Hello all!
I have a ten year old female cat who just last night started coughing whenever she would purr or eat. She is strictly indoors.
Before I get into more detail, I'm going to rewind a bit.
On August 9th, we introduced two more cats to the house, #14 and #15. We took the two new kittens that day to the vet for their shots and kept them separated from the 13 other cats. The next day, we brought the new kittens back to the vet because they were sneezing quite a bit and one had diarrhea. They were put on a week's worth of antibiotics. The sniffling cleared up for the most part, and with a change of food, so did the diarrhea.
However, on the 22nd of August, I had to take in a few of the other cats because they were showing very bizarre symptoms. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the three we took in; it was all 13 adult cats. Their symptoms were excessive drooling, the want to eat and drink, but could NOT eat and drink due to sores/burns and swollen tongues/throats. They did not have runny eyes or noses and the vet said they showed virtually no signs of a URI. He then asked if we introduced any new plants or substances to the house, to which we answered 'yes' - we had bought a Hartz brand of litter deoderizer the night before any of their symptoms began to show because the Arm & Hammer sort we usually get was not in stock. He suggested they may have chemical burns in their mouths from using the litter boxes with the new deoderizer and then promptly licking their paws. The three we took in did have temperatures of above 103 so all 15 cats were put on a week's worth of antibiotics that had to be dispensed twice a day. They were also given an oral rinse to help aid the healing process of the burns in their mouths - which helped tremendously.
All cats are fine now, except Boo, my 10 year old who is coughing. The two new kittens were both tested negative for FeLV on the 9th of September and have been neutered and released into the house with the rest of the cats. Since then everything was mostly back to normal - until now.
Boo has had diarrhea for the past few weeks; not watery, just a bit loose. She showed absolutely no other symptoms of anything else, so I figured so long as she keeps hydrated, it should pass. This is where things changed. Last night Boo began this coughing thing where she gets in hairball position but nothing happens other than coughing. She currently does it whilst purring, eating, drinking, hissing, or meowing. She usually has very good posture, but as of last night she is sort of hunched, almost like she is ready to get in the hairball position again. Her breathing is sort of whistly? if that makes sense. Sort of wheezy. She seems a little down, but she usually sleeps a lot anyway. I tried playing with her earlier and she acted like her normal self. I don't know if it matters, but she has always snored when she sleeps and her meow has always been a little raspy, just not how it is now. Her usual hairball sound has always been wheezy sounding mixed with almost a high-pitched sound. All prior to what's going on now.
Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong with her? She is going to the vet in the morning, but I still would like some opinions.
*side note: Boo was one of the three I took in when they were all sick because she is the only one who had a very strange burn-looking wound on her nose. Perfectly in the center and down into the roof of her mouth a bit. It's all healed now for the most part, but you could see the line on her nose and everything. It was not bloody, just very red, as if her skin had been burnt off. The point of me saying this is that she was actually checked out at the vet and her heart and lungs were listened to and seemed fine then. I just am so worried and hoping whatever she has in not contagious. I do not have the money to mend 15 cats back to health again. It was a complete nightmare, and just as I thought we were out of the woods.. sigh.
I have a ten year old female cat who just last night started coughing whenever she would purr or eat. She is strictly indoors.
Before I get into more detail, I'm going to rewind a bit.
On August 9th, we introduced two more cats to the house, #14 and #15. We took the two new kittens that day to the vet for their shots and kept them separated from the 13 other cats. The next day, we brought the new kittens back to the vet because they were sneezing quite a bit and one had diarrhea. They were put on a week's worth of antibiotics. The sniffling cleared up for the most part, and with a change of food, so did the diarrhea.
However, on the 22nd of August, I had to take in a few of the other cats because they were showing very bizarre symptoms. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the three we took in; it was all 13 adult cats. Their symptoms were excessive drooling, the want to eat and drink, but could NOT eat and drink due to sores/burns and swollen tongues/throats. They did not have runny eyes or noses and the vet said they showed virtually no signs of a URI. He then asked if we introduced any new plants or substances to the house, to which we answered 'yes' - we had bought a Hartz brand of litter deoderizer the night before any of their symptoms began to show because the Arm & Hammer sort we usually get was not in stock. He suggested they may have chemical burns in their mouths from using the litter boxes with the new deoderizer and then promptly licking their paws. The three we took in did have temperatures of above 103 so all 15 cats were put on a week's worth of antibiotics that had to be dispensed twice a day. They were also given an oral rinse to help aid the healing process of the burns in their mouths - which helped tremendously.
All cats are fine now, except Boo, my 10 year old who is coughing. The two new kittens were both tested negative for FeLV on the 9th of September and have been neutered and released into the house with the rest of the cats. Since then everything was mostly back to normal - until now.
Boo has had diarrhea for the past few weeks; not watery, just a bit loose. She showed absolutely no other symptoms of anything else, so I figured so long as she keeps hydrated, it should pass. This is where things changed. Last night Boo began this coughing thing where she gets in hairball position but nothing happens other than coughing. She currently does it whilst purring, eating, drinking, hissing, or meowing. She usually has very good posture, but as of last night she is sort of hunched, almost like she is ready to get in the hairball position again. Her breathing is sort of whistly? if that makes sense. Sort of wheezy. She seems a little down, but she usually sleeps a lot anyway. I tried playing with her earlier and she acted like her normal self. I don't know if it matters, but she has always snored when she sleeps and her meow has always been a little raspy, just not how it is now. Her usual hairball sound has always been wheezy sounding mixed with almost a high-pitched sound. All prior to what's going on now.
Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong with her? She is going to the vet in the morning, but I still would like some opinions.
*side note: Boo was one of the three I took in when they were all sick because she is the only one who had a very strange burn-looking wound on her nose. Perfectly in the center and down into the roof of her mouth a bit. It's all healed now for the most part, but you could see the line on her nose and everything. It was not bloody, just very red, as if her skin had been burnt off. The point of me saying this is that she was actually checked out at the vet and her heart and lungs were listened to and seemed fine then. I just am so worried and hoping whatever she has in not contagious. I do not have the money to mend 15 cats back to health again. It was a complete nightmare, and just as I thought we were out of the woods.. sigh.
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