Hairball or Coughing?

How can I tell the difference between a cat trying to cough a hairball (without a hairball coming up) and real coughing?

Thanks
Lorraine

You can tell by the position of the body. A cat that's coughing is hunched while a cat that is coughing up a hairball is in the same position as eating- all four feet bent and body lowered with the head straight ...

my cat was in neither position. I was holding him in my arms and he was sitting upright.

I say, take him to the vet.

My Monti was coughing and I thought it was hairballs. I think I waited too long to take him to the vet, then when I did we found out it was a bad lower resp. infection. I shouldn't have waited so long.

Sometimes Kitty coughs, but never has coughed up anything.

maybe they cough them up and swallow it before we see it?

dont know

It sounds very different. One of my cats recently had a very bad asthma attack. At first we thought he was throwing up or had an upper respiratory infection. We got him in right away and he had a very inflamed airway. You should get kitty in for a checkup if there is coughing. Respiratory issues are very serious.

Here is a link to a search on PetEducation.com for "coughing in cats", they have some very helpful articles.
http://pet-information.peteducation....and&ts=results