5yo cat coughing/retching

[PonderLand]

Hi I'd be grateful for any help. My male cat has been struggling for the past week with his throat (I think) he keeps violently retching and coughing. He's eating and drinking okay but after he's eaten it usually starts the coughing.

We took him to the vets today and she put him under a general anaesthetic to have a look at his throat and do an X-ray, unfortunately he had a very bad reaction to this and she said he started turning purple and couldn't breathe, the vet was really shaken up when she rang me. He's okay now and she's given him a steroid injection to help his lungs and to help with any inflammation if there is any. But we're still non the wiser about why he had this reaction or why he's coughing in the first place. She did an X-ray and she said his chest is clear. She said the reaction could of been caused by whatever is making him cough or caused by the anaesthesia.

Today cost us £187 and we still have a poorly cat. We have insurance to cover most of the cost but I am worried about him now more than I was before the procedure. He's always been healthy, he's never had any health problems before. What could it be? I thought at first that he had a bone stuck from catching birds etc but that would of shown up on an X-ray.

What follow up have they got planned?. Was he ok with the anaesthetic when he was neutered?.

She said we don't need to go back unless we're worried, I told her I'm more worried now than before.. I asked her why he had the reaction and she said she didn't know, she didn't know the reason for any of it. She said the anaesthetic she used was different to what he had when he was neutered. She said the reaction was difficulty breathing with his throat spasming, wheezing and he was turning purple from lack of oxygen. She wasn't sure if it was caused by the anaesthesia or by whatever made us go to the vets in the first place.

Sorry to hear what you and the kitty are going through :( this may sound silly, but our cat went through a phase of coughing and wheezing - until we realised it happened after we hoovered using a shake and vac powder. Apparently it irritates her or she has some sort of reaction to it. Took us a couple of weeks to notice the link - could there be anything you're using differently chemically around the house? Perhaps a new scratch post or toy he's ingested? Even down to which sprays or deodorants are used in the house...

I'm not confident in my reply, however for us it was the reason and like I said I didn't click for like 3 weeks, I wish someone had suggested it to me - it's so scary to see them struggling to breath.

Best wishes

His breathing at home has been fine but he's had the coughing and retching. It was only during the procedure at the vets that he's ever had a problem with breathing. Thankyou for your comment though because it could be a reaction to something that's irritating his throat? We haven't changed food or given him any treats. We're quite mean and just give him wet and dry food daily, no human food from us but maybe our neighbour could of given him something she natters him almost daily to try and get him in her house.

One of my cats was retching and coughing and leaving little puddles of spit everywhere. I took him to the vet and initially they couldn't work out what was wrong. He seemed to get worse so I took him back and they found a tiny sliver of grass in his nostril which was also hanging down the back of his throat, causing irritation. Do you think that could be a possibility?

My cat has had a cough for about a year now. He's seen two vets, had blood tests, a chest x ray and a heart scan and they can't find anything wrong with him. He has a grade 1 heart murmur but the vet isn't concerned about it. He did say he could have feline asthma but didn't want to put him through more tests unless it gets worse. He's eating, drinking, plays and sleeps so we're just keeping an eye on him.

Harry has had a bad reaction to the anaesthetic the last couple of times. He was nowhere near as bad as your poor boy but it was still horrible to see him like it. Someone on here mentioned he could have had a reaction to ketamine so I asked his new vet to check the notes and he'd never had it before so it looks as though it could be the cause. His notes now say he can't have ketamine and I will remind them if he has to go in for anything.

I hope your boy is OK. They are such a worry!

One of my Persians has always coughed. I thought it was feline asthma. As it looks just like it on YouTube videos. So I filmed it and the vet said it wasn't.i don't think it's a hair ball as she doesn't get them. So I'm at a loss. Though it's got a lot better over the last few months. I suspect it may be made worse by the central heating.

We've also had the grass up nose scenario. Apollo coughed and retched for a few weeks. One day I got a panicked shout from one of my kids "mum, Apollo has a blade of grass poking out of his nose". We managed to corral him and with a slight tug got it out. No more coughing. Oh, and prior to that he'd been checked over by the vet who did say that if he didn't stop coughing he would need to be sedated in order to check him out. Luckily, the grass worked it's own way out.

Hey sorry to post again but he's not meowing? He hasn't meowed since it all started but I didn't think he tried yesterday when I fed him but no sound came out. He seems better now but still seems uncomfortable in his throat by the way he swallows water etc looks like it takes a lot of effort. No barking/retching for a few days.

Anyone had experience with laryngeal paralysis in their cat? I googled the no meowing thing and he seems to have/had all the symptoms. I'll book him into the vets for tomorrow