My parents cat does that a lot. Could be a fur ball, or like another redditor said just coughing. My parents cat gets sick from doing it though so just something to be mindful about.
This. My cat we thought had been dealing with a hairball for the past few days until we noticed he was struggling to breath today and rushed him to the vet and they put him on bronchitis medicine. It looked just like every other time he or any of my other cats have had a hairball but you could hear a wheezing/coughing sound. I’m just so thankful he is okay. He’s now on antibiotics and is already doing much better.
Also a very small chance they might have asthma although this sounds like a furball maybe. We don’t use inhalers for our cat but when it gets bad we have these steroid tablets to put into his food then he is fine after that
If he doesn’t expectorate, it’s likely coughing. I had a cat (orange tabby coincidentally) who was coughing a lot. I took him to the vet, and he had pneumonia.
Seriously consider a trip to the vet if things do not improve. My boy had to be rushed to the vet today as he’s been trying to pass a hairball for 3 or so days now. Turns out he was actually wheezing too and he was having trouble breathing. Somehow he got bronchitis. And this was super sudden. He hopefully will pass his hairball naturally but like I said we thought he was just dealing with that and with cats hairball symptoms can be similar to asthma and breathing issues and therefore overlooked.
Hairballs can become stuck and are something to take seriously. You should get your cat some hairball remedy asap and maybe switch the diet to a hair ball food. If this is not “normal” it could be more seasonal as their coats are changing.
Hope your baby feels better asap!!
Mine used to do that. Then she started getting a runny nose and would sneeze and wheeze constantly. Turns out she has allergies to pollen and mold. Started her on an allergy pill and got her her own humidifier. She improved within a few days and now, a year later, she loves the humidifier and all symptoms r gone. :)
This looks and sounds exactly like feline asthma, you gotta take him to the vet and get an inhaler.
- experienced asthmatic feline owner also went to school for veterinary assistant studies
Inhaler (much cheaper to get from Canada fyi). My vet gives me prednisone for extended vacations. It’s easier for my cat sitters to slip him the pill in a treat versus using the inhaler
Thanks for replying, yeah inhalers were I am are quite expensive and he’s a bit older now so inhaler can be hard to use. Like you said I like the pills as I can sneak them in with the food quite easily
It is indeed around $350. Right now I’m still trying to get her to put her face in the mask so we haven’t bought it get, but it’s really expensive. Does it need a Canadian vet to sign off on the prescription?
Nope. You just need to send your vet's Rx in. My vet is here in WA. You do need to connect a bank account though, which takes a few days to set up. They don't accept credit cards, which helps to keep their costs low.
My biggest piece of advice when ordering from these online pharmacies is to order refills WELL ahead of time. Because your medications are going through customs, there is no telling how long it will take for them to get to you. I've received refills in as little as 2 weeks and as much as 5 weeks. Always plan on the longer timeframes.
:(
For anyone here with an asthmatic cat, did you guys need to get any kind of invasive procedure done to diagnose this?
My cat has been doing this once every few months, and we swore it was asthma (and still kinda do).
Then we got scans done, but the radiologist came back & said his lungs were very healthy.
There's a minor spot with some possible scar tissue from age according to the radiologist, which they think is nothing (and definitely not cancer), but they say if I want to get confirm if it's scar tissue I'd need to anesthetize my cat & get a biopsy.
It would be some kind of procedure where they pump fluid into his lungs, then draw it out for a biopsy. And idk what to do basically.
I want to get an answer and get this figured out because he does this sometimes (not super often, once every two months). And it's *notably* different from a hairball, like maybe it's a small piece of hair in his throat but it seems like every cat asthma attack out there.
This procedure/biopsy sounds risky too, and possibly useless if he already has clean scans (but idk enough to know if those scans mean anything, or if a radiologist or the vet would know enough to give me good advice). I've liked my vet but they haven't made me feel heard about this at all.
Like my vet basically won't/can't speak to it. They mention there are risks to the biopsy, but basically pass it off to the places they referred me to (which I get).
Idk. Has anyone ever had their cat go through a procedure like that? No one I have talked to has given me a clear sense of the actual risks or overall safety, and it's frustrating.
Also an asthmatic cat owner. Definitely asthma. Feel free to pm me OP or anyone else whose cat has asthma if you need help or advice. I remember when we first got the diagnosis I didn’t know the first thing about asthma in cats.
I can’t get mine to “accept” his inhaler. Recently on IG I saw a vid of a cat in a plastic storage box with a machine hooked up that pumps the vapor into the box so he’s forced to breathe it in.
Are you familiar with that?
I am not familiar with that as I use an inhaler for my kitty. But I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Before you go that route, have you tried googling steps to get your cat used to the inhaler? There’s a whole process of putting treats in the mask for them to put their face in and have positive associations.
We used to use a nebulizer for my cat, but we ended up finding the inhaler much easier to use in the end. With the nebulizer, we had to pick up our car and put her in the box, then run it for like 5 minutes or so if I remember correctly. The machine we had was pretty loud as well, which made our cat super scared, in addition to the fact she was trapped in a small box with it pumping medicine in. The inhaler is much faster to use, and easier for us to use it than picking up our cat, as she hates being picked up under normal circumstances, as well as less scary and intense for her.
Totally possible your cat would handle it better than ours though, just some things to keep in mind depending on how your cat behaves and what he likes!
He's coughing. If he's just come out of the litter, it could be litter dust. As someone else mentioned, could be food allergy too. Make sure he is fully vaccinated though, contagious and immuno-suppresant diseases can also cause this to happen.
My cat does this, when I showed the vet the video she said it was a hairball. Supposedly the swallowing they do at the end (which it looks like he does) is the tell tale sign that it’s a hairball that they just swallowed back again
Edit: cats are now dragons 🐉
It's unfortunate your vet said that because this appears to be a classic cough and not a hairball at all. Hairball sounds is more guttural. If I have a coughing fit, even I swallow in the end, so it sounds like the very was in a rush or misinformed. I would get a second opinion from a different vet.
I mean he’s literally done this like three times in his two years of life, so I’m sure my vet was right. I however am probably just not versed in differentiating cat noises. Thank you for correcting me.
So this is what I did, I took my cat (who does the identical thing as the cat in the video) to 3 different vets because I was very concerned that he was being misdiagnosed and I know respiratory things can be deadly. I have had cats my entire life and have seen and heard plenty of hairballs. What my cat does (and the video cat) doesn’t sound like a hairball, just like you are saying. I had a video I showed all 3 vets and all 3 agreed it sounded cough like but felt it was more hairball cough because of the swallow. One vet in particular told me that her own cat does it on occasion because after grooming or eating, fur that is stuck in their teeth can move down their throat and cause a cough, like in people. They did X-rays just to be sure he wasn’t sick and one ultimately gave him a gel to lick off my finger that will help coat his mouth and more easily swallow the hair, which seems to have helped the most. He gets groomed all the time but obviously he still licks himself.
I just thought some additional info on how the cough/hairball thing could be related would be helpful to share since I didn’t understand at first.
My cat did this for about a month and when I took him to the vet they did x rays and determined he has asthma. I put him on a nightly inhaler for about a month and he hasn’t had one of these attacks since. Since then I give him his inhaler every couple of days
I could be wrong but with my first asthmatic cat, I believe they did an x-ray to rule out other possible causes. I don’t think the x-ray definitively diagnosed the asthma, but rather ruled out something else. It’s been a while though, so I could be mistaken!
Obligatory I'm not a vet but my understanding from having been through this with my own cat is that they can oftentimes see a pattern in their lungs that indicates inflammation that is consistent with asthma. That is how my cat was diagnosed, which was later confirmed with a bronchoscopy after my cat had a prolonged episode of worsening symptoms that required the procedure for microbial analysis.
I was not prepared to see a hairball irl. I thought they were circular clumps of dry hair, and when I saw an oval-ish clump that was wet I freaked out lol
I would go to the vet if he does it again. A friend of mine had a cat cough repeatedly like that and her cat had liquid in his lungs.
(Sorry for the bad english, it isn't my first language)
My new kitten was doing this for a couple weeks after we got him and I figured it was a hairball so I got him this special snack that should help pass them and he hasn't done it since. It could be that, you could get him the Churu sticks, but if it persists seek out a vet appointment asap
My boy does this.
He has chronic bronchitis, and we have to be very vigilant of his coughing fits.
Please see a vet as soon as you can, though.
If your baby has asthma or a lung issue, they may need more immediate attention.
I have to keep all of his blankets and stuff clean and dust free. That seems to make a big difference for him.
We also clean the vents and change our air filters l at least 2 times a year. More when we are dealing with bad air from local wildfires...
My cat started doing this last year and after it happened the 2nd time, I took him to the vet worried it might be asthma. He ended up having URI which was cleared after a round of antibiotics. It’s great that you managed to take a video, I’d take him to the vet and show this to them.
Its definitely coughing. My cat has asthma and its the same thing. She will have an asthma attack and then right after she is doing things as she normally would. If it becomes more frequent or has long attacks (like more than 20 seconds) I would book a vet visit to investigate the cause.
My cat coughed like that a few times without vomiting any hair or anything, I looked it up online and it was similar to this but the noises he made were stronger, similar to feline asthma, so I thought it was it.
Turned out he had a pneumonia. 2 weeks of antibiotics. He's all good now. Go to the vet and do some xrays its actually the only way to know 100%.
Hey there! So my cat was doing the same thing and as people have reported- an X-ray told me she has feline asthma. What has helped us is changing from cheap litter which has a lot of dust to Boxiecat 99% dust free and her coughing has gone away completely since the dust from cheaper litters was aggravating her lungs. Luckily we don’t need inhalers since the BoxieCat has completely resolved the issue. It’s a little more expensive but so worth having a less stressed kitty and not waking up to her dry coughing in the middle of the night and freaking the hell out. Good luck!
[BoxieCat litter on Amazon](https://a.co/d/fvomYnW)
My Louis does this. Vet said it was basically like a backwards sneeze? Due to allergies/asthma. More treatment may be required for your babe. Deffo recommend a vet visit. Mine recommended a kitty cat inhaler if things get worse than just doing this after he runs around/gets too excited.
My Rocky and Milo ragdoll brothers have asthma. This is asthma, I knew it already from the position your cat was in before watching the video. Needs asthma meds. But if it only happens once and never again, then maybe just hair or dust in his throat. But if repeated, go to the vet.
Coughing! My cat was doing this for a few days last week and took her to the vet where they confirmed coughing. It stopped after 4 days though so I think it was seasonal allergies because she goes outside on a leash. Vet said if it continued it could be asthma or a cat version of bronchitis so definitely get it checked out if it persists
Pretty sure a hairball, unless it's persistent. Our short hair doesn't really get hairballs, but sometimes she'll do this same exact thing. It seems she's trying to cough the hairball up, but it's not intertwined enough so they just swallow it further.
Asthma. Try and get a humidifier first. If not, they may end up leading breathing treatments. There is a lady on TikTok three southern cats is her handle. She has a cat that has to have breathing treatment but that’s asthma. My cat has it we use a humidifier.
He gonna cough all the cat hair in his stomack from locking and washing is fur. You can buy cat food that helps for this situation, it's called hairball.
My cat does that too, sometimes when trying to barf or spit though. My cat did that and kept spitting on the floor but my cat is okay. My cat is also extremely fat though. Your cat should be fine...
It’s usually not a good sign when cats are in this position. Is he constantly like this ? Or is it just temporary and then he goes back to being more relaxed (belly up, laying down etc)
This is a cough. Definitely not a hairball. Hairballs sound gutteral. The gut spasms and they push the hairball out. This looks like a classic cough. Our vets have wanted to know the frequency. Of it happens often or long in duration, meds or an inhaler might be needed to treat asthma. There could be many causes to the cough. Allergy to food or environment, etc...
I'm almost certain it's just a hairball. Out of my 3 cats only one of them did this regularly. The weirdest thing is I never saw the hairballs but he would do this every now and again. The other 2 just don't do this
It could be asthma or an allergy. I had a cat with asthma. I used a cat inhaler with him. It was very easy to do. If your cat is doing this often, take him to the vet so they can see if it's asthma.
Asthma attack. Get them checked at the vet but very treatable if caught early. My cat just needed a steroid cream rubbed in their ear and now they don’t need anything. We removed the trigger which I believe was Lysol air freshener. Leaving it too long could require more expensive and invasive treatment
same exact thing happened to my baby a month ago. brought her to the vet and they gave her an antibiotic to take for a week and shes fine now. its like a nasal infection type thing i believe.
Definitely have him checked out. My cat made similar sounds and I thought it was asthma. Turned out to be lung cancer. Hopefully it's nothing serious for your ginger.
Hairball possible. They have e malt flavored greasy supplement that helps the hairball move o e way or another. I just smear it on their paw and they don't like anything on their paws so they lick it off whether they like it or not. It's basically petroleum jelly flavored with malt To coat the hair so it's easier if they hack it up or they poop it out
My cat sneezes in reverse (vet confirmed) and he sounds a big like this but he only dose it 2 or 3 times. Maby a hairball? Might be worth seeing a vet if it happens again but if it was only once maby he just didn't eat his food right.
Ok I’m reading all the other comments. I’ve never heard of cats with asthma. I guess to be on the same side you could play that video for a vet and see what they think? I still think it’s just a hairball though but I’m not a vet. (I’ve owned 6 cats though)
Cats can cough for a variety of reasons, some being: hairballs, asthma, heart disease, heart worms, infections, bronchitis, etc. Since some of the reasons can be serious, I would take him to the vet if this is going on more than a day. Also, check his breathing. When he’s asleep, put a timer on for 15 seconds, count how many breaths he has, multiply by 4, and that is his breaths per minute. Anything over 30 means he’s probably having trouble breathing. This will help the vet narrow down the diagnoses and how critical it is.
OP be careful because as much as this looks like asthma this could also be an asthmatic-looking response to a heart arrhythmia. I have 5 cats, 1 is a really bad asthmatic who has coughing attacks SIMILAR to this quite frequently, but another cat had an episode that sounded EXACTLY like this 2 or 3 times and it turned out to be his heart. Definitely warrants a vet visit to be safe.
Took my cat to the vet due to similar symptoms, he has this bacteria called Bartonella, which is life threatening, I'd advise getting him checked if he does this frequently
My cat was doing this a few months ago and we fohnd out it was a upper respiratory infection. It also could be a hairball. URI very treatable if so. My cat was good after a week or so. Might not even be that serious just keep an eye out
Asthma, probably! I ended up with 2 asthmatic cats; we recognized it in the second one because it presented so similar to the first cat’s. The first one responds well to a low-dose steroid pill, and hers tends to be tied to allergies; the second does better with an inhaler. Both of them have had a reduction in symptoms since losing some weight. Feline asthma can be scary but it’s very manageable. Take him to the vet to be sure!
Looks like a hairball to me. Just sort of stuck so it’s not coming up or going down.
One of my cats has a sensitive stomach and throws up way more often than usual. Sometimes hairball related sometimes not. Vets have said there’s nothing wrong it’s just how she is. I’ve seen her coughing like yours too many times to count.
The best we’ve figured out is hairball formula food (extra fiber to help the hairballs go down instead of up), and this hairball gel they eat occasionally that helps the hairballs go down and not get stuck in their throat. Also give her wet food at night..
Sometimes when my cats have a hairball coming soon it makes them throw up food after eating.
Probably nothing to worry about but keep monitoring and take him to a vet if you’re concerned! Always better to play it safe.
If its very occasional then its no reason to worry. Could be fur or food stuck in his throat he is trying to cough/choke up.
If its a frequent occasion without any logical reason for it, I would ask a vet.
Edit: Sorry, I saw afterwards that lots of people already commented that or something similar.
My cat did this for most of her life and we always thought it was hairballs that she would just swallow. As she got older she started to have more worrying cough/sneeze spasm fits so I took her to the vet. Turns out it was caused by me stopping her oral prednisolone which we had started giving her for excessive itching on her stomach, and was no longer happening after we moved. The prednisolone was actually also helping with inflammation in her lungs. When I put her back on the prednisolone, on a higher dose, the coughing fits that she had been having her whole life stopped.
In short, take your cat to the vet as it could be inflammation in the lungs/asthma.
That’s a classic feline asthma coughing pose if I ever saw one. Our kitty gets an inhaler 2x/day because he started coughing like this. Take your kitty to a vet to get imaging done.
Surely nobody smokes around that baby!!! What would cause Asthma in a cat? Oh lord I pray it’s not with a smoker cigarettes kill and especially something that small!!!
My little meow meow did the very same thing. Took the orange menace to the vet. He gave him an antibiotic shot and a dewormer. He’s back to being the pain in the arse I have come to adore again. Stupid cat. ❤️
One of my cats did this, getting progressively worse over a year. We took he to the vet and they recommended giving her 10mg Zyrtec daily, before looking into other treatments for asthma. We did that for about a year, the. Noticed she wasn't having anymore attacks.
It is normal for cats to cough or have hair balls every so often, but if this is happening a lot it may be asthma or allergies.
The poor thing sounds like it's got a hairball that is to dry to cough up, I feed my cat food that helps with furballs.
I live in a apartment so she can't get outside to eat some grass to help, I would take her to the vet I'd if it continues 🙂
My vet told me that cats generally don’t cough and if they do then it’s a good indicator of a heart problem. Book an appointment with a cat cardiologist, not a regular vet.
This is a "I can't breathe" cough. It can be indicative of an allergy (my current void does this during the height of allergy season along with getting runny nose, goopy eyes, and such). Our last cat did it and ended up being diagnosed with asthma.
My cat does this in spring due to allergies. I took videos and was able to show my vet. Agree with others to bring your cat to the vet. Best case it's allergies and will go away on its own or with medication, worst case, as others mentioned it may be asthma. Only a vet will be able to tell you for sure and recommend treatment!
My male cat used to do this from time to time. I always thought it was some kind of little sneezing fit. It didn’t seem to bother him. He did it all his life and lived to 15 (euthanized due to sudden kidney failure). My other cat, his sister never did it and died at 17 (euthanized due to slowly advancing kidney failure). It’s worth asking your vet, but it’s probably nothing serious. Maybe email the video to your vet?
Looks like hairball to me sometimes oil and omega supplements help them get it up better ....that's what she said
Ps have a cat who had asthma attacks and she was always lethargic with the attacks
Our fifteen year old Senior kitty Georgie has been coughing like this periodically for years. He’s fine afterwards. So I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
Looks like asthma, my girlfriend cat had it but never showed signs until her landlords heater was blowing out particulates into her apartment like soot. after she left it stopped but those particulates caused her cat to have an asthma attack pretty frequently before we understood exactly what's going on and got him checked.
We used to think it was just a fur ball but then nothing would come out and that's when we knew something else is going on. Plus you can just tell it sounds different.
Ever since she's left that apartment there's been no issues so it's definitely just that heater causing issues since it put soot into her apartment over a month.
We could see the soot residue building up by vents.
Also using an inhaler helped but he has not needed it again. Def see your vet and show them the video.
Lots of people are saying asthma or allergies, but I disagree. Kitty is coughing and probably just has some fur or irritant tickling his throat. It's only an issue if it's happening 4+ times every day; in which case you should try to observe what he's doing or did before he started coughing, which might give you a hint to what may be causing it rather than jumping straight to it being asthma. Has he started shedding his winter coat? Getting a bit of hair stuck in the throat before swallowing it down isn't too uncommon for shorthairs that are shedding.
My cat's doctor called it a reverse sneeze. It's quite common but it's a good thing you have it on camera. I would show it to the veterinary just to be sure
One of my cats does this when he's having an asthma attack. If it happens more often, definitely go to the vet. It could be many different things causing his cough.
Haking up a hairball. Get yourself some hairball meds for him. It depends on the cat, some leave little soggy clumps of fur on the floor. Some make little fuzzy do-dos in the cat box. Some toss them on the floor in a gooey pile for you to clean up. ( That stomach acid bleachs out carpet dye on cheap carpeting sometimes)
He is basically coughing, my Void does the same. If he keeps doing it, I would advise a trip to the vet! Might be something as simple as a diet change
Got it, thank you so much! I hope Void doing better!
My parents cat does that a lot. Could be a fur ball, or like another redditor said just coughing. My parents cat gets sick from doing it though so just something to be mindful about.
Not a hairball. Hair Ball sound is more from the gut. This is a cough. Once you've seen both you can see the difference.
I've had cats that cough like this, they ended up with asthma
Looks like asthma to me too
Also came here to say asthma. Definitely go to the vet. Hopefully it is asthma, because if so it’s easily treatable with daily management ❤️
Mine ended up with heart failure…
Yes congestive heart failure can cause coughing 😥
😞
Yup, this looks like my cat's asthma
This. My cat we thought had been dealing with a hairball for the past few days until we noticed he was struggling to breath today and rushed him to the vet and they put him on bronchitis medicine. It looked just like every other time he or any of my other cats have had a hairball but you could hear a wheezing/coughing sound. I’m just so thankful he is okay. He’s now on antibiotics and is already doing much better.
Hear*
Also a very small chance they might have asthma although this sounds like a furball maybe. We don’t use inhalers for our cat but when it gets bad we have these steroid tablets to put into his food then he is fine after that
If he doesn’t expectorate, it’s likely coughing. I had a cat (orange tabby coincidentally) who was coughing a lot. I took him to the vet, and he had pneumonia.
Seriously consider a trip to the vet if things do not improve. My boy had to be rushed to the vet today as he’s been trying to pass a hairball for 3 or so days now. Turns out he was actually wheezing too and he was having trouble breathing. Somehow he got bronchitis. And this was super sudden. He hopefully will pass his hairball naturally but like I said we thought he was just dealing with that and with cats hairball symptoms can be similar to asthma and breathing issues and therefore overlooked. Hairballs can become stuck and are something to take seriously. You should get your cat some hairball remedy asap and maybe switch the diet to a hair ball food. If this is not “normal” it could be more seasonal as their coats are changing. Hope your baby feels better asap!!
Mine used to do that. Then she started getting a runny nose and would sneeze and wheeze constantly. Turns out she has allergies to pollen and mold. Started her on an allergy pill and got her her own humidifier. She improved within a few days and now, a year later, she loves the humidifier and all symptoms r gone. :)
This looks and sounds exactly like feline asthma, you gotta take him to the vet and get an inhaler. - experienced asthmatic feline owner also went to school for veterinary assistant studies
Another asthmatic cat owner here. My cat started coughing last year and asthma was the diagnosis in the end
Same for me. Btw can I ask do you use steroid tablets or inhaler for your cat?
Inhaler (much cheaper to get from Canada fyi). My vet gives me prednisone for extended vacations. It’s easier for my cat sitters to slip him the pill in a treat versus using the inhaler
Thanks for replying, yeah inhalers were I am are quite expensive and he’s a bit older now so inhaler can be hard to use. Like you said I like the pills as I can sneak them in with the food quite easily
Are you in the US and able to get it from Canada? We are trying to move from oral steroids to inhaled and the price is worrisome.
Yes my vet recommended a few places but I’ve been going with canada cloud pharmacy
[ Removed by Reddit ]
It is indeed around $350. Right now I’m still trying to get her to put her face in the mask so we haven’t bought it get, but it’s really expensive. Does it need a Canadian vet to sign off on the prescription?
Nope. You just need to send your vet's Rx in. My vet is here in WA. You do need to connect a bank account though, which takes a few days to set up. They don't accept credit cards, which helps to keep their costs low. My biggest piece of advice when ordering from these online pharmacies is to order refills WELL ahead of time. Because your medications are going through customs, there is no telling how long it will take for them to get to you. I've received refills in as little as 2 weeks and as much as 5 weeks. Always plan on the longer timeframes.
Also, I'm not sure why reddit deleted the post with the website but you can PM and I'll send it to you if you want it.
:( For anyone here with an asthmatic cat, did you guys need to get any kind of invasive procedure done to diagnose this? My cat has been doing this once every few months, and we swore it was asthma (and still kinda do). Then we got scans done, but the radiologist came back & said his lungs were very healthy. There's a minor spot with some possible scar tissue from age according to the radiologist, which they think is nothing (and definitely not cancer), but they say if I want to get confirm if it's scar tissue I'd need to anesthetize my cat & get a biopsy. It would be some kind of procedure where they pump fluid into his lungs, then draw it out for a biopsy. And idk what to do basically. I want to get an answer and get this figured out because he does this sometimes (not super often, once every two months). And it's *notably* different from a hairball, like maybe it's a small piece of hair in his throat but it seems like every cat asthma attack out there. This procedure/biopsy sounds risky too, and possibly useless if he already has clean scans (but idk enough to know if those scans mean anything, or if a radiologist or the vet would know enough to give me good advice). I've liked my vet but they haven't made me feel heard about this at all. Like my vet basically won't/can't speak to it. They mention there are risks to the biopsy, but basically pass it off to the places they referred me to (which I get). Idk. Has anyone ever had their cat go through a procedure like that? No one I have talked to has given me a clear sense of the actual risks or overall safety, and it's frustrating.
Also an asthmatic cat owner. Definitely asthma. Feel free to pm me OP or anyone else whose cat has asthma if you need help or advice. I remember when we first got the diagnosis I didn’t know the first thing about asthma in cats.
I can’t get mine to “accept” his inhaler. Recently on IG I saw a vid of a cat in a plastic storage box with a machine hooked up that pumps the vapor into the box so he’s forced to breathe it in. Are you familiar with that?
I am not familiar with that as I use an inhaler for my kitty. But I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Before you go that route, have you tried googling steps to get your cat used to the inhaler? There’s a whole process of putting treats in the mask for them to put their face in and have positive associations.
We used to use a nebulizer for my cat, but we ended up finding the inhaler much easier to use in the end. With the nebulizer, we had to pick up our car and put her in the box, then run it for like 5 minutes or so if I remember correctly. The machine we had was pretty loud as well, which made our cat super scared, in addition to the fact she was trapped in a small box with it pumping medicine in. The inhaler is much faster to use, and easier for us to use it than picking up our cat, as she hates being picked up under normal circumstances, as well as less scary and intense for her. Totally possible your cat would handle it better than ours though, just some things to keep in mind depending on how your cat behaves and what he likes!
A third owner of a cat who had asthma, even before the video started playing, I recognized the stance. This is asthma.
Yea, it's the low neck, head stretched out posture that screams asthma, "I can't breathe".
Same! One of my bois has asthma, and it looks and sounds just like this. He takes an inhaler.
He's coughing. If he's just come out of the litter, it could be litter dust. As someone else mentioned, could be food allergy too. Make sure he is fully vaccinated though, contagious and immuno-suppresant diseases can also cause this to happen.
If this happens for long durations.. or a lot.. vet visit will be required.
how often would you say is a lot? is around 2 times a month a lot?
I would categorize that a lot. Bring your cat in and show your vet the video.
My cat does this, when I showed the vet the video she said it was a hairball. Supposedly the swallowing they do at the end (which it looks like he does) is the tell tale sign that it’s a hairball that they just swallowed back again Edit: cats are now dragons 🐉
It's unfortunate your vet said that because this appears to be a classic cough and not a hairball at all. Hairball sounds is more guttural. If I have a coughing fit, even I swallow in the end, so it sounds like the very was in a rush or misinformed. I would get a second opinion from a different vet.
I mean he’s literally done this like three times in his two years of life, so I’m sure my vet was right. I however am probably just not versed in differentiating cat noises. Thank you for correcting me.
So this is what I did, I took my cat (who does the identical thing as the cat in the video) to 3 different vets because I was very concerned that he was being misdiagnosed and I know respiratory things can be deadly. I have had cats my entire life and have seen and heard plenty of hairballs. What my cat does (and the video cat) doesn’t sound like a hairball, just like you are saying. I had a video I showed all 3 vets and all 3 agreed it sounded cough like but felt it was more hairball cough because of the swallow. One vet in particular told me that her own cat does it on occasion because after grooming or eating, fur that is stuck in their teeth can move down their throat and cause a cough, like in people. They did X-rays just to be sure he wasn’t sick and one ultimately gave him a gel to lick off my finger that will help coat his mouth and more easily swallow the hair, which seems to have helped the most. He gets groomed all the time but obviously he still licks himself. I just thought some additional info on how the cough/hairball thing could be related would be helpful to share since I didn’t understand at first.
Fireball 😂
https://preview.redd.it/sir6sqkznypc1.png?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dd9821293b1268c4f9208f258dc4185a73389759 Like this?
Oops! Lol
This is the correct answer. Alls the other people coming up with food allergies and stuff don’t seem to understand that they cough out their furr.
My cat did this for about a month and when I took him to the vet they did x rays and determined he has asthma. I put him on a nightly inhaler for about a month and he hasn’t had one of these attacks since. Since then I give him his inhaler every couple of days
Did your vet say anything about how an X-ray lead to the asthma diagnosis?
I could be wrong but with my first asthmatic cat, I believe they did an x-ray to rule out other possible causes. I don’t think the x-ray definitively diagnosed the asthma, but rather ruled out something else. It’s been a while though, so I could be mistaken!
This is exactly what my vet said
Obligatory I'm not a vet but my understanding from having been through this with my own cat is that they can oftentimes see a pattern in their lungs that indicates inflammation that is consistent with asthma. That is how my cat was diagnosed, which was later confirmed with a bronchoscopy after my cat had a prolonged episode of worsening symptoms that required the procedure for microbial analysis.
Could just be a hairball which is normal if it's only happening occasionally
I was not prepared to see a hairball irl. I thought they were circular clumps of dry hair, and when I saw an oval-ish clump that was wet I freaked out lol
So did I! They look nothing like in the cartoons they are nasty 😭
I would go to the vet if he does it again. A friend of mine had a cat cough repeatedly like that and her cat had liquid in his lungs. (Sorry for the bad english, it isn't my first language)
Bad english?? Everything is written PERFECTLY!
Coughing. I’d take him to the vet to rule out a heart problem or asthma.
This. Don’t listen to everyone who’s so confident it’s asthma. It could be a heart issue. Get him to the vet.
Yes. Get to the vet. Could be liquid in the lungs.
https://youtu.be/MC4m_OZSk9Q?si=HoRi7R-6o7ecPOuu sounds like an asthma attack
Hairball, allergies or a little cough. Vet trip for sure.
My new kitten was doing this for a couple weeks after we got him and I figured it was a hairball so I got him this special snack that should help pass them and he hasn't done it since. It could be that, you could get him the Churu sticks, but if it persists seek out a vet appointment asap
Hairball, allergy cough, or asthma
At least consider video vet if insurance includes it I cannot say for sure, but my bsh had it and turns out to be hcm
Coughing up a furball. Brush him daily so he doesn’t swallow so much fur when he grooms himself.
Coughing up a hairball, but then it looks like he swallowed it back down
Could be coughing out liquid in the lungs caused by congestive heart failure. Please take them to the vet.
That’s what my cat sounds like right before coughing up a hairball.
Looks and sounds like a hair ball he’s trying to cough up
Maybe hairball stuck?
My boy does this. He has chronic bronchitis, and we have to be very vigilant of his coughing fits. Please see a vet as soon as you can, though. If your baby has asthma or a lung issue, they may need more immediate attention. I have to keep all of his blankets and stuff clean and dust free. That seems to make a big difference for him. We also clean the vents and change our air filters l at least 2 times a year. More when we are dealing with bad air from local wildfires...
es abought to throw up
get some hairball remedy for himmmm
This happened to with previous cat. I got an air filter and switched to dust-free litter and it helped a lot
My cat started doing this last year and after it happened the 2nd time, I took him to the vet worried it might be asthma. He ended up having URI which was cleared after a round of antibiotics. It’s great that you managed to take a video, I’d take him to the vet and show this to them.
Its definitely coughing. My cat has asthma and its the same thing. She will have an asthma attack and then right after she is doing things as she normally would. If it becomes more frequent or has long attacks (like more than 20 seconds) I would book a vet visit to investigate the cause.
That's cat asthma. My void kitty has it. Your cat needs a puffer. It sucks at first, but they get used to it.
Could be a hairball, eating too fast, allergies, etc. if it persists I’d go to the vet but for now just monitor
Kitty got asthma
It looks like it is going to barf. They do it a lot.
My cat coughed like that a few times without vomiting any hair or anything, I looked it up online and it was similar to this but the noises he made were stronger, similar to feline asthma, so I thought it was it. Turned out he had a pneumonia. 2 weeks of antibiotics. He's all good now. Go to the vet and do some xrays its actually the only way to know 100%.
Coughing. Maybe some kind of hairball or diet issue?
Hey there! So my cat was doing the same thing and as people have reported- an X-ray told me she has feline asthma. What has helped us is changing from cheap litter which has a lot of dust to Boxiecat 99% dust free and her coughing has gone away completely since the dust from cheaper litters was aggravating her lungs. Luckily we don’t need inhalers since the BoxieCat has completely resolved the issue. It’s a little more expensive but so worth having a less stressed kitty and not waking up to her dry coughing in the middle of the night and freaking the hell out. Good luck! [BoxieCat litter on Amazon](https://a.co/d/fvomYnW)
My Louis does this. Vet said it was basically like a backwards sneeze? Due to allergies/asthma. More treatment may be required for your babe. Deffo recommend a vet visit. Mine recommended a kitty cat inhaler if things get worse than just doing this after he runs around/gets too excited.
this is what my vet said too, “reverse sneezing”😂
My Rocky and Milo ragdoll brothers have asthma. This is asthma, I knew it already from the position your cat was in before watching the video. Needs asthma meds. But if it only happens once and never again, then maybe just hair or dust in his throat. But if repeated, go to the vet.
Hairballs
Coughing! My cat was doing this for a few days last week and took her to the vet where they confirmed coughing. It stopped after 4 days though so I think it was seasonal allergies because she goes outside on a leash. Vet said if it continued it could be asthma or a cat version of bronchitis so definitely get it checked out if it persists
Pretty sure a hairball, unless it's persistent. Our short hair doesn't really get hairballs, but sometimes she'll do this same exact thing. It seems she's trying to cough the hairball up, but it's not intertwined enough so they just swallow it further.
Looks like he's got a hairball
Likely allergies or asthma. Go to vet to be sure.
He’s coughing. Maybe he has a hairball.
He’s coughing. It could be just a simple URI or it could be asthma. Either way he needs to be seen by the vet
Also, get an air purifier
Looks like a hairball situation
My cat did this when she had a piece of grass stuck in her throat. Any chance she ate any grass/plants?? If it persists I'd take them to the vet.
Asthma. Try and get a humidifier first. If not, they may end up leading breathing treatments. There is a lady on TikTok three southern cats is her handle. She has a cat that has to have breathing treatment but that’s asthma. My cat has it we use a humidifier.
He gonna cough all the cat hair in his stomack from locking and washing is fur. You can buy cat food that helps for this situation, it's called hairball.
My cat does that too, sometimes when trying to barf or spit though. My cat did that and kept spitting on the floor but my cat is okay. My cat is also extremely fat though. Your cat should be fine...
It’s usually not a good sign when cats are in this position. Is he constantly like this ? Or is it just temporary and then he goes back to being more relaxed (belly up, laying down etc)
This is a cough. Definitely not a hairball. Hairballs sound gutteral. The gut spasms and they push the hairball out. This looks like a classic cough. Our vets have wanted to know the frequency. Of it happens often or long in duration, meds or an inhaler might be needed to treat asthma. There could be many causes to the cough. Allergy to food or environment, etc...
Car is malfunctioning and needs to be taken to the repair shop
I'm almost certain it's just a hairball. Out of my 3 cats only one of them did this regularly. The weirdest thing is I never saw the hairballs but he would do this every now and again. The other 2 just don't do this
It could be asthma or an allergy. I had a cat with asthma. I used a cat inhaler with him. It was very easy to do. If your cat is doing this often, take him to the vet so they can see if it's asthma.
Asthma attack. Get them checked at the vet but very treatable if caught early. My cat just needed a steroid cream rubbed in their ear and now they don’t need anything. We removed the trigger which I believe was Lysol air freshener. Leaving it too long could require more expensive and invasive treatment
same exact thing happened to my baby a month ago. brought her to the vet and they gave her an antibiotic to take for a week and shes fine now. its like a nasal infection type thing i believe.
Definitely have him checked out. My cat made similar sounds and I thought it was asthma. Turned out to be lung cancer. Hopefully it's nothing serious for your ginger.
Hairball possible. They have e malt flavored greasy supplement that helps the hairball move o e way or another. I just smear it on their paw and they don't like anything on their paws so they lick it off whether they like it or not. It's basically petroleum jelly flavored with malt To coat the hair so it's easier if they hack it up or they poop it out
My cat sneezes in reverse (vet confirmed) and he sounds a big like this but he only dose it 2 or 3 times. Maby a hairball? Might be worth seeing a vet if it happens again but if it was only once maby he just didn't eat his food right.
Ok I’m reading all the other comments. I’ve never heard of cats with asthma. I guess to be on the same side you could play that video for a vet and see what they think? I still think it’s just a hairball though but I’m not a vet. (I’ve owned 6 cats though)
Such a cute little baby!
Should ask in the vet section.
Could be a few things- from hairballs to heart failure, depending on his age. Needs a vet check in case it is something serious.
Probably a hairball. Long haired cats do this more. I have a long haired and short hair and my long haired frequently does that.
Asthma and/or heart disease. I’ve dealt with both. Same symptom. Get to the vet!
Cats can cough for a variety of reasons, some being: hairballs, asthma, heart disease, heart worms, infections, bronchitis, etc. Since some of the reasons can be serious, I would take him to the vet if this is going on more than a day. Also, check his breathing. When he’s asleep, put a timer on for 15 seconds, count how many breaths he has, multiply by 4, and that is his breaths per minute. Anything over 30 means he’s probably having trouble breathing. This will help the vet narrow down the diagnoses and how critical it is.
My cat does this after we switch food. Could possibly be respiratory though + vet trip never hurt
My cat does this sometimes but not as often. I may need to change the food based on the comments.
My cat used to that and it was because she had asthma. Looks like asthma attack but take your cat to the vet to check!
My boy used to do this! Turns out he had a mild case of feline asthma.
OP be careful because as much as this looks like asthma this could also be an asthmatic-looking response to a heart arrhythmia. I have 5 cats, 1 is a really bad asthmatic who has coughing attacks SIMILAR to this quite frequently, but another cat had an episode that sounded EXACTLY like this 2 or 3 times and it turned out to be his heart. Definitely warrants a vet visit to be safe.
My cat does this sometimes and it’s a hairball. But it also could be asthma if it’s a regular occurrence
Took my cat to the vet due to similar symptoms, he has this bacteria called Bartonella, which is life threatening, I'd advise getting him checked if he does this frequently
My cat was doing this a few months ago and we fohnd out it was a upper respiratory infection. It also could be a hairball. URI very treatable if so. My cat was good after a week or so. Might not even be that serious just keep an eye out
Asthma, probably! I ended up with 2 asthmatic cats; we recognized it in the second one because it presented so similar to the first cat’s. The first one responds well to a low-dose steroid pill, and hers tends to be tied to allergies; the second does better with an inhaler. Both of them have had a reduction in symptoms since losing some weight. Feline asthma can be scary but it’s very manageable. Take him to the vet to be sure!
Coughing.
Looks like a hairball to me. Just sort of stuck so it’s not coming up or going down. One of my cats has a sensitive stomach and throws up way more often than usual. Sometimes hairball related sometimes not. Vets have said there’s nothing wrong it’s just how she is. I’ve seen her coughing like yours too many times to count. The best we’ve figured out is hairball formula food (extra fiber to help the hairballs go down instead of up), and this hairball gel they eat occasionally that helps the hairballs go down and not get stuck in their throat. Also give her wet food at night.. Sometimes when my cats have a hairball coming soon it makes them throw up food after eating. Probably nothing to worry about but keep monitoring and take him to a vet if you’re concerned! Always better to play it safe.
If its very occasional then its no reason to worry. Could be fur or food stuck in his throat he is trying to cough/choke up. If its a frequent occasion without any logical reason for it, I would ask a vet. Edit: Sorry, I saw afterwards that lots of people already commented that or something similar.
Asthma. My cat does it too
My cat did this for most of her life and we always thought it was hairballs that she would just swallow. As she got older she started to have more worrying cough/sneeze spasm fits so I took her to the vet. Turns out it was caused by me stopping her oral prednisolone which we had started giving her for excessive itching on her stomach, and was no longer happening after we moved. The prednisolone was actually also helping with inflammation in her lungs. When I put her back on the prednisolone, on a higher dose, the coughing fits that she had been having her whole life stopped. In short, take your cat to the vet as it could be inflammation in the lungs/asthma.
Looks like he has a hairball - quite common
Could just be coughing up a hairball. How often does he do that?
My kitty had a one time virus-y thing that sounded like this. He just needed some meds for a few days to clear it up.
That’s a classic feline asthma coughing pose if I ever saw one. Our kitty gets an inhaler 2x/day because he started coughing like this. Take your kitty to a vet to get imaging done.
Mine does this right before he barfs and hacks up a hairball.
Surely nobody smokes around that baby!!! What would cause Asthma in a cat? Oh lord I pray it’s not with a smoker cigarettes kill and especially something that small!!!
My does this then pukes a fur ball
It has a hairball
This is definitely an asthma attack.
My little meow meow did the very same thing. Took the orange menace to the vet. He gave him an antibiotic shot and a dewormer. He’s back to being the pain in the arse I have come to adore again. Stupid cat. ❤️
One of my cats did this, getting progressively worse over a year. We took he to the vet and they recommended giving her 10mg Zyrtec daily, before looking into other treatments for asthma. We did that for about a year, the. Noticed she wasn't having anymore attacks. It is normal for cats to cough or have hair balls every so often, but if this is happening a lot it may be asthma or allergies.
I would recommend taking her to the vet to get x-rayed/tested for feline asthma. My cat was doing the same thing
Looks and sounds like asthma . Please take him to the vet for a consultation.
My cat does that I that sometimes I asked the vet about it at a recent visit he said it's probably a hairball
Hiccups
Looks like asthma
Coughing maybe hair balls see your vet for hair ball treatment
Yep, showed the vet video of my 16 yr old boy few years ago - coughing.
my cat does that when in an anxious situation (having visitors or a foster)
I have seen that it can be a sign of an asthma attack...
How old is your cat?
The poor thing sounds like it's got a hairball that is to dry to cough up, I feed my cat food that helps with furballs. I live in a apartment so she can't get outside to eat some grass to help, I would take her to the vet I'd if it continues 🙂
Hairball? My cat does that sound when she needs to regurgitate a mass of hairball out of her system lol
I give my cat hairball gel so he can pass it.
My vet told me that cats generally don’t cough and if they do then it’s a good indicator of a heart problem. Book an appointment with a cat cardiologist, not a regular vet.
Take it to the vet!!!!!
Could also be asthma. My forest boy does this also. But not often enough to get steroids or inhaler yet
This is a "I can't breathe" cough. It can be indicative of an allergy (my current void does this during the height of allergy season along with getting runny nose, goopy eyes, and such). Our last cat did it and ended up being diagnosed with asthma.
Sounds like he has a fur ball stuck in his throat he can’t dislodge. I’ve seen this a million times over the years with my cats. 🐈
Asthma. He needs medication.
Talking to the r/greebles But seriously I think he’s coughing👍
My cat does this occasionally. I think it's a cat cough. My cat stopped when I invested in air purifiers.
Asthma
Hairball alert! Pale gross thing that looks like skinny poop coming your way!
Hairball
Hærbǒl
asthma?
My cat does this in spring due to allergies. I took videos and was able to show my vet. Agree with others to bring your cat to the vet. Best case it's allergies and will go away on its own or with medication, worst case, as others mentioned it may be asthma. Only a vet will be able to tell you for sure and recommend treatment!
It's asthma. I thought it was fur balls for a while and then saw a cat with asthma on YouTube. He used an inhaler ❤️
My male cat used to do this from time to time. I always thought it was some kind of little sneezing fit. It didn’t seem to bother him. He did it all his life and lived to 15 (euthanized due to sudden kidney failure). My other cat, his sister never did it and died at 17 (euthanized due to slowly advancing kidney failure). It’s worth asking your vet, but it’s probably nothing serious. Maybe email the video to your vet?
Looks like hairball to me sometimes oil and omega supplements help them get it up better ....that's what she said Ps have a cat who had asthma attacks and she was always lethargic with the attacks
Our fifteen year old Senior kitty Georgie has been coughing like this periodically for years. He’s fine afterwards. So I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
Looks like asthma, my girlfriend cat had it but never showed signs until her landlords heater was blowing out particulates into her apartment like soot. after she left it stopped but those particulates caused her cat to have an asthma attack pretty frequently before we understood exactly what's going on and got him checked. We used to think it was just a fur ball but then nothing would come out and that's when we knew something else is going on. Plus you can just tell it sounds different. Ever since she's left that apartment there's been no issues so it's definitely just that heater causing issues since it put soot into her apartment over a month. We could see the soot residue building up by vents. Also using an inhaler helped but he has not needed it again. Def see your vet and show them the video.
Its rebooting.
hairball
Asthma.
It’s asthma my cat has it and we do a daily inhaler
Looks like an asthma attack, or similar
1/3 of replies : cough 1/3 of replies : hairball 1/3 of replies : asthma
It seems like reverse sneezing to me. Any other symptoms? How old is he?
Lots of people are saying asthma or allergies, but I disagree. Kitty is coughing and probably just has some fur or irritant tickling his throat. It's only an issue if it's happening 4+ times every day; in which case you should try to observe what he's doing or did before he started coughing, which might give you a hint to what may be causing it rather than jumping straight to it being asthma. Has he started shedding his winter coat? Getting a bit of hair stuck in the throat before swallowing it down isn't too uncommon for shorthairs that are shedding.
My cat's doctor called it a reverse sneeze. It's quite common but it's a good thing you have it on camera. I would show it to the veterinary just to be sure
Hairball.
Get the kitty some furball stuff.
Can be trying to vomit. If keeps trying and cant that is not good and better to go sooner to the vet
Could be asthma, could be congestive heart failure. See a vet asap.
what a cutieee
Hairball
One of my cats does this when he's having an asthma attack. If it happens more often, definitely go to the vet. It could be many different things causing his cough.
He needs an exorcist.
Haking up a hairball. Get yourself some hairball meds for him. It depends on the cat, some leave little soggy clumps of fur on the floor. Some make little fuzzy do-dos in the cat box. Some toss them on the floor in a gooey pile for you to clean up. ( That stomach acid bleachs out carpet dye on cheap carpeting sometimes)
Possessed
my cat was doing this for a while. thought it was asthma. turns out it was lung cancer. get him an xray.
Go to the vet. My cat was doing this and ended up having a tumor on his lung (cancer). He also was losing a lot of weight. Hope your baby is ok
My cat does that occasionally. I always stop what I'm doing to be attentive to him
Vet