Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hello peeps,

So one of my cats, she's about 12 yo, keeps coughing as if she is going to produce a furball then nothing appears.

Has anyone else seen this? Can you recommend any remedies, I've got a feeling I can get a paste to give her but wondering if I should also get her vet checked in case it's something more serious. Being going on for a week now, didn't think too much of it at first, but now it's been going on a bit. Obviously being the long weekend too, didn't fancy the emergency vet in case it was just a fur ball, as she's otherwise fine, eating well.

TIA fo any advice.
Julie

Just to add, I don't 'think' it's asthma, that's come up a lot when I'm Googling, as I've had cats with that before and this doesn't seem the same...

Asthma can give very a tough cough, with the cat almost gasping and choking.
Furballs should come out, sooner or later.
I'd suggest you to have your cat's heart checked. Some heart diseases or failures give cough.

I agree about contacting your vet to determine the cause.

If your cat suffers from hairballs, this article about using egg yolks and egg yolk lecithin might be of interest:
http://www.foodfurlife.com/how-to-best- ... balls.html

I'm only mentioning this because our long-haired cat suffers from hairballs and we've been using the paraffin-based pastes which I understand can be dangerous if inhaled. I've only just learned about using egg yolks or egg yolk lecithin. Canned pumpkin puree is supposed to be helpful as well.

Thanks I'll take a look at that article, always prefer to use a more natural remedy if possible, although not sure how she might feel about eggs!

Our cats really like raw egg yolk, but it might be difficult to control the portions, so I've just purchased egg yolk powder to see how that goes.

I read somewhere that adding egg yolk powder or egg yolk lecithin to wet food might be easier and less noticeable than a raw egg yolk. They both have to be mixed with wet food or water.

We've just started adding ½ tsp of pumpkin puree and a little water to their wet food at every meal and the cats seem to enjoy it.

So 3 days of fur ball remedy and still coughing so just back from vet.
She feels onset of asthma is unlikely at her age (13) and couldn't feel any obstruction.
My kitty did cough when she touched her trachea so with that and her calichi, feels she might be having a bit of a flare up. We're going to try anti inflammatory for 3 days (metacam) then take it from there. Chest x ray was mentioned but temperature and breathing all normal.

JulieJulie wrote:Hello peeps,

So one of my cats, she's about 12 yo, keeps coughing as if she is going to produce a furball then nothing appears.

Has anyone else seen this? Can you recommend any remedies, I've got a feeling I can get a paste to give her but wondering if I should also get her vet checked in case it's something more serious. Being going on for a week now, didn't think too much of it at first, but now it's been going on a bit. Obviously being the long weekend too, didn't fancy the emergency vet in case it was just a fur ball, as she's otherwise fine, eating well.

TIA fo any advice.
Julie

Don't want to worry you but I had a similar thing with my 10yr old. I tried all the hair remedies when I noticed an obstruction in his gut. Unfortunately it turned out to be colon cancer. He would cough and I thought at first he was trying to get a hairball out. He would only cough out saliva. I also noticed his weight was dropping and he was eating less. Just keep an eye out for any other changes in behaviour. Hopefully it is nothing serious xxx

vanilla wrote:

JulieJulie wrote:Hello peeps,

So one of my cats, she's about 12 yo, keeps coughing as if she is going to produce a furball then nothing appears.

Has anyone else seen this? Can you recommend any remedies, I've got a feeling I can get a paste to give her but wondering if I should also get her vet checked in case it's something more serious. Being going on for a week now, didn't think too much of it at first, but now it's been going on a bit. Obviously being the long weekend too, didn't fancy the emergency vet in case it was just a fur ball, as she's otherwise fine, eating well.

TIA fo any advice.
Julie

Don't want to worry you but I had a similar thing with my 10yr old. I tried all the hair remedies when I noticed an obstruction in his gut. Unfortunately it turned out to be colon cancer. He would cough and I thought at first he was trying to get a hairball out. He would only cough out saliva. I also noticed his weight was dropping and he was eating less. Just keep an eye out for any other changes in behaviour. Hopefully it is nothing serious xxx

My 11yr old cat cat, Armand, started to cough and pant heavily as if he too was bringing up furballs but nothing would appear. Occcasionally I would feel odourless wetness on the carpet or his cushion on his favourite chair. Turned out he was coughing up fluid from his lungs. He had cancer and a his lungs were rapidly filling up. I'm not claiming your cat has cancer but I would urgently ask for an xray. It could be his heart, poor lamb can't catch a breath. A furball would have passed through his system by now from either the front or the back.

Issi

She's not coughing up anything not even fluid. Eating like a horse and a good weight but it's still a worry so l'll get back into the vet tomorrow for an x-ray.