- Joined
- Dec 3, 2015
- Messages
- 5
- Purraise
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I have a 10 year old, spayed female cat. Her name is Ricecake. She is has extremely long fur with a silk texture. She has always had an insane shedding problem. Her entire life she has been throwing up hairballs. 1 a week for 10 years, It’s awesome…. So at that frequency we all figured that’s just what this cat is going to do. She has always groomed well and has gone through hell and back with feces being trimmed off her behind.
When she was a kitten she would play extremely hard and end up panting like a dog; tongue out of mouth, breathing through mouth. After she caught her breath she went back to breathing from her nose like cats do. She is pretty overweight sitting at about 17 pounds give or take (vet weighed her 6 months ago, she was perfectly healthy).
In the last 6 months I have relocated from Illinois to Oregon and her and her little sister battled the 3 day road trip. Ricecake is one of the most affectionate cats my family has ever seen. She is very vocal, playful, licks you all over, wakes you up, knocks on doors, and is smart; more like a dog IMO. Her sister and her get along perfectly, they wrestle when sitting in sun rays by windows.
So that is her background, now for why I am here. About 3 months ago Ricecake started “coughing”. Not her typical hairball sound by any means, I’ve seen this animal throw up hair balls for 9 years and this was not that. Since we arrived in Oregon Ricecake has significantly cut back on her hairball count. The first month in Oregon it was only about 2, the second month 1, and now 3ish months later and NO hairballs. I thought this was a blessing at first, but then she started the coughing… that makes me think something is wrong. Because for 10 years she has been one of those cats that I have to watch where I step every morning, searching for hairballs. I started the home remedies; coconut oil, butter, new Blue hairball formulated food. I even tried giving her pumpkin for the fiber. She WILL NOT eat wet food. Never has, never will? But I figured she has stuck hairball and she is trying to heave it up with a different sounding movement.
I took her to the vet about a year ago because she was scratching her ears raw on the inside. No mites, no nothing. A clean and healthy cat with what the Vet said was just an allergy. Put aloe on her ears and it heals up quick..
Back to the problem at hand: So it’s been 3ish months with NO hairballs, the new food was introduced about 1 month ago. She is drinking water, she is eating food like the fatty she is, she poops and pees daily (no meowing/crying when in the litter box). She plays, she runs, she meows, and is still grooming daily. She sits with her sister for 8 hours a day. NOT lethargic. Happy cute fat Ricecake. But she is “coughing.” “coughing” about once every week, MAYBE twice. The “coughing” fits seem to last 60 seconds each. There is snot coming from her nose while “coughing” and she swallows a few times each fit.
I did a lot of research and youtube’ing. Is Ricecake developing asthma? Is she allergic to something here in Oregon?? 8 years ago when she was young she would pant like a dog if playing too hard. Is it getting worse? Is it hearth worm or ring worm? Why have the hairballs stopped? Is she just pooping them out now? Or are they getting stuck? I’m trying to be as thorough as possible so that someone can help. How could she be as happy as she is if she were in serious trouble? IF she gets worse I’m going to the vet; but she acts FINE!
When she was a kitten she would play extremely hard and end up panting like a dog; tongue out of mouth, breathing through mouth. After she caught her breath she went back to breathing from her nose like cats do. She is pretty overweight sitting at about 17 pounds give or take (vet weighed her 6 months ago, she was perfectly healthy).
In the last 6 months I have relocated from Illinois to Oregon and her and her little sister battled the 3 day road trip. Ricecake is one of the most affectionate cats my family has ever seen. She is very vocal, playful, licks you all over, wakes you up, knocks on doors, and is smart; more like a dog IMO. Her sister and her get along perfectly, they wrestle when sitting in sun rays by windows.
So that is her background, now for why I am here. About 3 months ago Ricecake started “coughing”. Not her typical hairball sound by any means, I’ve seen this animal throw up hair balls for 9 years and this was not that. Since we arrived in Oregon Ricecake has significantly cut back on her hairball count. The first month in Oregon it was only about 2, the second month 1, and now 3ish months later and NO hairballs. I thought this was a blessing at first, but then she started the coughing… that makes me think something is wrong. Because for 10 years she has been one of those cats that I have to watch where I step every morning, searching for hairballs. I started the home remedies; coconut oil, butter, new Blue hairball formulated food. I even tried giving her pumpkin for the fiber. She WILL NOT eat wet food. Never has, never will? But I figured she has stuck hairball and she is trying to heave it up with a different sounding movement.
I took her to the vet about a year ago because she was scratching her ears raw on the inside. No mites, no nothing. A clean and healthy cat with what the Vet said was just an allergy. Put aloe on her ears and it heals up quick..
Back to the problem at hand: So it’s been 3ish months with NO hairballs, the new food was introduced about 1 month ago. She is drinking water, she is eating food like the fatty she is, she poops and pees daily (no meowing/crying when in the litter box). She plays, she runs, she meows, and is still grooming daily. She sits with her sister for 8 hours a day. NOT lethargic. Happy cute fat Ricecake. But she is “coughing.” “coughing” about once every week, MAYBE twice. The “coughing” fits seem to last 60 seconds each. There is snot coming from her nose while “coughing” and she swallows a few times each fit.
I did a lot of research and youtube’ing. Is Ricecake developing asthma? Is she allergic to something here in Oregon?? 8 years ago when she was young she would pant like a dog if playing too hard. Is it getting worse? Is it hearth worm or ring worm? Why have the hairballs stopped? Is she just pooping them out now? Or are they getting stuck? I’m trying to be as thorough as possible so that someone can help. How could she be as happy as she is if she were in serious trouble? IF she gets worse I’m going to the vet; but she acts FINE!
