Jake's breathing issues..

I am making an appointment for him for next thursday to be seen by a vet. He has always made this really loud breathing sound, almost like wheezing while he sleeps and also snoring. Ever since I first got him, he has coughed about 4 times (over 3 months), made this hacking sound for about a minute, maybe less. It's a really loud cough almost louder than a human coughing, I thought he must be chocking or hairball but I think he is too young to have hairballs, he is only 4 months old. He first did this when he was only 7 weeks old though... I think he really might have asthma. I told my vet about his snoring and the vet said it was normal as long as he doesn't have mucus from his nose it's fine...The thing is though sometimes I will notice him breathing a bit louder than usual when he is not sleeping either..I saw some videos on youtube, he looks just like this when he has hacked:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTEVh...eature=related
I am not sure if this kitty has asthma or not.
When he was just a little baby of 5 weeks, he still breathed really loud and snored, I kept wondering if there isn't anything wrong with him. Now though I read that it's best if asthma is caught quickly so I don't want to take any chances...Does anyone have experiences with these symptoms??

Here is a video of a cat with asthma.
My Coco has asthma and has had very bad attacks before.

I actually saw that video on youtube, but it's so hard to compare I'm not sure if that's what it looks like.....
The thing that scares me is that if he has asthma, he has had it since he was a 5 month old kitten and possibly earlier..Is that even possible? I really hope i'm wrong and he doesn't have asthma..

There are treatments for it.
My Coco is 17 and has had it since she was young.

I totally forgot to mention- he appears to be completely healthy..He NEVER pants or breathes with his mouth open unless he has played with the laser pointer...That's the only time..And he is extremely active and plays a lot.

Originally Posted by mews2much

There are treatments for it.
My Coco is 17 and has had it since she was young.

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Yea I read there are treatments, that's what makes me more optimistic..By the way, how expensive are the treatments?

You know, I see Jake is long-haired, and the timing (once every few weeks) sure sounds like hairballs to me. Are you giving him any hairball medicine?

Since he's coughing too, it's a good thing you're taking him to the vet. He really needs an exam.

Without coughing, breathing sounds "almost like wheezing" and snoring, can come from the nose (not the lungs) and can be caused by something as simple as food allergy.

Also, without coughing, another possible cause of noisy breathing:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Ask-Veter...athing-Cat.htm

Coughing can be caused by a lot of things. Asthma, respiratory infection, heart disease, parasites. Even hair balls.

Do you remember, was he coughing too when he was 5 months old, or just doing the noisy breathing?

Nope, I've never given him any hairball medicines. And he didn't cough at 5 weeks old, I remember I first noticed him coughing after he received his first set of shots probably around 9 weeks old (he's 4 months old now). At least I think it was at 9 weeks, it could have been at 12 weeks when he got his second shot .. I hope it was hairballs because he didn't have that hunched position when he coughed and the sound that came out was more like gagging than coughing....But I think I really need to make sure it's hairballs and not anything else to have my peace of mind, so I am going to take him to the vet..
About the snoring and wheezing- I kept him right next to my face so I can hear it well all night tonight , and it really does sound like he's coming thru the nose especially because it happens when he inhales, not when he exhales, and a lot of times I see extremely dried up mucus that is stuck in his nostrils.. But, still I just can't be sure and the wheezing and coughing combined just seems like a scary combination of symptoms..Since he only coughed about once a month i'm not freaking out too much..Thanks for the replies

P.S. Violet- I read that link that you gave me and it sounds a lot like how Jake breathes, especially when the person who write the question said that it stops when the kitty purrs..A few times tonight when Jake's breathing became scary noisy, I was starting to pet him a little and as soon he started to purr the noise stopped...Also, sometimes the noise stops as he gains consciousness after sleep..

Ughh so I can't take him this week They have no available appointments. Well it's not that bad because next week it's my sring break and i will be free all week. The thing is I don't want to wait that long so i'm a little frustrated. Since Saturday he has been a little bit less active, he has been eating as normal but he doesn't play as crazily as usual. He still plays, but i dunno maybe a bit more cautiously and doesn't put in all of his energy and seriousness....I also posted another thread about this in the behavior section thinking it might just be that he has grown a bit....I dunno I am going a bit crazy myself, every time he half yawns i'm suspecting he's taking breaths from his mouth. Today when I was playing with the lazer toy, he chased it for a little bit- he usually jumps up when it's on the wall. Today after one or two jumps up on the wall, he meowed. It's normal for him the meow when he can't get to something, like if he wants to jump onto something but it's too tall he will meow or when something is moving but he can't chase it. So I was thinking maybe he felt like he can't exert himself that much so that's why he stopped chasing and started to meow. Then I put the laser pointer on the floor and he did chase it on the floor for a little bit, up the stairs and then started to pant, panted for less than a minute then sprawled out on the floor, almost like he wanted to put as much of his skin on the floor as possible, that could be because it was really hot today about 80 degrees and probably more inside....I'm soooo scared though!! I really hope he doesn't have anything wrong with his heart....I am watching him probably too closely i dunno...I have to admit i'm overractive sometimes and I really hope this is another one of those times.

Originally posted by ut0pia
I really hope he doesn't have anything wrong with his heart....

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I hope so too. But you might never know for sure unless you schedule an ultrasound (after his visit to the vet next week).

Then I put the laser pointer on the floor and he did chase it on the floor for a little bit, up the stairs and then started to pant, panted for less than a minute then sprawled out on the floor, almost like he wanted to put as much of his skin on the floor as possible....

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The panting is not a good sign and for whatever reason he was panting, it tells you that this has to be investigated and also that you have to be very careful.

These articles give you good information about panting:
http://www.petplace.com/cats/panting...mal/page1.aspx
http://ezinearticles.com/?When-Your-...ts!&id=1151177

Please, until you find out what exactly is wrong with him, don't encourage him to play. Let him take it easy and spend time petting him instead of playing with him. Just as good, he'll be just as happy.

Perhaps it's only the breathing issues that are involved in the panting and after treatment you won't see any more of that.

If, however, something is wrong with his heart, the thing to keep in mind is that exercise puts a strain on the heart, and restricting exercise reduces the strain on the heart.
So until you can rule out the possibility of heart disease, make sure he doesn't exert himself in any way. That's the best, safest thing you can do.

Thanks so much for the responses!! I am panicking a bit less today, since he hasn't panted at all since that one time and he keeps approaching me to play..I've also been watching his breathing very closely, counting his respiration rate and it has been normal every time i've counted it so that makes me feel a little better. I'm pretty sure he was breathing real fast when he panted yesterday though even tho I didn't count it then...

Originally Posted by mews2much

Was he like that before or after he was fixed?

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He had never panted before he got fixed, the first time he panted ever was when I got him a laser toy which was maybe 2 months ago. I noticed when the first night I got him that he breathes sooo loud. I was a bit scared but then I just accepted it as something he does because he seemed 100% healthy otherwise. The vet checked him out and confirmed he is healthy for his first 3 visits that he's had so far so I didn't think much of it until I looked at some symptoms of asthma and I was uh oh combined with the few times he's coughed I need to just get it checked out to be sure it's nothing....Thats when I first posted this thread.

As far as what happened yesterday, it was the first time he's panted after what I think was not too much play. He chased the laser for a little bit then ran up the stairs after it, played some more and just after that started panting. The day before I noticed him pant after he ran after me like a maniac. I thought it must be okay because he was running and chasing me and was playing before tha too..Like I read it's normal for cats to pant after play sometimes. And I was a bit worried because of him being more calm and less crazy this week..I know when a kitty stops playing that's bad. He hasn't stopped, he has just decreased the play by a little so I am not really sure what to make of it and if I should be worried about that...It does seem like he is sleeping a bit more than usual, I find him either sleeping or laying down a lot. But as soon as something moves he will still jump and react and starts to play with it..So I don't think that means he's lethargic, I dunno..But yea this is just this week. So I guess no i've never had problems like that before he was fixed.

I dont want to scare you but sometimes cats have heart problems that do not show up until after surgery.
Do you know what anesthesia was used on him?

No I have no idea..i wouldn't bet on that though because he did have the breathing issues since 5 weeks old...I dunno we'll see..It sux he has to go thru so many tests, looks like it may be ultrasound and x ray and blood work.

What drives me crazy is what to make of him being less active. I dunno if it's a valid symptom!! I am thinking he may just be growing up because i am seeing some personality changes. He doesn't care as much for people, he is just as content on his own when he used to hate being alone. Also he is much more interested in the outdoors and will stare out the window and I can see in his head he is imagining catching birds and things because of the predatory movements he makes like paw at the window...