This is going to be a fairly long review, as there’s quite a bit of background, but I’ll leave a summary at the bottom. My cat is 4 years old and has had asthma for the past couple of years, though in the past it was very mild and her attacks were infrequent and not bothersome enough to her to cause us any worry. Within the past couple of months, however, her symptoms began to grow worse, with attacks becoming more frequent, and her chest congestion became so bad over time that even her breathing often sounded rattle-y, along with her purrs and meows.
It wasn’t until this past week that her attacks became severe, and even her behavior started to change, where within a matter of days she became progressively more lethargic, lost her appetite, and was having breathing difficulties even apart from her attacks, which became more violent than ever. We rushed her to an emergency clinic just five nights ago (and two days prior I put in an order for this supplement) because we were afraid she was going to die, as she was behaving so unlike herself and her attacks had become constant, until even her regular breathing was labored.
We thought there must have been something causing it apart from her asthma due to the sudden onset, but the veterinarian told us nothing was wrong and her vitals were fine. They even did an x-ray of her chest, tested her blood and her urine, and ultimately the only answers they had for us were that our cat has asthma (which we obviously knew going in), and that they suspected she had diabetes because her glucose levels were at 200 (then later called to clarify that she doesn’t, and her glucose levels were likely elevated due to stress and we shouldn’t worry until they were around 375). After giving her a couple puffs of an ER bronchodilator they sent us on our way, then told us to schedule an appointment with another vet to do an abdominal ultrasound. They also prescribed us steroids in the form of pills (despite having said they suspected diabetes), and bronchodilators in the form of edible tablets (even though we specifically requested an inhaler due to the severity of her attacks).
All in all the visit cost a little over $860 for them to diagnose our asthmatic cat with asthma, to tell us she might have diabetes (only to clarify a day later that she didn’t), and to confirm that “something is wrong”, which was obviously why we brought our cat to them in the first place. Yes, really.
Even the prescriptions took three days to arrive by e-mail, and redirected to the clinic’s website, where apparently they sold and shipped prescriptions themselves. The prices were over $50 each for a months supply, and frankly both useless because our cat already wasn’t eating. I also didn’t want to put her on steroids because I know she’s prone to diabetes due to being overweight. The vet visit itself had already cost so much, and now we were expected to pay another $100+ for one month of prescriptions, and who knows how much money on another vet visit to get her an abdominal ultrasound. The $800~ was already money we didn’t have to spend, and our cat’s symptoms continued to worsen after the visit, until she developed a fever and wanted to do nothing but sleep and hide from us. Her attacks were constant, more violent than they’d ever been, and woke her from sleep. Her breathing was hard and shallow constantly.
We had no idea what else to do for her, and we couldn’t afford to do what the vet had told us to. I spent the past few days grappling with the possibility of her death. I wasn’t convinced she could recover from whatever she was dealing with, even if she did get any real help, which we still can’t afford. This supplement arrived in the mail four days ago, and I’d thankfully managed to convince her to take it by mixing it with some pate wet food—I think she stopped eating her dry food and wet food (she ate the gravy but not the chunks of meat) because it hurt her throat, which was most likely raw from coughing constantly.
The first day I gave her this supplement, her attacks seemed to worsen pretty significantly in the sense that they were more violent and she sounded much more hoarse. It might not have been related, but there was no way of knowing. The second day there wasn’t much change, though I believe her attacks were at least somewhat less frequent, and she seemed to have more of an appetite than before. The third day her attacks were still frequent and sounded pretty terrible, but I noticed throughout the day they were happening progressively less, and just moving in her sleep no longer sent her into a coughing fit. By the end of the day she had a couple of pretty bad attacks, but she was acting much more like herself, if only some of the time; begging me for food, following me around (if not more slowly than usual), and talking excitedly to me the way she used to. Her meows and breathing didn’t sound garbled anymore, and when she had coughing fits, they were at least more productive.
It’s the fourth day since I started giving her this supplement, and to me the change is already drastic. She’s still not nearly at her best, but she greeted me this morning the way she used to by trotting up to me and meowing a lot, and it didn’t send her into a horrible fit of coughing. Before, she hadn’t bothered to come and see me when I woke up and didn’t even seem interested in eating, but today she ate almost all of her breakfast, and if she minds or notices the taste of the supplement, I definitely can’t tell. Her breathing has become much more regular, as well, and less hard and shallow—more steady and slow. She’s significantly more affectionate and likes to be around me more as well, which is a welcome change from her suddenly reclusive behavior. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much, but this is the only thing I’ve tried that has made a noticeable difference, and I’m praying it will continue to help her. This review might be a bit premature, but the results are already huge, and I honestly believe now that she might make it through things and get back to being her normal self soon.
I can’t say if this would work for everyone’s pet, but it definitely seems to be working for mine, and I was completely convinced she was dying. It may have literally saved her life. I’ll update this review in a few days with her status, but I’m actually very optimistic, even though I felt completely hopeless before. I would recommend at least giving it a try if your pet is having breathing difficulties; it at least couldn’t hurt!
UPDATE: It's been several months, and I've been meaning to write a follow up, because since initially writing my review, this supplement has single handedly gotten rid of virtually all of my cat's asthma symptoms. I actually can't even remember the last time she had an attack, because as long as I give this to her even just a couple of times a day, it keeps her symptoms at bay entirely. Her breathing no longer sounds wheezy or congested, her fur has actually gotten noticeably shinier and healthier, and overall she's just been much more herself lately, and more playful and energetic than ever too. This has helped her lose weight, in addition to putting her on a wet food only diet, because she can play much longer without needing to stop to catch her breath frequently or risking an asthma attack. I can't believe how well this has worked for her, but I wish more people knew about it, because even if it doesn't do away with every pet's respiratory issues, it certainly did away with my cat's! Absolutely consider giving this a try if your cat has asthma or other respiratory issues. I'm so glad that I tried this instead of committing to paying ~$100 a month for steroids which would have been doing my cat harm in the long run and also would have frankly been much harder to administer. One bottle lasted several months, and that was with relatively liberal use. I've already ordered a second since running out of the first, and I'll definitely keep on ordering this for as long as my cat needs it. Thank you so much to the manufacturers of this supplement!
Holistic
