Cat is doing weird gagging/coughing thing

[creaturezoid]

Hi there, my cat is a little over 2 years old. She does have a bad habit of chewing and eating things she's not supposed to but I heavily monitor her and have taken away all dangerous toys, especially after a recent accident where she actually had to get surgery for ingesting a bunch of stuffing from a toy. The surgery was just about 1 month ago and she has made a full recovery thankfully. Except for one thing that she has been doing post surgery - she has randomly been doing this gagging/coughing thing almost like she's about to hack up a hairball, but nothing ever comes out. She's done it about 5 times and I've kept tabs on when she's doing it, but it seems to be random. Besides that she's eating perfectly fine, drinking water, using the litterbox, and she's still very playful. Has anyone experienced something like this? What could this be? Here are a couple of videos:

olive cough 1

youtube.com

olive cough 2

youtube.com

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
Can you send that to the vet who did the surgery?

 

[maggie101]

I would be worried too. I give my cat catlax for hairball relief. First ingredient is fish oil. Also brush. If no improvement,show your vet the video. How many times a day? Is it every day?

 

[LTS3]

Show the vet both videos. If your vet has email, just email the Youtube links.

One of my cats has done something similar. He's had a full work up done and even an endoscopy. Nothing was ever found. My vet chalks it up to what he calls "post nasal drip".

 

[lisahe]

Show the vet both videos. If your vet has email, just email the Youtube links.

One of my cats has done something similar. He's had a full work up done and even an endoscopy. Nothing was ever found. My vet chalks it up to what he calls "post nasal drip".

I agree about showing the vet the videos. How often does Olive do this?

We have a cat who has asthma and allergies. She sometimes coughs like this, too. I usually can't ever be sure exactly what's causing it but I think it's either allergies (rather than asthma, where I think the coughing is louder, hackier) or that she has something -- a bit of food or fur -- caught in her throat. Ireland also has a (bad!) habit of sniffing the floor a lot. That said, the coughing tends to happen during or right after she eats or grooms; I've seen it happen a couple times while she was grooming. Sometimes she stops almost right away when I rub/massage her throat. Ireland has two medications that she gets twice daily: an inhaler for the asthma and a transdermal antihistamine for the allergies. The combination keeps her coughing to a minimum.

Good luck, I hope the vet is able to help you figure this out soon!

 

[creaturezoid]

Good idea about sending the videos to the vet, I will do that and keep you all updated!

 

[creaturezoid]

I would be worried too. I give my cat catlax for hairball relief. First ingredient is fish oil. Also brush. If no improvement,show your vet the video. How many times a day? Is it every day?

It's not everyday, it's been maybe once a week after her surgery

 

[creaturezoid]

I agree about showing the vet the videos. How often does Olive do this?

We have a cat who has asthma and allergies. She sometimes coughs like this, too. I usually can't ever be sure exactly what's causing it but I think it's either allergies (rather than asthma, where I think the coughing is louder, hackier) or that she has something -- a bit of food or fur -- caught in her throat. Ireland also has a (bad!) habit of sniffing the floor a lot. That said, the coughing tends to happen during or right after she eats or grooms; I've seen it happen a couple times while she was grooming. Sometimes she stops almost right away when I rub/massage her throat. Ireland has two medications that she gets twice daily: an inhaler for the asthma and a transdermal antihistamine for the allergies. The combination keeps her coughing to a minimum.

Good luck, I hope the vet is able to help you figure this out soon!

She's been doing it maybe once a week since her surgery a little over a month ago. Does it look like coughing? I honestly don't know if it could be an allergy thing or a surgery related thing? I'm definitely going to call the vet and see what they say. Thank you!

 

[lisahe]

She's been doing it maybe once a week since her surgery a little over a month ago. Does it look like coughing? I honestly don't know if it could be an allergy thing or a surgery related thing? I'm definitely going to call the vet and see what they say. Thank you!

Well, that's the thing: I'm not sure what to call what Ireland does either. She doesn't do it very frequently either. When I described it about a year ago to our vet (contrasting it with what I think of as the harsher and more hacking asthma cough, something I don't think we're seen in several years now, thanks to the inhaler) the vet seemed to think it made sense that it was allergies, particularly given that Ireland had just then been taken off the antihistamine cream we'd been using after she for licked off some fur (due to itchiness?).

Oddly, Olive and Ireland share something else: Ireland also has a tendency to eat things she shouldn't: a rubber band, shoelaces, a bit of my leather shoe (she loves leather!), a small dish of pine nuts, ribbons... She does like certain chew toys.

In any case, if you think of it, try rubbing her throat (fairly firmly) when/if she does this again. And please let us know what the vet says!

 

[lisahe]

P.S.! Our cat's antihistamine is almost exactly the same as this. Ireland's is a cream rather than a gel. (Though I'm not sure how much different they might be!)

Chlorpheniramine Twist-a-Dose Transdermal Gel

Chlorpheniramine Twist-a-Dose Transdermal Gel may be prescribed for Cats. Chlorpheniramine preparation information is provided by Wedgewood Pharmacy.

www.wedgewoodpharmacy.com

 

[creaturezoid]

I sent the videos to the vet and they said they didn't think it was related to the surgery because enough time had passed where there would be complications? They also just recommended that if she starts doing it more on a daily basis and especially if its combined with not eating or lethargy then to definitely take her in to get checked. So I guess I will just be keeping an eye on her.

 

[Furballsmom]