Of course, the cats that come in with asthma and smell like cigarette smoke are probably not going to get better until their owners quit smoking. Believe it or not, some cats do very well with inhalers! We have to use the masks and chambers like those used for small children, but this can be an effective way of managing this disease process for some cats. Then we can decide on long-term management. Typically, these cats need to get started on steroids to reduce the inflammation. Eventually they can become clogged with mucus and fluid, leading to a big decrease in their ability to take in oxygen. Cats that have allergic bronchitis/asthma typically have a lot of inflammation in their airways and lungs. Since they don’t go jogging or exert themselves regularly, their cardiopulmonary system rarely gets tested and we have a hard time knowing something is wrong until it’s really wrong. The problem is that cats don’t tell us when they’re having some of the early signs of difficulty breathing. However, if your cat is having several of these coughing spells per week or per day, or if they seem to go on for a long time, you should contact your vet.Īllergic bronchitis can progress to very severe respiratory distress. If you see your cat only occasionally coughing-let’s say once a month–don’t worry, it’s obviously a minor problem. a quick, casual cough such as you or I might have. This is often a dramatic and focused coughing effort, lasting 10 to 20 seconds, vs. When a cat coughs, it will typically crouch down, stick its neck out, and cough. There is typically no coughing involved here.Ĭoughing is actually a very specific sign that a cat has allergic inflammation in their airways, such as allergic bronchitis or feline asthma. So when your cat “coughs up a hairball,” he is very much retching, and then vomiting and will produce a disgusting hairball along with some stomach fluid. Hairballs are accumulations of hair in the stomach and, if they get large enough, they will block the outflow of the stomach and trigger a vomit reflex. This is definitely the case when trying to differentiate between coughing, vomiting, or difficulty breathing in a cat.įirst of all, cats do not “cough up” hairballs they puke them up.

I have yet to have a dog or cat explain to me how they’re feeling, so it often takes a bit of detective work. I think she’s coughing, but maybe she’s about to puke?”Īn important part of my job is to constructively steer the questioning to get to the bottom of a problem. “I think Snowball is vomiting, but she never brings anything up.” “Rosie has been doing this cough/hack/gag thing lately.” Much like taking your car to a mechanic, trying to explain your pets’ noises and symptoms to your veterinarian can be a challenge.

Cat sounds like coughing