Tomas is coughing

[strange_wings]

He's had a slight dry sounding cough for a couple of days. Eyes and nose are clear, no fever, and there's no change in behavior or appetite. Quite the opposite... he just begged several bites of chicken noodle soup from me then tried to help himself to more.

It does not sound like a hairball cough, it's short and not as heavy. Patting him on his back seems to help and he swallows a bit after coughing. And here's the part that bothers me the most, while coughing his breath smells, that sort of sick/congested sort of smell. I'm worried it's the beginning of a URI

DH think's I'm being paranoid since I want to see about getting Tomas in to see the vet Monday or Tuesday.

I've only seen kitties with at least some nasal discharge or even more obvious signs that they've got an URI , but it's probably a silly question to ask if an completely normal looking cat not really presenting any symptoms can have a URI.

 

[hatzy]

My Bubba has a similar sounding cough. He had it intermittently for a month or so. He'd cough when he wakes up or when he was hunched over to bathe himself. We brought him in a few months ago and they did a chest x-ray and it turns out he has bronchitis. He has clear nasal discharge and acts very energetic and normal otherwise. We have to give him a bronchidialator (sp) daily, in pill form.

If he continues to cough, but has no other symptoms, then maybe just a phone call to the vet instead of a full visit will be good enough.

 

[stephanietx]

Keep an eye on him. My cat is coughing/sneezing right now because the weather is changing (again). Her's is allergy related.

Stephanie

 

[strange_wings]

Well, he doesn't cough after just waking up. I woke him up a little while ago to check that. After a half hour of complaining, yawning, and rolling back over now he wants to play.

Were it not for that sickly smell on his breath when he coughs I would just think it was a hairball. His normal breath smells like typical cat breath, he licks my face enough that I'd notice if that smelled weird too.

 

[hatzy]

This is just a random guess, b/c I have it as well, but what about some sort of reflux? I know that sometimes the acid comes up so fast, I don't get the typical heartburn. Instead, it ends up in my throat and I have to cough and clear my throat constantly. It makes me breath awful too. Try pepcid... Double check this, but I think it's .5mg/kg of cat. My fatty, Mikey, weighs 20lbs and we can give him 5 mg a day.