Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cats with lower airway disease can have inflammation despite steroid
By Cocayne, Christine G et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2011·Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Subclinical airway inflammation despite high-dose oral corticosteroid therapy in cats with lower airway disease.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Ten cats with chronic lower airway disease were treated with high doses of oral corticosteroids for about five weeks to help reduce their coughing and breathing difficulties. While three of the cats showed improvement in their symptoms and had no signs of inflammation in their lung fluid, seven still had inflammation even though they appeared healthy. This suggests that just because a cat seems better, it doesn't always mean the underlying inflammation is gone. Pet owners should discuss ongoing treatment plans with their veterinarian, as symptoms may not fully reflect the condition of their cat's airways.
People also search for: cat coughing treatment · chronic bronchitis in cats · corticosteroids for cat breathing problems
Abstract
Management of feline chronic lower airway disease focuses on controlling clinical signs and decreasing airway inflammation. This retrospective study evaluated the correlation between the resolution of clinical signs in cats with lower airway disease receiving oral glucocorticoids with the resolution of inflammation based on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cytology. Ten cats diagnosed with lower airway disease based on characteristic clinical signs and inflammatory BALF cytology received oral glucocorticoids for at least 3 weeks. They were required to have resolution of clinical signs and BALF collected while asymptomatic and still receiving glucocorticoids. Cats received prednisolone or prednisone (average dose of 1.8±0.2mg/kg daily) for 35.7±5.5 days. Three cats had resolution of clinical signs and lacked inflammatory BALF cytology; seven had persistent inflammatory BALF cytology despite resolution of clinical signs. Given that subclinical inflammation during high-dose glucocorticoid treatment was common, current recommendations to taper therapy based on resolution of clinical signs should be re-evaluated.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21640626/