Wheezing cat

Question
I have an 11 month old female cat who was rescued as a small kitten after being abandoned outside. She appears very healthy other than the fact that she wheezes quite often. Her breathing isn't always loud, but it is often much louder than normal cat breathing - audible from the other side of a room. I took her to the vet who did a chest x-ray and found that her lungs were inflamed. We are trying to determine the reason for this now so that she can be treated appropriately. The vet initially put her on a course of Panacur (anti-parasitic) in case it was lungworm, but she finished the treatment and is still wheezing. It is possible that it is asthma, but she has never had an actual attack and the vet thinks she is rather young for asthma to have developed (the wheezing began when she was only a few months old). She is now suggesting a lung wash to try to determine if there is an infection or if it is more likely just early onset asthma While doing the lung wash they could also look for a polyp or other issue in the airway. My question is: Is a lung wash safe? The vet thinks so, but I'm looking for a second opinion. I'm wary of unnecessary anesthesia and unnecessary procedures. Also, is there something else that could be causing her symptoms that the vet hasn't thought of? Or another solution I should try first? For example, would switching foods to try to avoid potential allergens be a better next step? Thanks in advance for your advice!

Answer
Food is rarely a cause in feline asthma. Rugs, household items, smokers in the house, wood stoves, candles, these would all be more likely to cause asthma in cats.

The most prudent thing to do would be to start her on a low dose of steroids and see how she reacts to those. That is the normal treatment for asthma in all cats.

I would think that a lung wash would be a last resort. You can see polyps in the airways with an ultrasound. They are much safer then a lung wash.

She should have also been able to see an object like a polyp on the xray.