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Cat coughing for a week, no hairball - acting normal?
Last week my 1yr 4month cat started coughing. Having had cats before, I thought he was trying to hack up a hairball. After of a few days of coughing without it producing a hairball we got some hairball snacks from petsmart. It's been a few days and still - no hairball! My husband and I work so I don't know how much he's doing it during the day but it seems to be rare if not nonexistent in the evenings and mostly goes on in the middle of the night. He's eating, drinking, pooping, and playing like normal. No nasal discharge or other obvious physical signs. I'm calling the vet tomorrow. But until then, any ideas what it could be? It's almost 4am and i'm wade awake worried about him because he was coughing again. He's never had a hairball but in my experience it doesn't take them this long to hack the first one up!! Thanks for any help.
Will do. I called the vet and was told it's probably a hairball (like I thought) OR that it could be heartworms which sometimes causes coughing. He's an indoor cat only so we don't have him on a preventative and he hasn't had a test in over a year. I'm taking him in this afternoon to get a test done and if it's negative i'm definitely starting him on Revolution. I HATE the thought that he could have such a terrible parasite! I'll update when I hear.
The vet trip went well. For $100 he got an exam, tested negative for heartworms, and was sent home with some tuna flavored "laxatone" which is supposed to bind hair and help it move along.For another $100 I got 7 months worth of Revolution so I don't have to worry about heartworms anymore!
The vet said the other possibility was allergies which we could treat with anti-histamines and steroids. We started with the hairball med because I really don't want to put him on medication unless he absolutely needs it, especially with how young he is. AND! I didn't hear him cough last night! He very well might have but was in another room and I didn't hear him. So fingers crossed this did the trick! Thanks guys!
Bloo- thanks for the pineapple juice tip! I can definitely see how that would work!
2 Answers
- bloomorninggloryLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
Good call on the heartworms. For some reason no one spreads the word about heartworms in cats like they do with dogs. There are other options like feline asthma, other heart problems, bronchitis, etc. One note for hairballs, pineapple juice works really for my cat. I use about a teaspoon mixed into his canned food each morning for about 5 days. It has an enzyme that breaks fur up to help it pass one way or the other. Good luck!
- Ron BLv 41 decade ago
I'm guessing it's a hairball, but please update us on what the vet says. My cat sometimes coughs, too, when it doesn't seem like a hairball is the problem, and I'm interested to read what you find out.
