Hacking/Coughing. Vet does not know what's wrong. Help please!

Hi all,

Our three-year old cat has developed daily hacking/coughing symptoms and we cannot figure out what is wrong with him. The best way to describe it is like a wet cough and it seems like he is having trouble breathing. We can't tell if he's trying to cough something up or is just having trouble breathing.

Two weeks ago we took him to the vet for xrays. The vet said his lungs looked a bit "spotty and not clear". He was prescribed an antibiotic, a dewormer, and Dry ID food. We also stopped using deodorize in his litterbox. After this treatment he returned to the vet for another xray which came back "better" but not perfect. At this point he was prescribed famotidine (pepcid). He also had bloodwork which all came back fine. He continues to hack at least once a day and the sessions last for ~30 seconds.

He's been acting normally before and after the treatment, same amount of energy, seems happy, etc.

Has anyone else experienced this? What do you think could be wrong with him? Any comments are welcome.

-MM

Is he hanging his head over surfaces while coughing? Extenting his neck?

Yes, he is extending his neck while hacking.

It sounds like asthma. My cat has that. I give her inhaled medication twice a day. You may have to see a vet specialist to get this diagnosed correctly. I'll post again with some informative web sites. Hold on...

Here are some good sites for information:

http://www.felineasthma.org/
http://www.fritzthebrave.com/
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/feline_asthma.html

This is the aeresol chamber I use to give Penelope her inhaled meds:

http://www.aerokat.com/

Inhaled meds are your best option because they don't have the potentially serious side-effects that you can get with oral meds.

Yep exactly what I getting at. Asthma! Keep a diary of how often it happens. Molly now gets bloody noses if she coughs too much. She is on allergy pills....that is when I can get them down her throat. BTW I tried locking her in the bathroom as I showered. I will have to try this a few times before I know if it works.

They have allergy pills for cats? I should look into that. I live in Atlanta where the air quality is horrendous. Combine super humid with super polluted and add every allergen known to man, then you have Atlanta air!

Originally Posted by crazyforinfo

Yep exactly what I getting at. Asthma! Keep a diary of how often it happens. Molly now gets bloody noses if she coughs too much. She is on allergy pills....that is when I can get them down her throat. BTW I tried locking her in the bathroom as I showered. I will have to try this a few times before I know if it works.

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I tried keeping Penelope in the bathroom while I showered but she gets very scared by the drumming noise of the water on the bathtub. She starts howling bloody murder to the extent that I'm afraid the people in the apartment next door will think I'm torturing her.

Actually it is human meds. Little yellow pills. The pills say k140 on them. I was just reading the sites you posted Snow and oddly enough my smoking or candle burning doesn't initiate her asthma. Especially since it occurs spring and fall time.

Originally Posted by SnowLeop

I tried keeping Penelope in the bathroom while I showered but she gets very scared by the drumming noise of the water on the bathtub. She starts howling bloody murder to the extent that I'm afraid the people in the apartment next door will think I'm torturing her.

Click to expand...

Haha....I was fortunate that Molly didn't do this. But she also likes to hang out if your on the toilet. She even sits on my husbands back.

Originally Posted by crazyforinfo

Actually it is human meds. Little yellow pills. The pills say k140 on them. I was just reading the sites you posted Snow and oddly enough my smoking or candle burning doesn't initiate her asthma. Especially since it occurs spring and fall time.

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Did your vet prescribe them? Where did you get them?

Penelope's inhaled medications are human, too. It's really funny picking them up at the pharmacy because the pharmacist always comments on it: "This is for a cat?!"

Yep the vet gave me the pills. Looks like these pills but with k140 on them.
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/mono-5282...l&pagenumber=2

Thanks for all the advice everyone. We asked the vet for a prescription to Prednisone and our kitty has been doing great since then.