# Coughing episode?



## ladylilith (Sep 25, 2008)

My cat had what seemed to be a coughing fit that lasted for a while... for a few minutes, I think. She was laying curled up on the bed when it happened, first she was curled up and then she straightened out. I guess it could have been sneezing too, but it seemed more like coughing because it happened every few seconds. After she finally stopped coughing she was back to normal and was licking our fingers, being petted, headbutting and being sweet like her normal self. I have never seen her cough like that before and it really scared me. She just recovered from a liver problem, and I don't want her to be sick again.

I investigated the possibility of feline asthma, but this is the only time I've seen her cough before. She is about 1-2 years old, not sure exactly because she is a rescue. I am also not sure of her breed but she looks like a Himalayan and has medium/long hair (my avatar is a photo of her). I have read that Himi/Siamese are more susceptible to feline asthma... noooo 

I think what could have triggered this coughing episode was that I changed the litter box earlier today (several hours before her coughing fit), and the litter I use is superior at odor control but is EXTREMELY dusty. I am now thinking of switching to a less dusty litter such as the crystals kind. I'm kind of bummed because I love my current litter and it works great except for the dustiness.

Anyway I'm going to call the vet tomorrow, but it's Sunday and they aren't open right now. I suppose I am just posting for peace of mind... her little coughing fit was really scary  Has anyone experienced something similar with their cat(s), and do you guys think it could be from the dusty litter? Or is it probably feline asthma? Can anyone with an asthmatic cat give me their opinion?

Very much appreciated...


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## dmcwlvssr (Apr 24, 2005)

check out fritzthebrave.com for some good info on feline asthma. sending hugs, pets and prayers


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## katlover13 (Apr 15, 2008)

My Charlie has asthma. He has coughing fits that seem to last for quite a while. (Coughing for 1 - 2 minutes seems like a lot to me.) I can hear him wheezing after the coughing spell ends, also. When he is coughing he stretches his neck out close to the floor as far as he can. His asthma seems to be seasonal - mostly in the spring and fall. When he is bad he has 2 - 3 coughing fits a day. He is on prednesone for the asthma, but I try not to give it to him if he is not having problems. He has been having problems with it for the past week though, so I have been giving him one tablet a day and it helps him quite a bit.
Hopefully the explanation for your kitties coughing fit is a simple one. She looks like a very pretty girl.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Don't worry about it unless you notice it's repeated, and repeated over a period of time. There's any number of things that can cause a cat to cough, many of them harmless and/or normal, just like people. I don't think you'd get worried if something caused you to have a coughing spell. Maybe tomorrow you'll post about how you found a big lump of something really yucky right in the middle of the living room carpet when you got out of bed in the morning. :lol:

I'm guessing your observation about the litter is the cause.


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## ladylilith (Sep 25, 2008)

My boyfriend kept an eye on her all day today and she didn't have another episode; however I just saw her sneeze about 3 times (this time it definitely sounded like a sneeze, for sure not a cough). 

I am still thinking of switching to a less dusty litter, though. I've heard it's not healthy for anyone (humans or cats) to breathe in all of that dust.

I think I panicked a little when it happened last night... I've just never seen an animal do that before :yikes


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

How long have you had your kitty? You might be about to witness your first hairball, if you haven't seen your cat cough one up before this.


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## ladylilith (Sep 25, 2008)

I've had her for 6 months now. I've only seen her cough up one or two hairballs.

She had another "attack" this morning and it looked pretty much identical to the videos I've seen you YouTube of feline asthma attacks... of course this had to happen on New Year's Day, so I can't call the vet for further advice... *sigh*


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## ladylilith (Sep 25, 2008)

katlover13 said:


> He is on prednesone for the asthma, but I try not to give it to him if he is not having problems. He has been having problems with it for the past week though, so I have been giving him one tablet a day and it helps him quite a bit.


Can you explain to me the process Charlie went through getting diagnosed?

This is all really new to me and I'm worried... Lilith just had some liver problems that turned out to be temporary and were resolved in time, but it cost well over $1000 in vet bills and no clear diagnosis was ever reached.

I think the dusty cat litter may be a trigger for her attacks. I'm going to switch to the crystal type as soon as I run out of my current litter (huge bummer, because I really liked it  )


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## katlover13 (Apr 15, 2008)

When Charlie was diagnosed it was not what you would expect. He had severe eye problems with ulcers on his eyes and nobody seemed to know what his problem was. My vet sent us to an eye specialist about 40 miles away several times and nothing that was being done for his eyes was helping him. It was during this time that his coughing started, but I was so concerned with his eyes that the coughing was on a back burner. Poor Charlie had one eyeball that looked like a red marble and no one knew what to do for him. I took him in again to the owner of the vet clinic we go to and pretty much demanded that something be done to help him. We were referred to an internist who our vet said was very good and would look for an internal cause for his eye problems. During the course of the examination about the eyes I mentioned Charlies coughing and that is when he was diagnosed with the asthma. After Charlie began being treated for asthma the eyes spontaneously cleared up. I will probably never know why his eyes were in such bad shape for so long. (The whole problem lasted for about 5 months). I keep Charlie on a high dose of lysine now (he was on it for the whole time all the specialists were seeing him about his eye problems and at that time it was not helping.) 
Anyway, sorry about the long explanation that only briefly touched on the asthma diagnosis, but that is pretty much how it was. His diagnosis was not much more than a spin-off.


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## newkitty5 (Aug 18, 2008)

I had one episode with my kitten that I think was related to dusty litter. I had just changed the (non-clumping, clay) litter and he was in the box digging and playing around when all of a sudden he started to make a terrible hacking/wheezing/choking noise. I picked him up out of the litter box and brought him to the other side of the room where he crouched for about 30 seconds to a minute and continued to hack. Of course I was worried and running for the phone to call a vet, but he stopped before I could even get anyone on the phone. I am sure it was the litter as it was so dusty that it used to make me cough when I changed it. I have since switched to Yesterdays News litter. It's kind of hard to scoop because the pellets are large and don't fall through the scooper easily, but it is cheap, controls odor fairly well, and seems completely non-dusty so it works for me.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

I suspect you're right about the litter, but if your change hasn't stopped the coughing, I think it's time to bring him to the vet. One thing I'd highly recommend: if you have a video camera or can take movies with a camera phone, try to get video of him coughing, because he's not going to do it in the vet's office.

Twinkie had coughing episodes that sound much like what you describe and the vet couldn't find anything wrong. He did it for about a year and it gradually got to be more and more infrequent and now he doesn't do it anymore at all.


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