Coughing cat

by Natalie
(Saint Paul, MN)

Hi again, Donna!

Things have been going well with our four cats, but one of them, Olive, has had a cough since she was a kitten. It's always a dry cough with nothing coming out and sounds terrible. It doesn't happen all the time--she can go for weeks with nothing then all of a sudden, she'll cough on and off throughout the day.

We took her to the vet few times for it and he did tests for heartworm and gave some meds to see if that would bring forth any type of parasites that she might have brought w/her from the shelter. She still has the cough - she otherwise is fine and healthy. Before we subject her to a bunch of tests (she's a bit high strung), I wondered if you'd ever run into anything like this in your multi-cat household. As always, thank you for all you do for us cat parents.

Natalie

RESPONSE:

We never want to take the place of your vet. His (or her) advice is invaluable. So don't let our information take the place of your vets!
That being said, we have had cats with chronic coughs and there are a few causes, at least for our cats. 1 is hairballs. Freddie has a hard time coughing them up and when he has them, he coughs whenever he purrs or meows. Once treated, the cough will stop - till next time.
The other, more common problem is those that got a virus as a kitten (herpes, etc) and now have chronic issues because of it. Our Buddy is a prime example and when the virus flares up, we give him L-lysine until the symptoms get better. Since it is viral, antibiotics don't help. (You can read about Buddy by clicking Cat Stories on the left).
Cats can also have allergies or asthma and the cough could be related to one of these.
Talk to your vet and see if he thinks her problem might be related to a virus, allergies, or even hairballs. If not, further tests may be the best thing even though it will be tough on your cat. It is better to find the cause if possible in case it turns out to be something serious. Since the cough tends to come and go, I suspect it is related to a virus or an allergy. Let us know what happens!

Donna
House Full Cats Mom

PS: Adorable picture! She's a beauty!