Cleo's asthma flare up last month

I am feeling quite anxious about Cleo again. She had a flare up last month and I wrote about the vet visit and the home treatments in Cleo's vet visit last month and what we tried at home so I don't have to repeat everything here. But now that it has been a few weeks, I am not sure how to monitor her day to day. Is there a specific way to count her breathing or check her gums? I want to know if she is getting worse before it becomes obvious.

Bluntly, if you can't tell if she's getting worse, she's probably already in trouble. Watch the effort. Normal cats breathe with their chest expanding smoothly. If you see the belly heaving or the head sticking out, that's bad. I don't have a senior cat, just Jasper who is a 5-year-old domestic shorthair, but he's healthy so I can't really compare. Just keep an eye on the noise. Wheezing is a red flag.

yo i think the air quality stuff matters a lot here. i have Duke who is 3 and energetic but he gets sneezy when i vacuum. i tried getting a better filter and it helped a bit. check out Air purifiers and dust control for asthmatic cats if you havent read it yet. also, dont forget to check the humidity. dry air is rough on lungs.

I am so sorry about Cleo. My 14-year-old tabby stopped eating two days ago and I am in a panic. I posted about it in My 14-year-old tabby stopped eating, is this the end? and I am just trying to figure out if it is related to her heart or just old age. It is hard to tell the difference when they are all so quiet. Does anyone know if appetite loss is a sign of asthma getting worse or is that usually just general sickness?

Oh no, I hate that you are stressed! My cats Loki and Freya are only 4 so they don't have these issues, but I remember when Freya was a kitten and had a mild cough. We used a nebulizer and it was a nightmare getting her to sit still. If you are doing treatments, check out Struggling to get my cat into the nebulizer mask for some tricks. I wrapped her in a towel like a burrito and it helped a lot. Keep your chin up, you are doing a great job monitoring her.

Thank you all for the input. I have been looking at What to look for when breathing gets really bad to see what the emergency signs are, so I know when to call the vet today. I am not sure if I should reduce her medication now that she seems better, or if I should keep it the same. I found a thread about Tapering off inhalers when the cat seems better but the advice was mixed. Does anyone have a rule of thumb for when to change the dose?