Hairball, cough or ?????????????

I've been trying to catch a video of this for a while as it speaks louder than my words. I'll try explaining the best I can....

When Kitchi caught Kiwi's URI, he started hacking..... at the time, my vet thought it might be a cough due to the mucous and the both of them spent 2wks on antibiotics or it was a hairball.

He does this several times a day....all of a sudden he starts coughing/hacking/whatever it is. I cannot correlate it to anything... (its NOT after he eats, its NOT during excessive play, etc. He can just be laying there and all of a sudden he hacks for 10 - 20 sec. then its done)

He eats fine, poops fine, plays fine and acts normally....even after one of these spells.

I've added a little bit of hairball food to our food mix on the chance that it may be hairball related PLUS I've increased brushing him.

He DOES vomit from time to time..... at least I think it is him... but I do not see any fur in it (or very little...), its mostly regurgitated food.

Any input?

http://s1008.photobucket.com/albums/af205/TattooedSnakeLady/?action=view&current=catsSept005.flv

does he do it everyday?

Flash does that every couple of weeks i just put it down to her trying to move fur around in her gut with her being quite long haired

Originally Posted by -_aj_-

does he do it everyday?

Flash does that every couple of weeks i just put it down to her trying to move fur around in her gut with her being quite long haired

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Yep.... pretty much every day. It's weird....comes out of nowhere, doesn't affect him in an apparant way (meaning he goes back to playing or whatever right after whatever this is), etc.

and my vet is unsure as well.... they are going to take a look when he goes to be neutered next month, or sooner if he starts vomitting daily, or having issues pooping, or breathing issues.

I don't have sound here at work so can't hear it, but is it a dry raspy cough or a wet one?

Riley was coughing and it turned out to be heartworm infection. It could be that or asthma. I would get him checked asap. Riley had no other symptoms, no vomiting, nothing. Just would suddenly cough several times a day.

ETA: There are some youtube videos of cats coughing due to asthma and heartworms. Does yours sound like either of those?

Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

I don't have sound here at work so can't hear it, but is it a dry raspy cough or a wet one?

Riley was coughing and it turned out to be heartworm infection. It could be that or asthma. I would get him checked asap. Riley had no other symptoms, no vomiting, nothing. Just would suddenly cough several times a day.

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not sure if it is dry or wet.... To me it sounds like the typical "I'm gonna hurl" hairball sound for the most part, I guess at times it sounds dry.

I keep trying to get a better video of it (for my vet to hear because of course he doesn't do it while we are at the vet).

We (vet and I) do not think its asthma, and he's been checked (well, a full physical exam, as well as they've talked with me over the phone) for it.... but I never thought to ask bout heartworm..... Will do ask them if they think its a possibility.

Kitchi does vomit occassionally (NOT everytime he does this cough/gag/whatever) but I don't find alot of hair in it.


ETA: definately does NOT sound like the videos of asthma..... checking the heartworm ones now.
No to the heartworm vid as well.

And after hearing those videos, they sound to me like a wet cough.....Kitchi's sounds dry.

Riley's cough was very dry and raspy. He is indoor only and I've never seen a mosquito in the house, but he obviously found one somewhere to get exposed. it cost me around $80 for the test (they had to send off for it) but it wouldn't hurt to have him checked. He is taking Prednisone pills and for now his cough has gone away.

I'll watch your vid when I get home so I can hear it and let you know if it sounds like what Riley was doing or not.

^Just how often does Riley cough? Tomas has had a cough since I found him as a kitten. It's a kind of dry cough and he only gets it occasionally when he's been laying down for a bit napping. He'll sit up and cough like he's trying to clear his throat a little. Vet couldn't figure out what it was since it wasn't a hairball cough and Tomas has never had an URI.




Kitchi cough does rather sounds like a hairball cough to me - that and it really looks like he's trying to force something up. Sho (when his shedding was bad) had that exact same cough before hairballs and I caught Sherman doing it about a week ago - no hairball coughed up, though.

I hope your vet can figure out the cause and at worst it is only hairballs.


...the kitty asthma cough sounds similar to DH having an asthma attack, very unnerving.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

^Just how often does Riley cough? Tomas has had a cough since I found him as a kitten. It's a kind of dry cough and he only gets it occasionally when he's been laying down for a bit napping. He'll sit up and cough like he's trying to clear his throat a little. Vet couldn't figure out what it was since it wasn't a hairball cough and Tomas has never had an URI.

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Riley started coughing about a month ago, just once every few days, then started every day, then several times a day... I thought it was hairballs at first until he kept doing it. Then one day I saw him actually cough up a hairball and the way he acted then was completely different from the cough he had been having so I knew it wasn't that.

Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

Riley started coughing about a month ago, just once every few days, then started every day, then several times a day... I thought it was hairballs at first until he kept doing it. Then one day I saw him actually cough up a hairball and the way he acted then was completely different from the cough he had been having so I knew it wasn't that.

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Ok, so it was a pretty dramatic and unsettling coughing you couldn't ignore. Poor kitty.

Tomas does it maybe once a month at the most and since we moved last year has actually decreased how much he coughed. I only worry about the heart worm possibility because I found him outside at 10wks, who knows how his first 10wks were spent.

Thought I'd update this.

Yesterday while cleaning the litter box, Kitchi came and pooped. I scooped it before he covered it and seen that there was blood on it. Took it to my vets.

A few thoughts, nothing conclusive as of yet:

- no parasites
- stool was hard (didn't look hard to me, but apparantly it was)
- this combined with the coughing/occassional vomitting brings to mind a couple things.... constipation (due to hairballs or not enough water) IBS, or hairballs.
- the blood was on the surface, typical of constipation.

Recommendations for now:

- hairball formula food (which ironically, I had just bought on Wed. because I had a coupon for a free bag.... so I added it to the mix of food they get)
- physillium fibre
- increased water

He didn't cough that I heard, yesterday. So we shall see....if he gets worse, he'll go in for a visit.... if he stays the same, we'll do a more thorough exam when he is neutered.... if he improves, then all is well.

Hopefully that does the trick. that it's just a bit of constipation with hairballs. Poor Kitchi.

That cough sounds nearly identical to Cotton's hairball cough, but we only hear it from him once every few months.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

^Just how often does Riley cough? Tomas has had a cough since I found him as a kitten. It's a kind of dry cough and he only gets it occasionally when he's been laying down for a bit napping. He'll sit up and cough like he's trying to clear his throat a little. Vet couldn't figure out what it was since it wasn't a hairball cough and Tomas has never had an URI.

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Squee does that too! And it only happens after she's been napping or sleeping..

Kitchi is beautiful! Monster is the only one in our house that gets hairballs but she can spend days trying to get one up and it is quite disturbing. She won't eat hairball medicine, neither added to her food or the kind in the tube that smells like molasses (my other cats think thats a treat!) so our vet recommended mineral oil. It helps with constipation too. Just a few CCs with a syringe, or a little bit on the food and it really helps. Check with you vet, but I don't think it could hurt her, and it would be cheaper in the long run.

It sounded like a hairball cough to me as well. Lily occasionally has hairball coughs because she's got quite thick fur, doesn't let us groom her much, but is VERY particular about how her fur is sitting

Can you give him a bit of Petromalt every day if the hairball food doesn't completely fix it?