My Cat Breathes Weird When He Purrs?

[weezercat]

hahaha! I have also noticed that occasionally calvin will randomly HISS at THIN AIR! He acts totally fine too...

I wonder what it is?! My mom said it could be the ghost of my old cat bothering him

 

[IndyJones]

Do you have cats who wander outdoors near you? He might be smelling them.

 

[weezercat]

I think there may be some outdoors but he is indoors only! No windows open lol. I did have a cat that used to live here - he died in late December.

 

[IndyJones]

Cats have a sense of smell much stronger than our own he might smell the pheromones wafting in through the walls. Houses generally aren't airtight especially older homes.

 

[weezercat]

Hmm! Ok

He had a minor episode this morning. Almost seemed like he swallowed the wrong way and gagged while he was putting, then had a little cough. No fit! Went back to his happy self.

 

[foxxycat]

glad to hear all is well! and yes cats smell much better than we can. Hearing too. They can hear your tires coming down the road way before we know that they hear us. My cat sits in the window when she hears me roll down the road and when I pull in  I see her cute face staring out at me!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Or...it could be the ghost of your old cat.  If he's hissing around windows or outside walls, it is probably outdoor cats, and yes, they can smell them even when indoors with the windows closed.  HOWEVER, if he is focused on an interior area, who knows?  I'm a believer in the spirit world, and I apparently have a couple of spirit kitties myself.  Hekitty sees them and plays with them, and I can feel them on the bed at night.  I have even seen them on occasion.  So, I am NOT ruling that possibility out!

 

[weezercat]

Ok guys. Having a mini panic attack again - are polyps a common thing?! I'm horrified that Calvin has one and it ISNT a lingering URI. The small swallowing fit he had this morning scared me!

And now I'm looking up all the symptoms. He does tilt and shake his head. But he doesn't have a problem with balance - he catches his toys... since the lysine he has stopped sneezing, and now sneezes maybe 1-2 times a week. He also hasn't had a coughing fit for 2 weeks asides from some spit going down the wrong way this morning.

He still has his wheezy mouth open purr, but it isn't constant and goes away and comes back. This week he's been doing his special purr, last week he barely did it. Weather change?

The last thing is his swallowing and gulping. He only seems to do it while purring!! And only if he's a really happy guy.

Would the vet have checked for polyps? She did check his ear and mouth when he was in, and I showed her his purring videos and she wasn't concerned at all. Even when I asked her about a URI and told her all the symptoms she didn't suggest it was a polyp.

Thanks to all of you for keeping me sane!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

OK...I found this.  Although it doesn't say how common they are, all sorts of polyps are quite common in humans, so they may well be in cats, as well.  Apparently, although a real nuisance, and requiring treatment, the prognosis, IF HE HAS THEM, is excellent.  Mention the possibility to your vet.  I don't know if they would be obvious during a general examination.

http://vetsurgerycentral.com/oral_nasopharyngeal_polyp.html

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/NasopharyngealPolyps.cfm

Again, breathe deep.  These are NOT cancerous, and can be treated if he has them.

 

[foxxycat]

Has the vet talked about trying allergy meds with you? Some kitties are on Claritin for runny sneezy noses. Ask your vet if they think this might help whatever is going on in there.

Polyps could be benign growths of cells. The only way to really know is I think they have to have that procedure where they put a camera up through the nose-anesthesia required. But the vet could have you do a watch and wait for 3 to 6 months.

Sometimes I suspect polyps with my Honeybee because she's wheezy at night but she's very active and plays. So we just keep an eye on her breathing-yes she takes Flovent which is a steroid so that could be helping them not grow-steroids help treat inflammation.

You can discuss Flovent with your vet if they think it could help. My cat uses an Aerokat and the canister of Flovent. I know they may try Claritin before going to this route.

The nice thing about Flovent is no body symptoms with oral pred to deal with other than dry mouth which she just drinks water plus we wash her face after which she HATES. I doubt that your vet will jump on the Flovent bandwagon BUT this is an option down the road. Allergies cause all kinds of problems. Some cats just have a hard time with them...see what your vet thinks. I only know about asthma. I don't know much about tumors/polyps though. But my vet I had prior to this one she has had cats on Claritin and Benadryl and when that didn't work she called me to ask me about Flovent-her thinking was if the irriation of nasal tissue doesn't respond to the allergy meds then maybe the Flovent can help-even though its for asthma the idea is the particles go right to the nasal tissue without any issues...something to think about...but see what your vet thinks about this.

 

[weezercat]

Thank you guys!

My main fear is that it will be a polyp - I honestly have zero funds right now, and the surgery could cost around $2,000 where I live.


I haven't talked to the vet about it, but I feel like if he doesn't improve soon I will. He is doing fine, but has been shaking his head and has his little wheezy purr. :'( I am just really hoping it is either allergies or a URI - It has gotten much warmer over the past week, I wonder if that is why he could be getting symptoms..

 

[weezercat]

Alright - I just looked up breathing of cats with polyps... Doesn't sound like calvin! But if he DOES sound like that in the future.... - Vet!

I'm still panicking - but I thought I would share this pic of him. The sweetest boy.

17800315_10155941674450329_1128761449063581854_n.j

• weezercat
• Apr 7, 2017

 

[weezercat]

My diary so far...

IMG_0046.PNG

• weezercat
• Apr 7, 2017

 

[Brian007]

Great record keeping.  

 

 

[weezercat]

Thank you!

I am almost positive it is a polyp. But I'm trying to keep calm because it is very treatable! And I heard the surgery isn't as major if the polyp starts in the throat - which I think his did... my vet school friend even said that the throat polyps can grow from the throat also the ear!

It would make sense why he would have his weird purr and then he would start shaking his head and itching his ear...

He had a small coughing fit last night. But I'm hoping if it is a polyp he will be right as rain soon!

Every symptom he has - bad breath, head shaking, eye squinting, gulping, swallowing, open mouth purring... it could all be from the polyp!

The vet will call me on Monday. Please keep Calvin in your thoughts

 

[IndyJones]

Polyps are treatable fortunately however to diagnose it they will have to stick a camera up his nose. Our golden has one but it only bothers him when he's over excited. He also purrs like a cat. Vet says it is not serious but more of an irritation.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

And if the polyp is small, you may have a window of time to gather funds for treatment.  SOME, depending on size and placement, can simply be grasped and tugged out.

 Again, you may just be dealing with allergies.  I have LOTS of them (over 300, all spores, pollens, etc, NO foods or animals).  One of the side effects of this is that I constantly have a fluid buildup behind my right eardrum.  If that's what is going on, it would account for the head-shaking, as he tries to clear his hearing.  That only just occurred to me.  LOL..I take Claritin daily, and up the dosage to 3 times a day in spring and fall, and twice a day during the summer.   I'm really hoping that this is the issue.

 

[weezercat]

Me too! But I'm glad that it's getting dealt with. The vet understands money is tight!

Does anyone know how much it would cost for the scope?

 

[IndyJones]

I'm not sure exactly but I do know they use general anesthetic for it so you would be charged for anesthetic as well which would include a blood test monitoring and fluids.

 

[weezercat]

Thank you guys!!! He seems better today... Weirdly enough! I think I will wait and see. Maybe I am jumping the gun a bit. I decided - to ease my mind... I'm going to get pet insurance! I got one for 40 dollars a month and I think I'll keep it until I stop obsessing. That way I can bring him in and not be scared of paying for any fees!