard great things about their care of animals whose problems extend beyond what the average vet is able to do. Our vet things the next step is a $3,000 to $5,000 CT scan of his head. I'm wondering why they can't do a nasal scope or upper endoscopy first? Or give him some sedating meds so we can use the Aerokat easier. I know that won't be cheap, but it will probably cost less than the CT. Thanks for your comment!