Coughing cat?

[akaWisey]

Alfie has starting coughing in the last couple of days (actually so have we). He sticks his neck out as if he's going to be sick and then swallows. It comes in sort of 'bouts'.

He's fine otherwise, eating, drinking, chasing his sister around?is it a fur ball? Is it a visit to the vet? He's a big old raggy.

I'm interested that you all have started coughing as well. Could something in your general environment be different? (No reason why cats shouldn't be subject to problems in the same way as humans if there's something irritating in the air eg local farmer spraying fields, building being demolished close by and so on.)

It might be worms (if he hasn't been treated recently) or a hairball but if that wasn't a throwaway remark, I'd be inclined to look at the whole household. How's his sister?

It could be a long blade of grass stuck in his throat. Our old cat had this and it was pulled out by the vet.

The stretching the throat out is a classics grass stuck in throat sign. Is it a cough or more a schnork (reverse sneeze).

I really don't want to worry you but as soon as you said your cat was a Raggy I felt I had to post.

I had a Ragdoll who developed a cough exactly like you describe, in short bouts and putting his throat flat to the floor. I thought it was a hairball he was having trouble shifting. This went on for a couple of days, He then went off his food on Friday night. By Monday morning he still hadn't eaten anything so got an appointment with the vet for later that day. Come lunchtime I could see something was seriously wrong, he was crying out the most awful noise you could imagine and dragging his back legs, so rushed him to the vet straight away. He died in the car on the way, my vet is literally 2 minutes away by car, it really was that quick.

He had undiagnosed HCM (also known as cardiomyopathy) which affects the heart. I had no idea about this condition or that Ragdolls are especially prone to it and sadly as in my case most owners don't know their cat is a carrier until its too late.
He had never been ill in the 5 short years we had him. He has been gone 2 years now

Ordinarily I would say hairball or grass but with him being a Ragdoll perhaps I am being over cautious.
If the cough continues you really must go to the vet sooner rather than later.

Ps Putting his throat flat to the floor was him struggling to get oxygen to his lungs, which obviously didn't find out till afterwards.

Seniorboy has done this neck stretched out coughing most of his life. I've just noticed, though, that he doesn't seem to have been doing it since he has been having his lysine so maybe it's related to his residual cat flu in some way. (Just musing.)

Blighter has just started coughing. Wouldn't you know it, eh?

Oh thank you all, have just got in from work. Well, his sister is as fit as a fiddle, they're both 4.

I've been stripping paint some of this week. I've kept all windows open in the room and Alfie and Lulu well and truly out (but the smell is so awful they bolted to another hidey hole anyway).

I'm really concerned about Winterwinds post. They were both checked over by the vet a couple of months ago when we moved and they needed their vaccinations updating. I'll ring the vet tomorrow and try and get him seen.

He hasn't done it today that I know of. DD has been in all day and she'd have been on the phone to me if he had - she panics at the thought of either of them being ill.

He has taken to hunting and catching blades of grass and it really does look like he's trying to get rid of something. I hope it's that rather than anything else.

I'm sorry wisey I really didn't want to worry you unnecessarily , I am hoping that it is a hairball or the grass rather than anything more sinister.
If he has stopped the coughing then I should think that he is just trying to rid himself of something lodged in his throat and it is nothing to worry about.

I had been to the vet at least once a year with my cat as I had to have him sedated for dematting and the vet never picked up anything unusual during his health checks which is why it was such a shock when this happened.
If I had known about HCM I would have had him at the vets when the coughing didn't stop (I think it was 3-4 days before he went off his food)

Just keep a close eye on him and if he should start coughing again and it continues for any length of time then get him looked at

Is his breathing really fast? One of our cats had cardiomyopathy and the first thing I noticed was that his breathing was really rapid. He was also coughing a lot. Hopefully it's grass or a fur ball.

Hello again and thank you. Winter it occurred to me after i posted how awful it must have been for you to lose your raggy like that. I am so sorry.

Alfie is fine. I think he ate a slug.Do cats eat slugs? We have lots. I don't poison them because of Alfie and Lulu and the garden is a relatively new world to them having been house cats for most of their lives. Alfie is greedywill try anything once and he was sick on Sat. I don't make a habit of inspecting these things but I thought I could see a slug-like shape...

If someone tells me slugs are the cats worst enemy i shall be knocking on the vets door tomorrow.

If you can tell me I'm mildly neurotic about my beloved Raggie's that's fine, can live with that!

This happened to Barnaby. No doubt caused by the mouse I saw him "play" with in the garden and finding its headless corpse the next day. I took him to the vet and she diagnosed a sore throat. Some antibiotics and he was fine. No more headless mice and no more coughing.