Reversed sneezing kitten

My kitten reversed sneezing twice in 24 hours. He has had reversed sneezing before (I have him for 2 months now) but I was happy when I realized it had not happened for the last 2 weeks.

I just learned what it was (he woke me up an hour and a half ago at 5am and I got all worried because it sounded really bad) and I'm so glad I know the exact term because it's actually hard to explain! I tried to tell the vet about it yesterday but she didn't know what it could be with the weird description I gave her (too bad I know what it is 24hours later!)

I have read that it could be linked to food allergy. Is this true? Because I have been feeding him different canned food Weruva, Chicken soup for the Soul, Blue Wilderness, Nature's variety Instinct, Wellness Core grain free and also tried Merrick (obviously not all at the same time) but last night I fed him Chicken Soup for the soul and the day before he had Weruva's Love me tender. It had been a while since I gave him Chicken Soup for the Soul but at the beginning I was only feeding him canned chicken soup for the soul with the same brand kibble.

The technician told me I should try to stick with one wet food - I had read otherwise on this forum (?).

So I thought I'd go back to only Chicken Soup like I fed him before, but now I don't know if I should stick to Wellness core?

I know reversed sneezing could be linked to asthma or respiratory infection but should I try to rule out the allergy first?

Or since I'm getting a second kitten in a week, should I go back to the vet this week to have them check if it's a URI? He sneezed a 3 times yesterday. I had to go to the vet because one of his eye was swollen - turns out he played too eagerly and probably hurt himself by bumping into something or grooming, his eye look OK today but the vet told me maybe he had a URI and to come back if he started to sneeze all over the place and his two eyes flared up.

My cat does it an it's an indication of asthma.  She doesn't have severe asthma, but she has been diagnosed with it.  My girl gets a shot twice a year, when allergens are bad, and she's good.  She had one in Sept/Oct last year and she's started doing it again, so it's time for another one.

I agree that it's probably indicative of either asthma or a URI  I've never heard of food being the issue, honestly.  BUT, if this just restarted when you changed up his food and added more variety, then, sure, stop the changes and see what happens.  

Personally, I like feeding a variety (as long as there are no side effects), mainly because I don't want my furkids to get so used to one thing that they won't eat something else when it's served, just in case of recalls, etc.  Plus I figure I like variety, so why shouldn't they

mrsgreenjeens said:

I agree that it's probably indicative of either asthma or a URI  I've never heard of food being the issue, honestly.  BUT, if this just restarted when you changed up his food and added more variety, then, sure, stop the changes and see what happens. 

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Actually, the sneezing stopped when I started the variety and came back with the canned food I was giving him at the very beginning when he started to do the reversed sneezing. My boyfriend had also realized the kitten stopped the reversed sneezing when I introduced variety. I want him to have variety but the technician told me it would be better for his belly if I stayed on one wet food only. How many times do you change the canned food you feed your cats? How many days/ meals in between?

I read about the allergy on Youtube, it was a video showing a kitten having a reversed sneeze. I was doubtful but then I thought about the timing with the food. And a lot of the people who commented their cat was doing the same thing changed the food and the sneezing stopped.

It might be a stupid question, but what could cause a 4 month old kitten to have asthma ? maybe there is no "cause" for asthma, I'm not too familiar with this.

URI scares me, too. If he has that, could the new kitten catch it, too?

I feel like both options (asthma and URI) are really serious and should not be treated lightly. I just want him to be all right and I want to do the right thing for him to be healthy

I might be able to take Happy to the vet this week, and see what he says, but what would be other signs of asthma and URI?

I feed a different food at EVERY meal...well not every meal or I'd have to have thousands of different varieties .  But I might serve Fussy Cat Chicken with Egg for breakfast, Nutro minced Turkey and Salmon for lunch, and Sheba Beef pate for dinner, then Nutro Chunky Chicken for breakfast the next day, then Fussy Cat Chicken and Anchovyies for Lunch, then Nutro Chuny Chicken for Dinner.  I really only have about 5 or 6 varieties that I use regularly and I order those by the cases from Chewy.com. 

I think asthma might be something they can get at any age, just like kids. 

Yes, if it's a URI, that would be contagious.  AND would need to be treated.  Is he showing any signs of one other than these reverse sneezes?  Congestion, lack of appetite, lethargy?    And, yes, either one should be taken seriously.

I always though coughing was a sign of asthma.  Here is an article on it:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/asthmatic-cats

mrsgreenjeens said:

I feed a different food at EVERY meal...well not every meal or I'd have to have thousands of different varieties .  But I might serve Fussy Cat Chicken with Egg for breakfast, Nutro minced Turkey and Salmon for lunch, and Sheba Beef pate for dinner, then Nutro Chunky Chicken for breakfast the next day, then Fussy Cat Chicken and Anchovyies for Lunch, then Nutro Chuny Chicken for Dinner.  I really only have about 5 or 6 varieties that I use regularly and I order those by the cases from Chewy.com. 

I think asthma might be something they can get at any age, just like kids. 

Yes, if it's a URI, that would be contagious.  AND would need to be treated.  Is he showing any signs of one other than these reverse sneezes?  Congestion, lack of appetite, lethargy?    And, yes, either one should be taken seriously.

I always though coughing was a sign of asthma.  Here is an article on it:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/asthmatic-cats

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He looks as healthy as a kitten can be - sure, he sleeps a lot, but plays all the time, too. Eats and drink plenty of water.

I told my boyfriend about asthma and he agreed to go to the vet on his days off (which are during the weekdays, when I work) if Happy does the sneezing again. The good thing is Happy is only alone 2 days when we are both at work, otherwise we are always with him, it's easy to know if he does it again. I know I can trust him to ask plenty of questions to the vet.

I didn't take the reversed sneezing as a coughing sign - it's really the only abnormal thing he does. The link you sent me is a good story. I hope I won't have to go to this extent, though!

I might just go to the vet in any case; the visits are free for their benefit program. I would feel more at ease that way. Can the vet diagnose asthma easily? With xrays?
I'm sorry for all those questions.
And thank you so much!

I feed the same foods at each meal, but they get a little of 3 different foods.  I read up a little on reverse sneezing and most places I read seem to indicate that the main cause is either infection or asthma.  One person said their cat's cleared up after a round of Clavamox.  I'd definitely get the kitty to the vet for a check over and make sure it's nothing more serious.

@jellycatfish, asthma is easily diagnosed with an x-ray.  If you can take a video of your kitty doing the reverse sneezing and take it with you to the vet, that will help as well.

Update: I just got back from the vet.
The doctor said since Happy had roundworms a month ago and a few days later had diarrhea, even if he got a second dose 2 weeks after, he might have groomed himself and ingested some eggs and the worms could have moved into his lungs, which would cause the coughing (I heard him coughing for the first time yesterday, 3-4 times which made me schedule an appointment with the vet immediately).

He gave me 2 doses of dewormer (one for today and in another 2 weeks) and wants to see Happy to follow up on this with a stool sample in 4 weeks.

As for the new kitten, I contacted the breeder and he is already dewormed. There shouldn't be any problem for them to meet each other on Saturday.

As for the asthma, when I talked about the reverse sneezing, the vet listened Happy breathing for 2-3 minuses and when I talk to him about I was a bit worried he might have asthma, he said he didn't hear anything abnormal and his throat was ok. He said he doesn't Happy has asthma but he could "never say never", so we will rule out the worms first and if the problem is still there in a couple weeks, then we will look more into the asthma.

I honestly didn't think the roundworms could : one,still be there and two, give Happy respiratory problems

My understanding is that it might take SEVERAL treatments to eradicate roundworms, not just two, so it's really not surprising that he might still have them.  (I must clarify though that I haven't actually ever had any cats with worms, I have only read about treating them)     Per this website, they say 2 or 3 ROUNDS of treatment might be needed:  http://www.vetstreet.com/care/roundworms-in-dogs-and-cats.

That still doesn't explain the reverse sneezing though (I don't think....)

mrsgreenjeens said:

That still doesn't explain the reverse sneezing though (I don't think....)

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We'll he suspected this had to do with the worms in his lungs; for now I'll see what happens with the deworming and the change of wet food. If he still does it after, the vet said we might have to take x-rays. If it happens, I will insist on Happy taking x-rays.

I did read that the worm treatment could be several times, but the first vet had told me 2 would be ok.
Plus, I must admit I never saw worms in his stools. Which is why it took the stool analysis to know he had worms at first.

I'll clean the litterboxes thoroughly tonight. He has not reverse sneezed since Sunday. Well, not when I was there.

Thanks for your support!

mrsgreenjeens
Just an update, since the last deworming, Happy has not coughed or sneezed at all.
Maybe the vet was right and the reverse sneezes were caused by roundworms; I don't know! I'm giving him the second pill of deworming on Wednesday, let's hope everything will be okay!

Hopefully that was the case and all is ok now

jellycatfish How is your kitty doing? Did he sneeze, reverse sneeze and/or cough since last devorming?
We have similar case (sneezing and reverse sneezing) in both our cats since 5-6 moths. Vet said allergy, but till now we tried many things to find the cause without any success.
We dewormed them but now after reading your post I wonder could it be?

nese said:

jellycatfish How is your kitty doing? Did he sneeze, reverse sneeze and/or cough since last devorming?
We have similar case (sneezing and reverse sneezing) in both our cats since 5-6 moths. Vet said allergy, but till now we tried many things to find the cause without any success.
We dewormed them but now after reading your post I wonder could it be?

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He hasn't reverse sneezed ever since! You won't lose anything by deworming them one more time, so maybe you should try it again. I hope your kitties will be doing better soon, let me know! It's funny you're asking me about this because I was thinking about this yesterday hehe

jellycatfish said:

He hasn't reverse sneezed ever since! You won't lose anything by deworming them one more time, so maybe you should try it again. I hope your kitties will be doing better soon, let me know! It's funny you're asking me about this because I was thinking about this yesterday hehe

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I will definitely try with a differrent (more effective) dewormer this time. I had never thought it could be so simple. I hope it works. Fingers crossed
Happy to hear that your kitty is doing well. I will share updates.

Update: I gave both cats the widest spectrum dewormer here in market, 1 week ago.
Did not work unfortunately
Ours are on antihistamines since 3 weeks, which completely eliminated sneezing, and reduced reverse sneezings substantially. But they are still coughing
Today I will call the vet again.

Let me know what happens! I'm sorry the simple solution to my cat's reversed sneezing didn't work for you. Did your cats ever had worms? Any cause for the allergies, food? Did you try the limited ingredients food or did your vet say it was environmental allergies?
I remember I changed the litter to the less "dusty" one after receiving recommendations from my pet shop. It was more expensive but it might help with the cough.

One of them had worms when we first found her on the street last year. But she was dewormed many times, and is free of worms for a long time. The other one has never had worms.
The first thing I tried was to change the litter. I tried many different brands and types, including very expensive less dusty types, pellets, organic litters etc... None of them made any difference. Now, I am using a 99,9% dustfree hypoallergenic cat litter.
I and our vet do not think it is food allergy. Because food allergies generally cause itchy skin, redness, hair loss etc...

I always fed them grain free foods. I tried two different brands of grain free kibble, and many different brands of grain free wet food. Nothing changed. I believe it is environmental, but it is very hard to find the trigger