"He has asthma, fairly severely when he doesn't get his meds; he doesn't show signs of distress until he's in an attack but when it's bothering him he simply doesn't move around much, which is notable for an active cat."
Ditto for our Vir, plus audible wheezing & hacking. In fact, I had to take him to the vet just yesterday for his periodic steroid injection. Pills don't control it in his case. Fortunately, cats tolerate continued steroid use much better than dogs or humans.
It sounds like Perrine might have some low-level asthma. Given your environment, you probably do too. You might want to mention it at her next vet visit, but unless she shows some distress it's probably not a cause for concern.
Since it didn't get worse and she's not acting uncomfortable, I'm taking the advice I've gotten here and not worrying but will mention it to the vet the next time she's there. (Overdue for a checkup and shots, come to think of it.)
I had another thought occur to me ... given that a) she doesn't seem to breathe through her mouth when suffering nasal congestion, but continues to force air through her nose, and b) her head and her lungs are so close together due to being cat-sized, I wonder whether the creaky sound that I thought was coming from her lungs was actually being generated in her nose and conducted through her body...?
Feline Asthma
"He has asthma, fairly severely when he doesn't get his meds; he doesn't show signs of distress until he's in an attack but when it's bothering him he simply doesn't move around much, which is notable for an active cat."
Ditto for our Vir, plus audible wheezing & hacking. In fact, I had to take him to the vet just yesterday for his periodic steroid injection. Pills don't control it in his case. Fortunately, cats tolerate continued steroid use much better than dogs or humans.
It sounds like Perrine might have some low-level asthma. Given your environment, you probably do too. You might want to mention it at her next vet visit, but unless she shows some distress it's probably not a cause for concern.
Re: Feline Asthma
Since it didn't get worse and she's not acting uncomfortable, I'm taking the advice I've gotten here and not worrying but will mention it to the vet the next time she's there. (Overdue for a checkup and shots, come to think of it.)
I had another thought occur to me ... given that a) she doesn't seem to breathe through her mouth when suffering nasal congestion, but continues to force air through her nose, and b) her head and her lungs are so close together due to being cat-sized, I wonder whether the creaky sound that I thought was coming from her lungs was actually being generated in her nose and conducted through her body...?