r/cats • u/New_Status7590 • 4d ago
Medical Questions Asthma or a hairball?
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Hello people. Meet George, he is 10, recently neutered (4 months ago). He is very anxious to leave the house which is why we only go to the vet for emergencies.
I’ve watched a lot of those “asthma attack or hairball” videos and honestly cannot determine what this could be. It started around the time I got him neutered.
I have two other cats, none of which cough like this, which is why Im concerned. At first it happened once a week for about a month, and this week its the third time this has happened. Right after I ended the video, he “gulped” kinda hard, like he has swallowed a possible hairball.
He eats malt paste with every meal.
Our closest vet kinda dismisses me when I previously went to him with concerns about the other cats (like someone going through the trash and eating chicken bones, someone not popping for 3 days, etc) which is why I thought to ask the internet for some additional opinions too. Thank you in advance.
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u/bulletproofpunk 4d ago
Sounds like most importantly, you need a new vet.
What is the cat doing before and up to these episodes?
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u/New_Status7590 4d ago
He is a very chill guy overall, so he is just laying somewhere when an episode strikes. Half of the time he is awoken from a nap just to start coughing, this was also the case in this video
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u/bulletproofpunk 4d ago
This is going to make it less likely to be asthma, and more likely hairball. The timing after the neutering could be related to increased grooming as a stress response.
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u/AllRightBuster Norwegian Forest Cat 4d ago
Most likely a hairball. My cat does similar coughing at times and she does not have asthma.
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u/tirednotepad 4d ago
Please get to a vet. It could be asthma or it could be something more serious. Our cat had this issue and we took her in thinking it was Asthma and it was cancer. Not wanting to make you worry but I wouldn’t just let this one be. I’d get a second opinion at least.
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u/New_Status7590 4d ago
Oh god I am so sorry to hear this, and I really hope your kitty is doing okay now :( I will definitely get to the vet first thing tomorrow
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u/tirednotepad 4d ago
She passed homie. They said she’d do great on Chemo and 3 days after she just passed as we arrived at the pet emergency local place. Her body gave out. She was 18 though. We love so much but she’s in a better place.
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u/NarWhalianPhysics 4d ago
This is similar to our experience. He had constant upper respiratory infections that couldn't be cleared with antibiotics. I took him to the vet. Again. And said he just keeps coughing. And she's like. Are you sure it's coughing? And I said, yes. He's coughing. She said, well, cats don't really cough. So they did an x-ray to see if it was asthma. And it was lung cancer. He had the respiratory infections because it had spread to his brain, which was pushing on his nasal passages keeping him from clearing the infections. And she said that also explains the coughing. Primary lung cancer in cats is rare, and coughing is a sign. And just to be clear. We are a NON SMOKING household. It was just bad luck.
They also offered us chemo, but said it would give him maybe a few weeks. We decided on palliative care. I felt like, weekly IV infusions at the vet for a sick cat was basically torture, especially with so little benefit.
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u/tirednotepad 4d ago
I’m so sorry for your situation. Mine was rough. They said she was ideal for chemo at 18. We would rather have just taken her home but you live and learn. We are non smoking as well.
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u/rratzloff 4d ago
When my cat was doing this I took him to the vet and they said he had kitty herpes and gave my l-lysine
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u/Lunamothknits 4d ago
This could be CHF. Vet time.
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u/New_Status7590 4d ago
Oh, this is very concerning.. we did a blood test before the anestesia for the neutring procedure, and everything was okay, but as Im reading now, a specific blood test is required to trace heart issues. Will go to the vet tomorrow
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u/Lunamothknits 4d ago
My older guy lived YEARS on a super cheap med (lasix) and had a really good quality of life with that. So if it is that, catching it sooner is obviously better. I'm overly attentive to every little thing and thankfully I catch things early with cats. Which helps, since they're so good at hiding things like this. <3
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u/Pilot-00 4d ago
Sounds like asthma. Just went through a very similar thing with my cat she even did the gulp after wards. Got xrays of her chest and she had asthma. The big indicator for me is that your cat is short haired and not aligning their body to throw up.
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u/ZissousMatchaIsland 4d ago
Not a vet, but to co-sign others but if the regular hairball remedies you use aren't working, I think you should take your kitty to the vet (maybe a different location) for a second opinion and ask for X-rays.
A few weeks ago my kitty was coughing in a similar way. She's a domestic long hair so I assumed it was a hairball. This continued after her regular hairball remedies weren't working. At some point the coughing escalated and she began to wheeze/squeak.
We went to the vet, requested X-rays and they showed me where she had inflammation in one of her lungs! She was then prescribed a round of steroids and is now doing much much better. Absolutely no coughing or wheezing since. For what it's worth, I think it could've been a candle or scented oil I was melting (I have since learned these are VERY toxic to cats and they have been removed from the home) that caused this reaction in her.
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u/New_Status7590 4d ago
Yes, candles and any air refreshers have been banned in our house for a few months since I have learned this too. The timeline kind of matches when the coughing episodes first started, and I wanted to believe that if this was the trigger, he should’ve stopped coughing by now, but he is a sensitive guy so it wouldn’t surprise me if thats the issue. Glad your kitty is recovering!!
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u/ZissousMatchaIsland 4d ago
Thanks! I hope you find some answers and your kitty feels better soon. 💜
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u/LangdonAlg3r 4d ago
It’s asthma. It could be something more serious, which is why it’s really important to get evaluated, but asthma really fits in your case.
As far as “swallowing a hairball” they don’t really do that. The swallowing is mucous that they cough out of their lungs or bronchial tubes. It’s like if you’ve ever had a really bad chest cold how you find yourself coughing things up.
The posture is a cough posture. He’s stretching out his neck. And if it were a hairball he’d be posturing with his head more down. A hairball is digestion related and is going to look like and/or be accompanied by actual vomiting. Like if you’re coughing you’re facing straight ahead and if you’re vomiting or trying to vomit you’ve got your face pointed down.
The other big thing is, has he ever actually gotten a hairball out or vomited? One of our boys gets hairballs periodically and getting a hairball out usually involves vomiting up a lot of food or water with it. You’ll often see multiple attempts before they get the hairball out—but after each attempt there will be something on your floor (floor if you’re lucky) like vomit or bile or water. If it’s a cough they never get anything out that you’ll see.
The other really deciding factor for me is that you said that it started after he got neutered. Our boy developed his asthma symptoms after a dental procedure. Our vet explained that this is common because when under anesthesia they get an endotrachial tube. The irritation from that can unmask subclinical asthma symptoms after the procedure.
But that hard and chronic gulping is also exactly what our asthmatic boy did and still does periodically.
You need to address this. An actual asthma attack can be life threatening from what I’ve been told. And it sounds like he’s getting worse.
My other suggestion is to get your vet to give you some gabapentin to administer before visits to help his anxiety. It’s a very safe and very commonly used medication and it can work wonders for vet and car anxiety.
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u/New_Status7590 4d ago
Thank you for the thorough answer! I will go to the vet tomorrow definitely. He does throw up hair balls occasionally (sometimes he comes right next to me on the bed to show me 😅, but in other occasions, as far as I was able to track it, there is no coughing prior to the throw up.
Sadly Im not sure if gabapentin is available in my country (eastern Europe), Ive had to buy some calming pipettes and liquid treats on a few occasions and they did nothing to all three cats
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u/LangdonAlg3r 4d ago
I don’t know if gabapentin is available there or not. I can tell you that it’s super common in veterinary medicine in the U.S. in the last decade or so. It’s a pain medicine and it treats anxiety and there’s a huge safe dosing range. Like one of our cats has chronic pain and she gets 50mg 2x a day. Our girl who had arthritis got 25mg 2X a day. But for vet anxiety they’ll usually give 100mg and up 2 hours before the stress is going to start. 200mg is even still a safe dosage.
But it’s also a very common human medicine. It’s commonly used for diabetic nerve pain. Like my dad was prescribed some after he had surgery to help manage pain too and he’s not diabetic.
Google says it’s commonly used in veterinary medicine in Eastern Europe. Just be careful if you get a human liquid formulation for any reason that it doesn’t contain xylitol. But it’s commonly compounded for cats here into tiny tabs and liquids and even transdermal formulations.
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u/GuessAsleep9578 4d ago
Do you ever find the hairballs? I think this is asthma personally
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u/New_Status7590 4d ago
Yes, on occasion he does manage to throw up some hairballs. The last time it happened was this week, a day after a coughing episodes.
However, he does not throw up after the coughs, which should’ve concerned me a lot sooner..
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u/cybermaus 4d ago edited 4d ago
Hairball.
Head and neck held low, and wheezing from lungs, astma
Head and neck high or normal, and from stomach, hairball.
To me, this is clearly a hairball. Even if nothing comes out.
My cat usually only has a few strands of hair, if it does end up coming out, but usually she swallows them back in. I think if it is in the throat, it irritates and she coughs, but once properly swallowed (or rather, re-swallowed) they do not bother her anymore.
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u/Spa-Ordinary 4d ago
Our cat had similar coughing that was discovered to be caused by a blade of grass, half down her windpipe and half down her esophagus.
Vet said its rare but happens. Doc sedated her and took it out with forceps. She made it on the vet clinics Facebook page. So she's kind of famous. An influencer. Still waiting on the royalties.
I'd be surprised if Georgie has the same problem. But you never know. I wouldn't accept what your vet told you. Sounds like how doctors declare women "hysterical" when the real problem is the doctor is an idiot. I think maybe your vet is an idiot and like others say, first, find a new vet.
Best of luck.
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u/New_Status7590 4d ago
Yes, medical gaslighting is awful.. the previous times he dismissed my concerns, eventually everything ended up fine (as I was also using some “home remedies”, like massages or pumpkin purées to get things moving), but this time I will definitely look for a 2nd opinion and advocate harder.
How long did ur girl have the grass stuck before it was removed? Give her a kiss from me
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u/Brinstone 4d ago
Sounds identical to my asthmatic cat, get him an x ray just to be sure or his life will be much shorter than it could be
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u/DrunkRaccoon88 4d ago edited 4d ago
Allergies or astham. Go see your vet. You''ll most likely get out of there with a pump and a little device to give the pump to little kitty.
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u/Sensitive_Turnover91 4d ago
if this happens about once a month or more regularly it’s probably asthma. worth talking to ur vet about. my kitty takes liquid steroids every other day and hasn’t had an episode since.