My cat is coughing/hacking?

Question

My 12 year old female house cat has started having random coughing fits the past two days. I don't see how it could be hair balls, as she has never had this problem before. It sounds as if she's trying to vomit and can't. She is an indoor cat. About three weeks ago I changed her food to one that is supposed to help cats with sensitive digestive systems, as she was vomiting frequently. The vomiting went away, and she has been fine for the past three weeks until now. Does anyone have any answers as to what this may be? The hacking fits come and go about every few hours, and last anywhere from 1 - 5 minutes. She is eating regularly. Could her food be bringing on these fits? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Big red flag on these symptoms. There could be numerous things going on from kidney disease (can cause vomiting and she is at the right age) and anemia causing heart trouble. Cardiomyopothy, heart-worms, cancer of the trachea or lungs, or upper respiratory infections are other big concerns on the list of problems that could be going on. Biggest concern on my list would be the possibility of your cat being at cardiac risk (heart troubles). Heart-worms in cats will typically show up with coughing, gagging and vomiting symptoms reported. Indoor cat or not they can still get heart-worms. Cats typically do not handle heart complications very well. Her age puts her in a wider bracket of possible problems.

I would call your veterinarian and schedule an appointment at your soonest convenience.

Answer 2

You made a good choice to try a different food but it looks like the issue may be deeper than that. 12 years old is pretty old for a cat, there could be any number of things going on with her. Make sure there is no blood in her mouth after her next caughing fit. Even if not, however it'd be a good idea to get her a check up at the vet. She could have problems with her lungs and that would explain why she's not caughing anything up.

Answer 3

My kitten was having the same problem.  She would be coughing/hacking a lot, so I took her in to the vet.  It was actually the start of an upper respiratory infection.  My vet gave me some immune system boosters, which helped.  If that doesn't help though, the vet will give you steroids to fix it.  I hope this might help!

Answer 4

I have three boys between the ages of 4 and 8 years old.  Teddy, the 6 year old, always used to do this quasi-hairball raspy wheezing thing that we asked the vet about.  And it was just like a fit.  It seemed he just couldn't breathe right for a few minutes, and then he went back to normal.  They didn't really give us a good answer - said he might have asthma.  Well, I've since seen the other boys do the exact same thing from time to time.  It doesn't seem to hurt them, and they never vomit anything, like you said.  It could be comparable to a cough just to clear out things they might inhale that irritate them.  I wouldn't worry as long as his behavior is fine and he isn't having problems with vomiting or diarrhea.  

Answer 5

You have to take her to the Vet. It is an urgent problem as it doesn't seem to be subsiding. Read some articles on Cats and Kittens on http://www.freewebs.com/soniapaul/articl... If you like them, kindly post your feedback. But first things first, take your cat immediately to the vet. Best of luck.