Cat Coughing

Neryo

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Hi all,

I have a 10 month old kitten who has been coughing at least once a day for the last 4 months. I brought her to the vet fearing it might be asthma, but they told me it's extremely rare for a kitten to develop an asthma issue. She suggested it may be some sort of acid reflux so I gave her a quarter of a Pepcid once a day as per the vets recommendation for over a week. I saw no improvement whatsoever so I stopped giving it to her. I've tried changing her food and have not seen any improvement. Then I thought maybe it was the Viralys we were giving her (because she had Calicivirus and has had flare ups) and that didn't do anything either. I'm reluctant to bring her back because I know they're going to want to do a blood test and I hate to put her through that if I don't have to. Every time I look this up all I see is asthma, but I agree with the vet that I don't believe it's that because she keeps doing this exaggerated swallowing right after she coughs. I'm not sure if it's just the Calici that's like some sort of permanent illness for her now and that's causing it or if it's some sort of allergy that I can fix myself. Do you think I should take her for the blood test? Can they diagnose allergies with a blood test? Has anyone else had an issue like this? Everyone has always been so helpful on this form, thank you in advanced.
 
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Neryo

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Oh I forgot to add that I also tried giving her hairball medication and that didn't work out either.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. Most cats are not that bothered by having blood taken - if they are going to be bothered it is more from the vet visit in general.

As far as allergies, most of those are done by testing allergens that are either suspected or common among cats - they are done by tiny pin-pricks to the skin with, or through small injections of, suspected allergens in the skin.

Hope that helps to quell some of your concerns. But, getting to the bottom of the coughing and resolving is better than avoiding blood tests.
 
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