coughing after drinking water

1. luxor drinks a lot of water our of out petmate fountain
2. he always has
3. everyone once in a great while - once a week maybe after luxor drinks he coughs a dry cough.

it concerns me because stoli doesn't cough when he drinks water and luxor has done this since we got him. we took him in twice and our vet couldn't hear anything wrong with his breathing. i also thought it might be a tickle from allergies but now that he's on NB and he doesn't itch much anymore - i don't think his cough is from allergies.

i read something about a small trachea or something - does anyone have any insight to this?

Can I get some vibes for luxor, he's going to the vet tomorrow for his cough.

I don't really know what I should tell them to check - his breathing obviously. I don't know if he has a cold or is allergic to something else, or if it's the fountain or if he has an issue like with a small trachea - hopefully what ever it is, it will get fixed quickly.

Sending good vibes for Luxor

Awww I'm sorry I have no good advice to give you, so I'll just send some happy thoughts instead. I hope everything is okay with little Luxor. He seems like a little angel.

ETA: Okay, really random thought here. Have you tried taking away the fountain and just getting him to drink out of a normal bowl? Does he do the same thing? My thought is that if he's drinking out of the fountain maybe he's drinking at a height/angle that's not optimal for him. Obviously I have no clue what I'm talking about here, just something to think about.

Many vibes for Luxor

Pekoe & Nigel's "random thought" could make sense - can't hurt to give that suggestion a try...

I've never heard of a cat having a trachea that's too small. I would think that if Luxor did have such a problem you would see him coughing far more often than he does.

Cats don't have great depth perception. One of my cats will sometimes put her nose too far into the water not realizing the level is higher than she thought! When she does that it causes her to cough a bit... maybe Luxor does the same thing?

Lots of good thoughts going out to your handsome boy that he'll get a clean bill of health at his check-up

i'll try a bowl again - i had a bowl out when i thought luxor had a plastic allergy but neither cat really drank water when i switched away from the fountain and i didn't want them to get sick.

but that's a good idea though - i'll put a bowl out tonight and see if they'll go to that...

Originally Posted by Renovia

i'll try a bowl again - i had a bowl out when i thought luxor had a plastic allergy but neither cat really drank water when i switched away from the fountain and i didn't want them to get sick.

but that's a good idea though - i'll put a bowl out tonight and see if they'll go to that...

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Sometimes if you offer them something a little unusual, they'll be more apt to drink. My cats like coffee mugs and measuring cups (the heavy pyrex kind is pretty unspillable). Just a thought.

i'll do that - but i'm still uncertain that the water's the culprit because he coughs AFTER he drinks not as he's drinking.

Sending vibes for Luxor..I am sure he will be fine {{{{ }}}}

Any creature with an esophagus has the possibility of it being narrow. However, it would be a fairly constant issue once it appears. In fact, solids tend to be more of an issue than liquids.

Reflux, due to an issue with the sphinctor that should close off the top of the stomach so contents don't flow upwards, does come to mind. It tends to be more of an issue with liquids or liquids foods. Contents back up into the espohagus and it causes coughing.

Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, doesn't seem to be the issue either as it tends to be ongoing. Believe it or not, it is more difficult to learn to swallow liquids than solids.

The fact that it isn't constant is a good thing.

ok - DH took a half day off to take luxor into the vet today -thank you honey! I've already missed so much work because of stoli.

so this update is second hand - sort of

Luxor was a doll with the vet. he took all his poking and proding in stride albeit a bit wormy.

the vet even said luxor 'was able to produce a stool'. . .AKA pooped himself right on the exam table.

the good news is just about everything is normal for luxor. his weight, his throat, his lungs, his heart, his teeth, his coat, eyes ears you name it.

they took xrays and CBC.

the bad news is his white blood cell count was elevated and the specifics showed his allergens were elevated. so we gave him some pill that is supposed to eliminate the possibilities of any bugs causing the issue.

i guess after that we start eliminating things one by one until we figure it out.

yup someone suggested that - thanks