Excessive dry heaving

My cat Piggy is 12 years old and he started dry heaving about two months ago. He gets in a position like he is going to vomit but he just heaves very violently. It started out a few times a week but now he is doing it several times a day. The heaving tends to last about 30 seconds and it looks very painful. His breathing also seems different along with his purring (sounds liquidy). Also, I'm not sure how to describe it, but he looks like he is about to vomit a lot (he swallows hard). Today, he was on his perch and he was dry heaving and it took so much out of him he just fell limp on his perch and stayed like that for a few minutes. He is going to the bathroom fine. It does seem like he is eating less though. I want to bring him to the vet but I can't afford it right now. It's like $100 for just a checkup without any bloodwork or anything. And he absolutely hates going to the vet, it takes him several days to recover after being outside of the house. Has anyone one else experienced this with their cat? If so, what did you do? Any advice would be helpful.

FYI, I will be bringing him to the vet as soon as I can, it just might take a little while to get enough money

Thanks,

Jennifer

As you've described it, the situation only seems to be getting worse. I would call the vet straight away and see if there is some sort of payment plan that can be worked out with your vet (or another close by).

Keep us posted

I hope you are able to get your cat to the vet soon, because he sounds like he really needs to be seen by a vet.

This doesn't sound good at all. Sounds like an asthma attack and definitely needs to be checked out by a vet. Try to video an episode on your phone, camera, or recorder if you can and take it to the vet with you. Check out this site for more info on asthma.

http://www.fritzthebrave.com/

Sounds like asthma, bronchitis, a lung infection, or even possibly parasitic (heartwormor lungworm). He needs a chest x-ray ASAP. That only takes moments and the vet can decide what to do from there.

The longer you put it off the more damaged the lungs will become. Scaring doesn't go away and can drastically affect a cat's life. Wait too long and the heart will become damaged, too.