Cat- Homemade Diet Coughing A Lot

[want4rain]

not sure what brings it on, soemitmes its after he eats, soemtimes its before he eats. it seems like he is hacking up nothing. no hairballs ever come out. is it the change in diet? we worked over the details with our vet who says it should be just fine.

he also pukes up anythign but chicken and fish.

-ashley

[sugarcatmom]

Hmmm, that does seem rather strange. Are you sure the coughing/hacking is only related to meal times? If it is, could it have anything to do with the location of the food dish? Is it more like coughing or is it like retching/gagging? I really can't even guess what might be going on but maybe your vet would have a better idea. I know cats can get asthma, which often manifests as coughing.

Hope you solve the mystery soon!

[want4rain]

well.... thats a pretty good question. i associated it with the meal change because thats the only thing thats changed. ok... so my hormones have changed again, im using a new bug spray (lemon eulycptus or however you spell it) but he was giving that dry hacking cough before that. it sounds like that point folks reach when they have a chest cold and they cant get that last little bit out but nothing comes up.

whats the deal with hairballs anyway? i hear of cats who hold hairballs... some where for a week or longer?? could that be this?

-ash

[badger]

Try giving him some hairball gel, no prescription needed. Or some vegetable oil in his food, or butter . Any of these will help the hair to transit his system (in the right direction). Do NOT give him petroleum jelly (vaseline).
The fact that this has been going on for some time makes me think it is not hairballs but more upper respiratory problems.

[want4rain]

hmm, maybe its time for a trip to the vet??

-ashley

[sugarcatmom]

Yup, I would do the vet thing. If it is something like asthma, you want to start treatment right away so that further lung damage doesn't occur. And also for the peace-of-mind that it isn't something more serious! In case you haven't seen it, I always recommend people with coughing cats check out this website: http://www.felineasthma.org/moore.htm

Let me know what the results are, I'm rather curious myself.

[rainbow]

I agree with Badger and Sugarcatmom that a vet trip is in order. How old is your boy?

[want4rain]

he is 3yo. i read somewhere along my journey that cats will cough on occasion in response to a diet change, empty stomach... soemthign to that effect. i dont remember clearly now, either way, we fed raw yesterday to see if that helped some. no veggies, no grains, no dairy... just plain chicken. it went down fantastic, we havent had a single coughing incident yet... not that it says much for now but it would happen once a day, every two or three days apart. im making a trip to the vet tomorrow to get Mister weighed anyway and i will talk to them then.

keep you posted!!

-ashley

[rainbow]

He needs to eat more than just plain chicken. Have you tried a premium quality canned food and a grain-free kibble like Orijen or EVO?

[want4rain]

well, i was under the impression that when feeding BARF you feed.... meat, bones, and organs??

also, if he has a food allergy, wouldnt we want to cut all out but one thing and start adding thigns back? if the chicken poses no issues over the next few days we plan on adding some organ meat, from there we will add back a veggie or a dairy to see if that was the issue. we dont plan on feedign veggies and dairy daily but once or twice a week for sure. i am thawing a fish meal (as in the whole fish along with assorted other things) to feed Mister. should i feed the cats soem of that??

-ashley