Coughing while purring

[cooneya98]

Hello!
Gracie is an 8 month old cat who was adopted from the shelter. She has been having a cough for months. Sometimes if is just a cough or two, sometimes it is a fit. I have been keeping track of when she coughs and what she is doing. It seems to happen mostly when she is purring. She will cough hard and swallow back down. Never coughing anything up. Her breathing has always seemed a little faster than normal to me. She also sneezes almost daily but it is at random times.

We tried 2 weeks of Doxy, no help. Chest imaging was normal. Her VHS is 8.0. I’m looking for advice, next steps here?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, would your vet be willing to consult with a university medical veterinary department?

 

[cooneya98]

I have no idea. They want to run bloodwork and another fecal sample to rule out cardiac issues or parasites.

 

[stephanietx]

This happens to my asthma kitty, especially on days when allergies are bad. Her chest x-ray wasn't clear, but it also didn't seem to indicate asthma until I showed my vet several videos of her coughing and hard swallowing.

 

[NekoM]

From experience her VHS is on the high end for a kitten, but as she grows that generally drops.
From what I can tell you’ve had the routine tests. Did the vet mention having a CT scan? Because the origin of purring and coughing are next to each other at the lower jaw and upper throat, and polyps in that area are not rare in kittens and young cats. I’m not a vet but it makes sense to scan the point of origin.

 

[fionasmom]

If you had an x ray, you might need more sophisticated imaging as was suggested, or even an endoscopic procedure. Ruling out cardiac issues is reasonable.

 

[cooneya98]

This happens to my asthma kitty, especially on days when allergies are bad. Her chest x-ray wasn't clear, but it also didn't seem to indicate asthma until I showed my vet several videos of her coughing and hard swallowing.

hmm her x-rays were clear. The vet said she is young for typical asthma onset but we aren’t ruling it out yet. I have showed her multiple videos.

 

[cooneya98]

From experience her VHS is on the high end for a kitten, but as she grows that generally drops.
From what I can tell you’ve had the routine tests. Did the vet mention having a CT scan? Because the origin of purring and coughing are next to each other at the lower jaw and upper throat, and polyps in that area are not rare in kittens and young cats. I’m not a vet but it makes sense to scan the point of origin.

She was 7 months when imaging was done. I saw a study that kittens 3-6 mo show a higher VHS. My vet didn’t have an answer as if that was why hers was higher and if she is still growing in that area. They did not mention a CT. Just ruling out heart issues and potentially lung worms. I was going to ask for a PCR panel too

 

[cooneya98]

If you had an x ray, you might need more sophisticated imaging as was suggested, or even an endoscopic procedure. Ruling out cardiac issues is reasonable.

That makes sense. She has a follow up in a month and I think I will bring all of these points up.