I'm stumped...

(Sorry this is so long...)

Hi guys, I just wanted to see if you guys had any insights as to what is going on with my foster's. I have a brother and sister (Albert and Annie) who are both fixed, and about 8 months of age. The came to me about 3 weeks ago after an adoption fair, and Albert had a terrible URI. This has since been treated, and mostly cleared up (he does have a bit of residual sneezing and runny eyes).

My concern is another symptom that him and his sister both seem to be displaying. It's hard to describe but it's kind of a hacking, gasping behaviour (almost as if they've had the wind knocked out of them), and the noise resembles my Lucky when she's trying to pass a hairball (they aren't doing that though). They stand straight up when this happens. It goes on for any where from 10-20 seconds or so. I seem to have managed to trigger one by picking up Albert (trying to keep him from escaping) around the chest. When i put him back down he went into one of these "episodes" and tried to hide in the closet while it happend. This one lasted probably the full 20 seconds.

Also, if i'm playing with them with the feather toy (and they are running/jumping like mad), they get worn out very quickly and lie down. I initially contributed this to their stamina being down from the URI.

I've had an initial chat with the rescue director but she's stumped and wonders if it could be a bi-product of the chronic URI issues she's had with these two. Since they otherwise seem to be fine, and she's overwhelmed with other more serious (and more immediate - calicivirus and distemper) health issues, I haven't been able to pursue this further.

Any thoughts on what these episodes might be/mean? Anyone experience anything like this before?? I've been trying to research this, but I haven't had much luck. I'm going to try and take some video of one of these incidents if i can.

possible Asthma?

It sounds just like asthma to me - the noise and stretching you describe, the fact that squeezing the chest brought on an attack, and the getting tired quickly. My Wellington suffers from it and had all those symptoms until he was put on Prednisone. That brought it under control fairly quickly, though the important thing with steroids like that is to find the minimum dose that will work to maintain, as long term use can cause other problems. They will need chest Xrays to confirm the condition, but that is my bet.

oh poor albert and annie. I'll have to try and talk to the rescue director when she gets back from being away for the holiday weekend. Between chronic URI's, having trouble getting adopted because the are considered "too old" and now this.

Edited to add: i just got through to the rescue, and she wants me to get him on another round of antibiotics to make sure it's not more of a lung infection from the URI (i.e bronchitis) and then check for changes from that (his sister is going on it too since she has had minor incidents of this).

Symptoms are certainly similar. Let' s keep our fingers crossed for them.

This sounds exactly like what my cat went through at the tail end of her recovery from her serioius URI. She was about 7 months old at the time and it took her some time to totally recover. My vet said it was kinda like post nasal drip that we experience and they're trying to get it out of their throat. Once she was totally well, she quit the coughing/gagging thing and was able to play for much longer periods of time, but it did take a good 3-4 weeks.

Stephanie