Sea otter Miskha has asthma- and may be the first sea otter to be diagnosed with the disease! http://t.co/Zh5ApEJZla pic.twitter.com/ulInEEppWd
— Seattle Aquarium (@SeattleAquarium) September 17, 2015
Staff at the aquarium noticed she was having trouble breathing when smoke from the eastern Washington wildfires moved into the Seattle area last month.
Mishka's trainer uses food to teach the 1-year-old to push her nose on the inhaler and take a deep breath. The medication in the otter's inhaler is exactly the same as what humans use.
KING-TV reports that Dr. Lesanna Lahner diagnosed the otter and says reduced genetic diversity could have contributed to Mishka's diagnosis. Sea otters went extinct in Washington and 40 years ago, Alaskan sea otters were brought south and reintroduced to the coast.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.