When is gagging concerning?

[gabicards]

Hello!

It looks like my cat might have tried (unsuccessfully) to pass a hairball about 1 hour ago. I ran to him because I heard a noise, and he was doing that movement with his neck where he throws it forward, as if he's coughing (his mouth was closed, no noises). I've read online that it could take up to 48 hours for a hairball to pass - I had never witnessed this, normally he'd just go and throw it up.

I'm gonna put a bit of vaseline on his paw so that he can lick it off and see if it helps - but when should I be concerned about this?

I have since given him prednisolone (I've been weaning him off of it, we only have a few days left) and half of his probiotic pill, he took both with no issues. He's napping peacefully now and, honestly, seems completely unbothered by the situation. His appetite isn't great currently, but it hasn't really been since he had surgery 6 weeks ago, and we also traveled recently, so he's not short on reasons to be annoyed/stressed.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Your cat may never actually cough up the hairball, if that is what is going on. My cat does the coughing/hacking thing, and often times she never throws up the hairball. For lack of a better explanation, I assume she 'dislodges' the hairball when hacking and then it can pass it through her system. Usually, for her, if she is going to cough it up, it will be within a day or so after the hacking incident.

Just keep an eye on him to see if it stops or if he manages to cough one up.

 

[gabicards]

Your cat may never actually cough up the hairball, if that is what is going on. My cat does the coughing/hacking thing, and often times she never throws up the hairball. For lack of a better explanation, I assume she 'dislodges' the hairball when hacking and then it can pass it through her system. Usually, for her, if she is going to cough it up, it will be within a day or so after the hacking incident.

Just keep an eye on him to see if it stops or if he manages to cough one up.

Will do, thanks for the reply!

He hasn't done it again as of yet. I actually remembered a few hours ago that when we traveled from France to Brazil back in December, he had a sore throat and the first thing I noticed was apparent gagging, I almost took him to the emergency vet, but then managed to get a hold of his clinical one over there and she told me it was likely laryngitis, because the air in the airplane is so dry. It started showing a full day after we arrived, and we're now two days after arrival, so I figure it could still be it.

Either way I've ordered some hairball treats lol. There was one his breeder used to give him, and she gave it to me when I brought him home, which was Smilla's "Multi Vitamin" paste, he looooooved it so much. Apparently the brand has the multi-vitamin and hairball pastes that come in a combo, so I got that and hopefully it will help a bit - I'm open to giving him anything since he's not eating enough, I think.