Introduction

Lower airway disease in companion animals seems to be on the increase, mirroring the demographics seen in the human population over the last twenty years. It is now estimated that approximately 1% of dogs and cats suffer with lower airway disease.

In cats, the term asthma is often used synonymously with chronic bronchitis. Although in practice this makes little difference to the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis, it is far from ideal. True asthma is characterised by airway hyper-reactivity and reversible bronchoconstriction, whereas in chronic bronchitis the airway is characterised by airway inflammation and excessive mucus production – changes which lead to irreversible narrowing of the airway. As feline asthma is often diagnosed in young cats, it may be that the airway hyper-reactivity and reversible bronchoconstriction develops into chronic bronchitis over time.

In canines, lower airway disease is often seen much later in life and may be concurrent with other disease processes that can cause respiratory compromise such as heart disease, or tracheal collapse. There doesn’t seem to be any breed disposition as is seen with Siamese cats but toy breeds are over represented in many studies.

Little has changed with the diagnosis of lower airways disease in companion animals, but recently the choice of therapeutic options available to veterinarians has changed considerably.

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