She's been coughing for about a week now. The vet said it was nothing and i did everything I could think of to remedy it. I switched her food, loosened her collar, gave her canned pumpkin (which she hated), switched her litter, brush her more often and so on. Her behavior has not changed except for the occational bouts of coughing. She's still very playful and affectionate, her appetite has not changed, she's still grooming regularly. The only helpful thing the vet said was that it might be a hairball. I'm not sure what to do or how to help her. I'm going to Petco tonight to see if they have anything that might help.
She has another appointment to see the vet on the 13th.
Any ideas, home remedies, similar problems?
Answers:
Has she also been checked by the vet for worms? There is a stage of roundworm development when roundworms migrate from cysts in the lungs, to the digestive tract, and the animal coughs them up from the lungs and then swallows them where the worms then develop. While there is no way to kill the cyst stage of roundworm development, regular worming will kill the worms when they migrate to the intestinal tract.
Giving a cat a little butter can help with hairballs, most cats like butter, or else you can mix melted butter in canned cat food. I wouldn't give much, a teaspoon is plenty.too much could cause diarrhea. Grooming the kitten regularly with a good grooming comb will also help by reducing the amount of loose hair in the coat, which means that the cat will be swallowing less dead hair (I find flea combs to be great for grooming shorthaired cats and some longhaired cats, it takes several tools to groom Persians though because they have a very cotton textured undercoat.)
Cats also make a weird coughing sound, sometimes called reverse sneezing, when they have dust or something like that irritating their throat or nasal passages.
If it is a hairball (and it sounds like it is) give her a little bit of butter (or margarine). It helps coat the hair so that it passes through digestion with out getting hacked up on your carpet. It always works for my long haired cat.
If you have have taken a stool sample to your vet to be checked for worms and it was negative, I wouldn't worry.
There are certain kinds of worms, that a cat can get, that mature in the lungs. The cat coughs up the larva, when it is mature and swallows it. Sounds icky, but that's how it gets into the digestive tract.
Take a fresh stool sample to the vet, if you haven't already. If he says everything is OK, then just let your cat rest. It is fine.
Has she been dewormed? Some types of intestinal parasites can cause coughing (though I don't think it's that common in cats). You can give her hairball remedy (laxatone or similar product) or just straight mineral oil on her food to help move out a hairball. At 8 weeks old, it would be pretty odd to see a hairball already. I'd be more likely to consider an upper respiratory infection or some kind of tracheal irritation. The 13th is kind of far away. I would let the vet take another look and listen to her lungs, maybe an x-ray of her chest would be a good idea. Often in the early stages of many diseases like URIs, the lungs will sound fine and there will just be some sneezing, but a few days later the lungs will develop the bad sounds.
Does anybody in the house smoke? Smoke can be very irritating to cats. Studies have shown that cats that live in homes with smokers have a higher incidence of respiratory disease and all kinds of cancers (go figure!).
Coughing is not all that common in cats, especially kittens, so I'd definitely have the vet take another look.
She may have kennel cough also know as bordatella. My puppy had it for a whole month after i got her. Depending on where you got her you may want to talk to a different vet about that. I had to go to 3 different vets to finally get a clear answer for both my puppy and my kitten.
My cat did the same thing and had parasites in his lungs that require medication . It sounds like you are very loving . The medicine isnt too expensive . Hairballs dont usually last for days . Also possibly ate something that got stuck .Chicken bones ?I would go to the vet .
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