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Kitty coughing

post #1 of 30
2/4/10 at 2:22pm
Thread Starter 
My five year old cat max started coughing two days ago. I brought him to the vet today and he said his heart and lungs sounded good. He gave him a round of antibiotics and said if he does not improve then the next step is an xray. I hope that it is a cold but its awful not really knowing for sure. The vet went over everything from asthma to heart disease so I am a bit freaked out. I was also thinking it could be a hairball because he is proned to them but he usually hacks them up with out a struggle. I have been giving him hairball treatment also. I guess my question is how common is it for a cat who never leaves the house the have a cold? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks, Jenn
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post #2 of 30
2/4/10 at 2:34pm
is he coughing or heaving? Hairballs usually cause that heaving/vomiting action. I heard recently that cats can get heartowrms and that can cause them to cough. Did the vet check for those?

I just went through heartworm treatment with a dog I rescued and it was horrible. I hope that's not it!
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post #3 of 30
2/4/10 at 3:56pm
My 10-year-old cat has had three colds, never goes outside, and is our only pet. I still can't figure it out. January 2009 she got one three days after coming home from the vet for a yearly checkup and vaccinations; the two times before that she hadn't been anywhere.

Pam
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post #4 of 30
2/4/10 at 6:17pm
Thread Starter 
I asked the vet about heartworms and he thought it was unlikely but I might call tomorrow and see if I can have him tested just for peace of mind.

It's hard to say for sure but the cough sounds wet and when he is done with a coughing fit it seems like he swallows so I think he is coughing something up. He did not have a fever and the vet said his lungs sounded clear. Aside for the cough he seems fine eats, drinks and cuddles as normal. He really only got the first dose of antibiotics tonight since he gagged and threw up the first dose this morning. I'm keeping my fingures crossed it's only a cold and he will improve with the meds.
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post #5 of 30
2/8/10 at 7:22pm
Thread Starter 
Well my poor boy's cough has not gotten any better with the antibiotics so tomorrow i am going to make an appointment for him to get a chest xray. I am so upset and I am fearing the worst. He is still eating and drinking as normal. He still will cuddle with me but I can tell he is not as affectionate as normal. His cough is a wet cough and seems to get worse at night. Other than the cough he does not have any other symptoms, his eyes and nose are clear. I just can't belive how fast this came on, I am still hoping he has a virus and that is why the antibiotics have not helped. Please keep your fingers crossed for my kitty.
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post #6 of 30
2/8/10 at 7:27pm
Keeping my fingers crossed for you and Max! Hope it's nothing serious.
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post #7 of 30
2/8/10 at 11:35pm
My old cat Coco has a very bad cold right now and she has never left the house.
It can happen.
She has always had asthma.
The vet would have heard wheezing or something if your cat had asthma.
I hope the meds work for him.
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post #8 of 30
2/9/10 at 12:18am
I hope everything turns out OK!
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post #9 of 30
2/9/10 at 5:46am
Is Max pooping okay? That cough with the swallow at the end does sound kind of like a hairball cough, because sometimes most of the fur works it's way down the other way and causes problems, while some sticks in the gullet.

I guess the hairball remedy would clear any fur lingering in the throat or esophagus though, have you been using it?

I'm sorry you and Max are going through such a scary thing. Along with the heartworm test and the chest x ray, I suggest an xray showing the lower end too, to check for blockages.

Please keep us up dated on Max.
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post #10 of 30
2/9/10 at 6:34am
Thread Starter 
Thank you everyone for well wishes and advice. Max is going to the vet at 10:15 for his xray. He is eating and pooping as normal. I am going to ask the vet to also check for heartworms.

I don't know if it could be connected but over the summer we rescued two kittens at separate times. The second kitten came with a cough and was treated with antibiotics, he recovered quickly. The other kitten never coughed but when she was spayed at the end of Nov. the vet said they heard a little fluid in her lungs and put her on antibiotics. She also improved although she never really did cough I only noticed that when she slept she would have a wet sounding snore. This is also the same kitten I posted about that first tested positive for FIV but then tested negative after her second test. I will post when I get back from the vet, hopefully it will be good news! Thanks, Jenn
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post #11 of 30
2/9/10 at 8:08am
My Riley had heartworms and he is 100% indoors. He developed a cough that got progressively worse. Thankfully, he is now heartworm free and has been off his meds (presnisolone for the lung inflammation) for 2 weeks now with no return of symptoms yet.

I really recommend the heartworm test and also a fecal to test for lungworm. Neither are common, but as I found out, they can happen!
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post #12 of 30
2/9/10 at 8:30am
Thread Starter 
Well we are back and it did not go so well. Max went nuts for the xray and they could not get any pictures. They gave me the option to put him under but at that point he was panting and drooling like crazy so I wanted to bring him home so he could calm down. They were able to get blood and he did test negative for heartworms also FIV and Felv. The vet also thought asthma was unlikely since he had a shot of long lasting steroids last Thur and did not show any signs of improvement. The vet thought a cold was also unlikely because he does not have a runny nose or eyes only a cough. He listened to his heart and he has never had any signs of a murmur, although he said it does not rule a heart issue out. So we left it off at if I decided to do the xray I would bring him back and they would put him under for it. I feel so bad for my kitty the cough sounds awful and don't have any answers to make it better.
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post #13 of 30
2/9/10 at 8:32am
Thread Starter 
I forgot to say the vet gave me the meds for lungworm even though he did not test positive for it, it won't hurt to give it to him just in case.
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post #14 of 30
2/9/10 at 10:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaxMommy View Post
Well we are back and it did not go so well. Max went nuts for the xray and they could not get any pictures. They gave me the option to put him under but at that point he was panting and drooling like crazy so I wanted to bring him home so he could calm down. They were able to get blood and he did test negative for heartworms also FIV and Felv. The vet also thought asthma was unlikely since he had a shot of long lasting steroids last Thur and did not show any signs of improvement. The vet thought a cold was also unlikely because he does not have a runny nose or eyes only a cough. He listened to his heart and he has never had any signs of a murmur, although he said it does not rule a heart issue out. So we left it off at if I decided to do the xray I would bring him back and they would put him under for it. I feel so bad for my kitty the cough sounds awful and don't have any answers to make it better.
I'm surprised they were able to do the heartworm test in-house? Even my specialist had to send off for the results. It was not something they could do with the regular blood test.
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post #15 of 30
2/9/10 at 10:29am
Thread Starter 
They did a snap test that they also use for fiv and felv. I just did a quick web check and it seems to not be that accurate. Now I am not sure what to do. Should I call back the vet who did the test or search for a whole new vet?
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post #16 of 30
2/9/10 at 11:14am
I would do the xrays because they can rule alot of stuff out and you might get answers.
Sorry he acts so bad
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post #17 of 30
2/9/10 at 11:30am
Thread Starter 
I was surprised how upset he was he is such a laid back kitty. They took the blood first and I think that is what got him so upset, after that he was not going to cooperate. I do want to get the xray done we have a major snow storm heading our way tonight and tomorrow so hopefully Thur I can get him back to the vet and get the xray done. I don't like that they have to put him under but he needs the xray so it will have to be done.
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post #18 of 30
2/9/10 at 11:38am
It sounds like the blood test see him off.
My Cleo,Coco and Oreo all have had chest xrays and none of them needed to be sedated.
Meeko went crazy and bit a vet and had to be given gas to get the tests.
But she hates vets.
Good Luck.
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post #19 of 30
2/9/10 at 12:33pm
I agree with getting the x-rays when you can.

Riley's standard blood tests were fine, and they didn't hear anything abnormal with the stethoscope during his exam, but his x-rays were cloudy and showed the inflammation. X-rays can catch a lot of stuff before it is noticeable from the outside.

What is his coughing like? If you search youtube for cat asthma videos there will be several on there. Riley had the same cough with his heartworms (the heartworms caused inflammation, which caused chronic bronchial disease, so same symptoms and cough as asthma). Let us know if his coughing looks like those.
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post #20 of 30
2/9/10 at 12:47pm
Thread Starter 
His cough is a very wet sounding cough he extends his neck and head out low to the ground when he starts coughing. I have not seen him cough anything up but he does seem to swallow when he is done. I wish they had done the xray before the blood work now I am afraid he is going to go nuts at the vet when I bring him back.
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post #21 of 30
2/9/10 at 1:02pm
Thread Starter 
I did just go on utube and watched the poor kitty's with asthma. The cough some had are similar to my cat. The vet said he was not ruling out asthma but since he had a shot of long lasting steroids and did not improve he was not leaning towards it. I am definitely getting him the xray so we can get to the bottom of this.
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post #22 of 30
2/9/10 at 1:23pm
I have no insight to add but I wanted to send some get well vibes for Max!! Hope you get it figured out and cured real soon!
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post #23 of 30
2/9/10 at 5:40pm
Still thinking of you and Max. Hope he does okay until you can get him in for the x ray.

If the x rays don't show any thing to go on, by all means don't hesitate to seek a second opinion.
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post #24 of 30
2/9/10 at 6:15pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you so much for the kind thoughts. He still is coughing but came running for dinner tonight and is cuddling with my daughter now in bed. It started to snow here in Jersey and from the forecast I don't think I am going to be able to get out tomorrow. Hopefully Thur. I can get him back to the vet. I think I might ask some of my kitty freinds which vets they use, I am a little upset over the snap test they used for the heartworms. Thanks again for thinking of Max and I'll post an update as soon as I have one.
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post #25 of 30
2/9/10 at 8:00pm
The x-ray is very important for Max. Wet coughing can be Upper respiratory infection, pnemonia, or fluid in the lungs associated with heart issues.

Vet is right if cortecosteroids are not effective it is unlikey to be asthma as asthma will respond to a depo-medrol shot.

Unfortunately coughing can be caused by a number of conditions and the vet needs to test and rule them all out.

If this vet can't diagnosis then Max is best served if you find another vet that can diagnose the problem.

Coughing either way is bad for the lungs as it causes scaring and damage to the lungs and if fluid from heart disease it needs to be treated sooner then later..

Not to scare you but just some things that need to be checked and ruled out.

I have an asthma kitty and how we got blood from him as he too is a fighter as well, was to gas him for a few minutes and get the blood and urine samples. He was asleep and awake again in 10 minutes.

Cats with respiratory problems gasing is fast. As they can be woken up quickly as opposed to using other methods where they will be out for a long time. A puff of Albuterol relaxes the airway and allows them to breathe easier.

I know how worried you are about having him put out for the procedure. We had a big debate the vet and vet tech and I before we used the gas and everything worked out but I gave a puff of Albuterol before hand.

Personally hoping it is just an Upper respiratory infection and some antibiotics will solve the problem.
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post #26 of 30
2/9/10 at 9:08pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks bushbunny for your advice. I am glad to hear it is not as bad as it sounds putting a cat under for these tests. I too am still hoping it's a cold but the vet says if it was a cold he should have a runny nose and eyes. The only symptom he has is the cough which came on last week, one day he was fine the next he started with this cough. Thursday I will bring him back to the vet I would tomorrow but we are going to have blizzard conditions.
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post #27 of 30
2/15/10 at 10:34am
Thread Starter 
I wanted to give an update on Max. I brought him to another vet today and they were able to get good xrays without putting him under, also they took blood to send out to check for heartworms plus other things. His xrays showed his lungs to be clear the vet said no signs of fluid or asthma. she said his stomach looked very full so it could be a large hairball he is trying to pass. The vet was able to hear the rattle noise and she thought it sounded like it was coming more from his sinuses. She also said she did not hear a murmur.

The plan is to give him hairball treatment and to wait to see what the bloodwork says when it comes back. The vet said if nothing still shows up the next step is to see a specialist that would sedate him and check in his upper palate to see what is causing the rattle also we could also see a cardioligist just to make sure it is not his heart, but she did not think it was heart related. So still not sure what the problem is but hopefully we will soon get to the bottom of it!
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post #28 of 30
2/15/10 at 11:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaxMommy View Post
His cough is a very wet sounding cough he extends his neck and head out low to the ground when he starts coughing. I have not seen him cough anything up but he does seem to swallow when he is done. I wish they had done the xray before the blood work now I am afraid he is going to go nuts at the vet when I bring him back.
What you've been describing sounds very much like the coughing spells that my Geronimo & Winchester used to have before they were put on Interferon for the dry form of FIP. I'm certainly no expert and can only offer advice based upon my experience, but it's worth considering and asking your vet about. If it is the dry form of FIP, please don't panic! The dry form is treatable - unlike the wet form. My two have been doing really well on the Interferon treatment: they still have occasional coughing attacks, but they're much less frequent and not anywhere near as severe as they used to be.

Just an FYI. I hope whatever is wrong with your Max can be treated.
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post #29 of 30
2/17/10 at 2:06pm
Thread Starter 
I got back the results of Max's blood work and it confirmed that he does not have heartworm. His coughing seems to be less although last night I did hear a little bit of the rattling sound but no cough. I did up his hairball treatment not sure if its helping but he has not vomited any. He still is fine in every other way. The vet says give it till next week and if he does not improve then to call her to see what we should do next. I will have to ask her about fip next time I talk to her. Thanks to everyone who helped, this has been a wonderful website with such helpful people!
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post #30 of 30
2/17/10 at 6:25pm
Thank you for keeping us updated on your Max. I hope he continues to improve and never looks back.
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