Why is my kitty coughing? Vet isn't open til Monday!

[crazycatman97]

Why is my kitty coughing?

 

[IronCladLou]

You must consider whether it is serious enough to see an emergency vet clinic. One of our kitties had an intermittent cough and was sneezing for several weeks and it was getting worse. We doctored for it but it was not getting better. We believe that the clay litter we had been using had some kind of a formula change. While it was “dust free” and “unscented” it burned our noses when we took a smell up close. We changed to a non clay litter; walnut shell and the sneezing and coughing stopped within hours. Worked “Ok” in the Litter Robot, not as seamless by far but we will put up with it. The white feet were a little brown but did not stain.

 

[fionasmom]

Coughing in Cats | VCA Animal Hospital
Common Causes of Coughing in Cats | Trudell Animal Health

Any persistent cough which does not subside and conclude in a very short amount of time could be serious, regardless of the reason.

 

[lisahe]

If it's a loud, hacking cough it could be asthma. A cat's asthmatic attack tends to look like the cat is trying to cough up a hairball.

What I IronCladLou says about kitty litter is very true: it can cause a cat to cough. We have an asthmatic cat and her first two coughing episodes were most likely caused by scented kitty litter. We happened to have a bag of another kind in the house. Switching the litter kept her from coughing for more than five years! We switched then to Dr. Elsey's Respiratory Relief but currently use Dr. Elsey's Ultra, which is cheaper and seems to work better. Walmart, Petco, and PetSmart sell it, at least where I live.

 

[neely]

Why is my kitty coughing?

While we are not vets and cannot offer medical advice it would be helpful if you could provide a little background information about your cat for us. For instance, age, any pre-existing conditions, do they currently take medication, indoor or outdoor cat, other pets in the household, etc.???