Laryngitis?

Hi all,

My very vocal cat has been having problems meowing for the past four days. He has no other symptoms and nothing at all is different about his behavior. His appetite has not changed and he's as playful as ever. He'll try to meow but for the most part no sound will come out except for an occasional squeak. Any sound that does come out usually happens after he's been resting for awhile. His purring seems normal as well.

He is an almost two-year-old domestic short-hair. He's always been very chatty. I've noticed his voice get raspy before, but nothing like it's been the past few days. I've done a lot of research on this and it seems like it's fairly common for a cat to lose his/her voice from being too vocal, which is what I suspect/hope is the case here as well. My only question is how long should I let this go on before calling the vet concerned that it's something more serious? I feel like if I go to the vet now when he is showing no other symptoms, they're just going to send me right back home with no new information, which from what I've read seems to happen to a lot of people with similar issues. He's still trying to meow quite a bit so I'm worried that is only going to aggravate the situation. And of course he won't listen to me when I tell him to give his voice a rest.

Any helpful advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

is it possible he ate something that scratched the inside of his throat? four days seems like an awfully long time for him not to be better. since it's happened before, maybe the vet could (should?) check out his vocal cords and lungs?

Unless your cat has an upper respiratory condition then other causes can include an oral tumor or laryngeal paralysis (rare in cats) that involves the nerve that controls meowing.  Over-meowing may also have just put a strain on his vocal cords!  Your vet can do an exam by looking in his throat for a start, and if this has been going on for a few days then the safest thing to do is take him in.

He did let out a very weak meow when I woke up this morning, but by the time I left for work he had completely lost his voice again. I'm still leaning (optimistically) in the direction of strained vocal chords, but I realize it's better not to take any chances so I made an appointment with the vet for Friday. The idea of a tumor is frightening!

Thanks to both of you!

Glad to help and hope he's ok, and since the appointment is friday, if he's fully recovered by then you can always cancel.

hope he's just too loud!

Meant to reply a week ago, but he seems to be back to normal now. The veterinarian did an oral exam and couldn't find anything wrong with him so she told me to just keep an eye out for symptoms or strange behavior. Fortunately about a week after the vet visit, he was meowing again.

SpyroMeow said:

 
Meant to reply a week ago, but he seems to be back to normal now. The veterinarian did an oral exam and couldn't find anything wrong with him so she told me to just keep an eye out for symptoms or strange behavior. Fortunately about a week after the vet visit, he was meowing again.

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Great!!! Thanks for the update!