Lox's coughing fits

Right when I got home, I gave Lox a freeze-dried whole raw duck heart as a late-night snack. Immediately afterwards, she started to have a coughing fit that lasted on and off for a couple minutes. No wheezing, no hairball, no throwing up. 

This is the second time I have heard her cough this year, before that I heard her cough once immediately after I adopted her.

Recently my friend's cat was diagnosed with feline asthma. I am quite paranoid if these coughing fits are actually asthma or not. I have only discovered approximately 2 hairballs (one a day after the first coughing fit of this year which was a few weeks ago.)

I know it's very difficult to distinguish coughing up a hairball versus feline asthma. I was planning to take her to the vet in August for her annual once we move, but is this something I should look into sooner? Lox is my first cat and she has been very healthy for the most part so I still have a difficulty distinguishing illnesses.

Thanks for your time.

EDIT: I should mention that she's been very active, eats well, and her poop and urine output is totally normal as of now.

If it was truly coughing, I wouldn't wait until August to have her checked.  You can google cats coughing and see plenty of youtube videos of asthmatic cats to see what an asthma attack looks like to compare.  Coughing can also be indicative of heart problems.  Or, it can just be that she got something stuck in her throat.  (maybe part of that duck heart?

My Tinky coughs almost every time he drinks from the fountain , but it worried me enough to have him checked for heart problems. 

Does she ever pant or have unusually heavy breathing when she plays hard?  That might be another sign of asthma or heart issues.

I, personally have never had a cat cough pre-hairball.  They just usually make an awful sound, then up it comes.  pretty much no warning

I watched a plethora of feline asthma coughing videos and it doesn't seem like what Lox was going through. Which is one of the reasons why I don't really think it's asthma, but heart disease I am going to look into.

She never really pants or breathes heavily when I play with her. If she does pant, it's when she does multiple jumps in a row... Like more than 6, or 7.

Regarding heart disease when I first adopted her, I took her to a local vet (which she is not a huge fan of) and was told she has a heart murmur of grade three. I took her to another vet later and asked about the murmur and we found nothing. She was also a lot more calm at this second vet, so we concluded that she was probably very stressed at the first vet we took her to. I don't know exactly how she acted at the first vet, it was my partner who took her. After a month, we both took Lox to the first (local) vet where she was very VERY stressed out, but no murmur was heard.

I would love to put Lox through an echo if it's necessary but both my partner and I are in the middle of saving for the move in July, and I am honestly not a fan of the local vet. I've been looking at other vet clinic options, as our second vet is approximately an hour subway ride.

I really hope it was the duck heart, as she swallowed it whole...

I will talk to my partner about this issue tomorrow morning, I'm thinking if it must be done I'll take a cab to a new vet and use care-credit for her echo.

If it happened immediately after the duck heart and hasn't happened since, I would be inclined to think it got a little stuck. My cat does sometimes do that weird wheeze that signals that she's working on a hairball, and sure enough within 12 hours, she hacks one up. So, a "cough" could be hairball related, but obviously I don't know if that applies in your situation. Just a reassurance that not every cough is a heart problem. Obviously if it does happen more frequently or without an identifiable cause, then it becomes much more concerning.

Thanks guys. You both have been a lot of help. I actually had a huge scare regarding the supposed murmur when my first vet told me about it, but after consulting with my second vet I've felt a lot better about the situation, but now since she coughed after eating that heart... 

The least I can do is probably set her wellness exam earlier, whether or not I follow with the echo. I will see if I can pick up her medical records from the local vet or secondary vet and see if I can set up an appointment with a new vet I've been looking at (we already know what area we want to move.)

That darn duck heart! Next time I'll break you in half! They seem to be less "crunchy" than the freeze-dried chicken I give her usually... Unexpected because the heart is freeze-dried too. Maybe because it's freeze-dried raw? Who knows.

I don't know, but I'm paranoid about choking, so I even break up the Stella and Chewy's little cubes when I toss those to them as treats   I at least break them in half.

Now, I am going to attach a video that is very disturbing.  This is only because this is Carolina's Gracie who died is heart disease.  This is a video that Carolina posted after Gracie died, for all of us to see, so we would be aware of what to look for.  This may help you in your decision.  Just be warned, it is heartbreaking to watch.  But, deep in my heart, I DON'T think this is what is happening with your little Lox

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/239533/cat-cough-when-it-can-turn-out-to-be-a-sign-of-a-deadly-disease

I actually came across Carolina's thread and the video of  Gracie  last night before I made my last response. It was very hard to watch, but at the same time very informative for me. Thank you for linking it, it's definitely one of those things you gotta look out for.