Cough in a cat

[emmab]

Our 18 month old male cat has developed a mild cough. I see this is very common in cats, and that some cough a lot, whilst some just cough from time to time. I used to think it was a hairball related thing but apparantely it isn't. I could say it started a few weeks back and not long after we started having fires in the house for the Winter, although I cannot be sure. It almost sounds like he has eaten something outside, then comes in with a "frog in his throat" and a bit gurgly? At least he sounds gurgly after he has coughed.
Can anyone help please? He is happy, eating and normal in that respect. We did have a cat before him that developed asthma, so hoping we are not going down that route. I hope it isn't anything we are doing wrong in the house.

[sarie]

Hey Emma, unfortunately the most common cause of the type of cough you've described is allergen related asthma.

Cats don't cough regularly like that unless there's an underlying cause. I guess if you've had a cat with asthma before then you'll be familiar with the symptoms and treatments.
My cat Harvey was recently diagnosed with asthma at 5 years old - he's had a mild chronic cough all his life but I just assumed it was normal as it didn't happen that often. Turns out it's not normal for a cat to cough like this at all and he was showing early signs of asthma.

It's probably best to just keep an eye on him but if the cough gets any worse or he shows any other signs of asthma like laboured breathing or severe cough attacks then you should probably see a vet with him and get a proper diagnosis.

In the meantime, you could do a few things to minimise any contaminants in your house that may be upsetting him. Remove any scented candles and air freshners, avoid using aerosols and perfumes near him, keep on top of the vacuuming and avoid using smelly fabric softeners on anything he comes into contact with. You could also get a can of Indorex and spray your house as this is great for cutting back the allergen count in the house.
You could also potentially look into getting a HEPA air filter to keep the air clear indoors - I'm saving up to get one of these for Harvey. It needs to be a True HEPA though, not an ionizer as they're very bad for cats with allergies.

Good luck with him

[emmab]

Many thanks. After posting this he hasn't coughed since...typical eh? I think it is an early allergy or asthma. I have stopped using candles or insense sticks, not that we used them often. My husband is trying to use the fire more instead of the underfloor heating, so think this may be the problem. I am not too concerned atm, but think you are right. I know asthma is hard to manage, especially in later years, so will keep an eye on him. Many thanks and good luck with yours.

[sarie]

Haha very typical And thanks Harvey used to go about 6 weeks between coughing attacks, sometimes longer. That's why I never suspected anything serious and having never come across asthma or allergies in a cat before I didn't think much of it. It's only now that I realise he's been reacting to the environment for quite a while but always quite mildly.
I think the difference for him is that he's been a lot more indoor this year because we moved and as a result he's subject to more contaminants than when he spends a lot of time outside so things flared up.

Since removing air fresheners and other irritants and generally cleaning up the house and blasting it with a can of Indorex he does seem to be much better. He's now also using an inhaler too and his severe symptoms (rapid breathing and severe cough attacks) have now cleared up entirely and his lungs sound clear.

I hope your little guy feels better, it definitely doesn't sound like anything too much to worry about just now but as you say it's probably early signs that there's an issue so you're doing all the right things. At least you've come across asthma before so you know what to expect and look out for as I had no idea so things got pretty bad before I was made aware.

Best of luck with him

[emmab]

Well done on giving your cat an inhaler. This is the hardest thing ever. You must have got it down to a fine art now, I struggled like mad with ours, however our old cat was 16 and had very severe asthma. I admire what you are doing for yours and keep up the good work. Judging on Chamaille sprawled across my lap atm he is more than content.

[sarie]

Thanks It's not the easiest thing but he's fairly tolerant - I only started with him about 2 weeks ago and only this week started to actually use it with the drug in. Last week I was just training him with the equipment and treats but wasn't putting it on his face for any length of time. He's not overly happy about it and when he sees it you can see he's bracing himself but he will let me do it if I handle him properly.
He's taking prednisolone 5mg daily until he's fully transitioned over to the inhaler as it'll take a week or so to build up in his system but once he's using the inhaler daily without a problem I'll start weaning him off the pred.

I've been told it's tougher when they're older like yours as they're less tolerant of the changes required to treat them and particularly of things like inhalers, I'm sorry you struggled so much with him. I'm lucky that Harvey's asthma isn't very severe and hopefully now he's being treated it won't ever get too much worse and can be managed.
It sounds like Chamaille is doing very well though and is quite happy