Well this is a new problem for me. Just when I think I've seen everything with my cats, something else happens that leaves me stumped. Has anyone ever had a cat that gagged occasionally? I don't really know how to describe it. Its not asthmatic coughing. I have a cat with pretty severe asthma and its nothing at all like his asthma attacks. I've seen plenty of hairballs being coughed up and it doesn't sound like that. I've seen cats vomit - which usually sounds just like a hairball, and its not that. It seems more like a human gag if that makes sense - like something you would do if you smelled something or saw something that made you want to throw up, but you don't actually throw up. Sorry, if thats a gross analogy. I just can't think of a better way to put it.
He seems to do it when he's really worked up about something. This cat is a stray that wandered into my backyard and he is as sweet as can be. He's been to the vet. Has all his shots. And as of today, he's neutered. He has a raspy sounding meow so I asked the vet about that a few weeks ago. He said it sounds like he has some scarring on his lungs, possibly from a heartworm infection that his body fought off. He explained that while there's no cure for heartworm, some cats are strong enough to fight off the infection themselves, but the result is that they leave residual damage on their lungs in the process. He also said it could be a tracheal hernia, which if I understood him correctly, there doesn't seem to be much to do about that. He offered further testing, which I'm now thinking about more seriously. I trust this vet though, and he seemed to think that at the moment Charlie was ok and didn't need the testing. He said his heart sounded good and strong, and aside from "harsh" sound in his lungs, the lungs sounded clear. He couldn't detect any kind of fluid or anything that sounded like something other than the remnants of something left behind.
So basically, he checks out completely healthy, with harsh sounding lungs. And he occasionally makes the gagging sound that I'm worried about. I've been trying to figure out when the gagging occurs and so far its happened when he eats (he eats like a stray...he inhales his food frantically and doesn't chew it, so that makes sense to me that he would gag on it occasionally.) We've started giving him his food on a plate and that seems to have helped him slow down a bit. And then today I noticed that he made the gagging sound when he was really worked up and excited. He's been living in a spare bathroom until he got neutered (which was today), because he sprays everywhere and I'm hoping that will stop, or decrease now that he's neutered. But my husband and I just went on vacation for 9 days. We had a pet sitter come over twice a day, and I know she stayed for a few hours each day to play with everyone (as per my nosy neighbor who called us while we were gone to find out why the pet sitter had been at our house for over two hours one day - we had to explain to him that we love that she's at our house for several hours each day). Before our vacation, he never seemed to mind the bathroom. Its not an ideal living situation, but we called him our "perfect prisoner" because he seemed perfectly content with everything we had set up for him in there. Then we came home from vacation two days ago and he just seemed sad. My initial thought was that he was sick and tired of being kept in a bathroom after living for years outside, or maybe he just missed us. It turns out that I really think he missed us. I didn't realize he was so attached to us, until I saw the way he reacted to us when we came back home. He's been purring louder than I've ever heard a cat purr. He's been meowing at us frantically, pacing around our legs, climbing into our laps and head butting our faces. He's acting like he thought we had left him alone forever and he's so excited that we're back...which I find really sweet (but I also feel horrible for leaving him now
). I dropped him off at the vet this morning for his neuter. He had another checkup before the surgery and everything went fine with the surgery. He's back in our bathroom now, but he just had one of his gagging incidents. And I'm lost on what to do or think because he's been to the vet and I've specially mentioned this to the vet already and he doesn't know whats causing it. Today though, it happened while he was frantically pacing around, purring and meowing. To me it seemed like he maybe got himself worked up and just gagged. Almost like a human getting excited and hyperventilating (though it was definitely gagging, not hyperventilating, but thats the best analogy I can think of).
So has anyone had something like this happen before? I'm wondering if I should go ahead and get the additional testing done on his lungs, even though the vet seems pretty sure that it will just show scarring, but no current problems. However, I don't know if the gagging is even related to his lungs, or if its another issue all together. He's such a sweet cat, and he's older (at least older than 5, according to the vet, but we don't know how much older than 5), so I am terrified that something will happen to him. I lost a cat to heart disease who literally just collasped and died, but before he collasped, he made a loud coughing/choking sound. This isn't at all what Charlie is doing, but I am terrified of unexpected noises coming from cats when nothing should be wrong with them. I don't want to lose another cat as suddenly as I lost my Meepers almost 2 years ago.
He seems to do it when he's really worked up about something. This cat is a stray that wandered into my backyard and he is as sweet as can be. He's been to the vet. Has all his shots. And as of today, he's neutered. He has a raspy sounding meow so I asked the vet about that a few weeks ago. He said it sounds like he has some scarring on his lungs, possibly from a heartworm infection that his body fought off. He explained that while there's no cure for heartworm, some cats are strong enough to fight off the infection themselves, but the result is that they leave residual damage on their lungs in the process. He also said it could be a tracheal hernia, which if I understood him correctly, there doesn't seem to be much to do about that. He offered further testing, which I'm now thinking about more seriously. I trust this vet though, and he seemed to think that at the moment Charlie was ok and didn't need the testing. He said his heart sounded good and strong, and aside from "harsh" sound in his lungs, the lungs sounded clear. He couldn't detect any kind of fluid or anything that sounded like something other than the remnants of something left behind.
So basically, he checks out completely healthy, with harsh sounding lungs. And he occasionally makes the gagging sound that I'm worried about. I've been trying to figure out when the gagging occurs and so far its happened when he eats (he eats like a stray...he inhales his food frantically and doesn't chew it, so that makes sense to me that he would gag on it occasionally.) We've started giving him his food on a plate and that seems to have helped him slow down a bit. And then today I noticed that he made the gagging sound when he was really worked up and excited. He's been living in a spare bathroom until he got neutered (which was today), because he sprays everywhere and I'm hoping that will stop, or decrease now that he's neutered. But my husband and I just went on vacation for 9 days. We had a pet sitter come over twice a day, and I know she stayed for a few hours each day to play with everyone (as per my nosy neighbor who called us while we were gone to find out why the pet sitter had been at our house for over two hours one day - we had to explain to him that we love that she's at our house for several hours each day). Before our vacation, he never seemed to mind the bathroom. Its not an ideal living situation, but we called him our "perfect prisoner" because he seemed perfectly content with everything we had set up for him in there. Then we came home from vacation two days ago and he just seemed sad. My initial thought was that he was sick and tired of being kept in a bathroom after living for years outside, or maybe he just missed us. It turns out that I really think he missed us. I didn't realize he was so attached to us, until I saw the way he reacted to us when we came back home. He's been purring louder than I've ever heard a cat purr. He's been meowing at us frantically, pacing around our legs, climbing into our laps and head butting our faces. He's acting like he thought we had left him alone forever and he's so excited that we're back...which I find really sweet (but I also feel horrible for leaving him now
). I dropped him off at the vet this morning for his neuter. He had another checkup before the surgery and everything went fine with the surgery. He's back in our bathroom now, but he just had one of his gagging incidents. And I'm lost on what to do or think because he's been to the vet and I've specially mentioned this to the vet already and he doesn't know whats causing it. Today though, it happened while he was frantically pacing around, purring and meowing. To me it seemed like he maybe got himself worked up and just gagged. Almost like a human getting excited and hyperventilating (though it was definitely gagging, not hyperventilating, but thats the best analogy I can think of).So has anyone had something like this happen before? I'm wondering if I should go ahead and get the additional testing done on his lungs, even though the vet seems pretty sure that it will just show scarring, but no current problems. However, I don't know if the gagging is even related to his lungs, or if its another issue all together. He's such a sweet cat, and he's older (at least older than 5, according to the vet, but we don't know how much older than 5), so I am terrified that something will happen to him. I lost a cat to heart disease who literally just collasped and died, but before he collasped, he made a loud coughing/choking sound. This isn't at all what Charlie is doing, but I am terrified of unexpected noises coming from cats when nothing should be wrong with them. I don't want to lose another cat as suddenly as I lost my Meepers almost 2 years ago
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