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cough that wouldnt go away
- Thread starter mollymoomoo
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So did your Vet say the cough was caused by cat litter dust, or pollens in the air, or what? Do you use an enclosed litterbox? Wondering how you are tying these together, although it certainly makes some sense.
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the vet said nothing as to what the reasons for the cough could be.... she just took blood and xrays and gave me the results of the tests.... i believe the cough started at the same time i switched to the cheap publix brand litter that was very dusty.... i do use the top entry cat box which is deep and has the cover on it.... the cat never coughed till i started the cheap litter.... the vet said we would see how the cat does after the medicine is finished....since the cat is better since the first pill in that she coughs only once a day now i am hoping that the new litter will end the lung problems.... it is not easy to figure out cat allergies asthma etc.... the tests are costly and invasive.... just the blood work and xrays cost me $330.00... i almost fainted when i was told ..... to save money on litter i ended up with a sick cat.... my house is clean i have air conditioning and i dont use sprays or anything for deodorizing the house.... i have asthma and i am very careful to keep my house and my cat clean.... so my deduction can only be dusty littler.... the dust free fiber litter is very expensive but really dust free...
I have a kitty that has Asthma he coughs. My vet said this season has been awful for kitty asthma, she has patients coming in who never showed signs of it before that are showing signs now.
So have you taken all of the cheap litter out of the box and replaced with what you were using before to see if that helps?
My cat Wendall also was just diagnosed with asthma!!! Inflammation in lungs and cloudy xrays. Although, I am not going for the Pred (steroid) yet. He is not that bad, but I am keeping a close watch on him. It might not be the litter, it could just be allergies or asthma. Of course, a dust free litter or close to a dust free litter will help. Hope you kitty feels better soon. 
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yes i have been using dust free fiber litter by healthy pet for a few weeks to see if the cat gets better by herself.... it is really dust free and light weight.... i have the litter box covered by a large black plastic garbage bag .... into the bag i add enough litter for digging around.... i do not fill the box.... each day i check am and pm.... when the litter is used by the cat i remove the bag with litter and waste and replace the bag and some litter..... this way she has fresh litter about every 24 hrs.... no house smells and cat is happy.... and i dont have to dig for waste..... ive been doing this for many years i started with my previous cat when the smells even after removing waste were too much.... i hope that on this site people will learn about dust free litter so every cat can avoid the dust.... believe it or not the humans should not have the dust either....
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now that my cat is on the steroids the cough ( only once a day yesturday and today) have sounded more flegmy as if the steroid has loosend up what was in the lungs.... so she is getting rid of the pollutants in the lungs.... i am hoping that after the medicinal session is over and she has dust free litter she will not get sick again with this lung problem.... we shall see.... she did not have this priblem till i started this dusty litter to save money,,,, bad idea on my part....
If your cat has inflamation in it's lungs (asthma or other cause), the steroids relieve that inflamation and so can cough up any mucus. Other things that help are plenty of humidity, and being well-hydrated.
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thanks oriental slave.... i will do that.... she gets lots of fresh water but i can add a bit to her wet food too.... we have air conditioning but we're in fla so theres humidity anyway....
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ive been reading about cat inhalers .... if for any reason she continues with the asthma i will look into the flovent and a cat inhaler tube....i hear its not cheap..... lordy lordy....
Do you know for sure it's asthma? *if* it is, and best treatment is the same as for humans, then yes, an inhaled steroid is the way to go. I developed asthma in my 40s and my steroid inhaler keeps me really well most of the time - getting a cold or other virus can aggravate it. I almost never need the blue inhaler and they all eventually get thrown out almost unused as they are well past their expiry date.
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no i dont know for sure its asthma.... the xrays showed grey in the lungs instead of all black as its supposed to be....dr never said its asthma for sure...youd have to do a lavage of the bronchials and i dont really want to put the cat and my wallet through that....im praying that it was litter induced problem that with the steroids and the dust free litter it will go away and stay away.... i read that if the lungs stay inflamed or whaterver for long periods it turns into a permanent problem but she was on the bad litter not too long.... and i took her to the vet right away....it takes a couple of days for the steroid to kick in so today is the 3rd day....she eats nicely and uses her litter box as well.... lets see how it looks in 2 weeks.....
Unfortunately we can't get cats to do their peak flow, so one of the easy ways of diagnosing asthma in humans isn't open to cats. As you say, lavage of the lungs is nasty and invasive, but responding to steroids is one thing asthma does! I guess this will depend on what happens as it wears off. If she is fine then she is fine, if she starts coughing again she might have asthma.
