Food options for hacking/coughing caused by possible allergies?

[LillysMom]

Update: I fed my girl grain-free turkey again yesterday, and so far, no coughing or hacking at all! I'm now moving ahead and will alternate between fish/salmon and turkey --always grain-free-- and continue to watch her carefully. I had cut out all treats, but found some freeze-dried salmon (salmon is the only ingredient) at Petsmart yesterday and tried that, to Lilly's delight. I'm still cautiously optimistic that a chicken allergy may have been THE problem. Will post if anything changes. It's such a relief to see my kitty not coughing for a change!

 

[Furballsmom]

WOOHOO YOU ROCK!!

 

[LillysMom]

Well, I may have spoken too soon. Tried the grain-free turkey again yesterday, exactly one week after the last (second) time -- this was the third time in all. Unfortunately, today she coughed and hacked for about 90 seconds. No more turkey and back to whitefish and salmon for now. As always, will post if anything changes.

And to think that my vet never wanted to test for food allergies! He said Lilly didn't have the usual symptoms of food allergies, which according to him are stomach and skin issues. All she had was coughing/hacking with no vomit or hairballs, ever.

I'll keep watching her.

 

[Furballsmom]

Thank you for the update, she's so lucky to have you!!

 

[LillysMom]

Thank you for the update, she's so lucky to have you!!

Thank you, but I'm the lucky one. She's my adorable furbaby!

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[duckpond]

another suggestion may be to try changing your litter? If it is dusty, and most are coughing hacking and sneezing can result. Two of my cats had a problem with this when i used clay litter, or some of the dustier plant based litters. I switched to a grass litter, there are several on the market now, no dust, and Dr. Elseys respiratory relief crystal litter, no more dust, no fragrance, no more symptoms

 

[LillysMom]

another suggestion may be to try changing your litter? If it is dusty, and most are coughing hacking and sneezing can result. Two of my cats had a problem with this when i used clay litter, or some of the dustier plant based litters. I switched to a grass litter, there are several on the market now, no dust, and Dr. Elseys respiratory relief crystal litter, no more dust, no fragrance, no more symptoms

TThank you. That was one of the first things I tried. I switched to an unscented, dust-free litter but didn't notice much significant improvement since she was still on an all-chicken diet at the time. I've stayed with this litter, though. My house is so much cleaner as a result!

 

[DanielBunbury]

I've had the same problem with one of my Siamese cats... Coughing, and occasionally short bouts of something I'd call reverse hiccups and abdominal spasms. It also resulted in nasal congestion which was cleared by the antibiotic Doxoral, which also temporarily cured the cough. Vet could not hear problems in the lungs, and suggested x-rays and/or a nasal canal exam, both very expensive procedures and without a clear expectation of what it might be, I'm not going to spend that kind of money. I read that asthma is commonly caused by allergies or adverse reactions to chemicals, so I started eliminating possible culprits such as changing their litter to an unscented, untreated wood-based litter, and not using fabric softener. That didn't help, but I would recommend doing it anyway for the breathing health of your cats. I also tried a new type of scratch post with a more tightly-woven and less smelly sisal (who knows what the factories in China treat their sisal rope with, that makes it smell so strong). Finally, I eliminated their wet food altogether (almost all wet foods have a few common ingredients and may even be made in the same factories). Now they get dry food only, plus slices of chicken as treats (which they like better anyway). The coughing etc. has stopped!

So my advice is to eliminate all such culprits in your cat's environment. You may not find out exactly which one was the cause, but it will always be beneficial to your cats... and their owners too!

 

[lisahe]

We also have a Siamese mix -- a lynx mix, too! -- who had a hacking problem. She hacked two or three times before I realized it wasn't an attempt to cough up a hairball. After some reading, I switched the cats' litter to Dr. Elsey's Respiratory Relief (which, by coincidence, I happened to have on hand) and the problem went away. That was over four years ago. Dr. Elsey's is expensive but it's been completely worth it, both for Ireland and for us! (Fresh Step was so perfumed and dusty!)

As for diet, the cats eat a high-protein, lowest-possible carb, grain- and carrageenan-free diet; they have other health quirks, too, so there are lots of reasons to avoid ingredients like potatoes (which make our snowshoe mix vomit) that can cause sensitivities. Our cats quickly proved the vet right when she told me at their initial exam that Siamese (and mixes) tend to have digestive and respiratory issues! In our case, it's worked very well to look for the simplest possible wet recipes so there are as few potential irritants as possible. We feed a combination of raw, homemade cooked, and canned foods -- the cats really thrive on that and the vet's very happy with how they look.

Ireland does, very occasionally, cough and sneeze slightly if she snarfles up dust (she loves doing that) or even her own fur when she's grooming, so I try to remember to keep floors clean under the furniture. I agree with D DanielBunbury about avoiding chemicals, too: I've cut back on a lot of cleaning fluids, avoid fragrances in detergent, etc., though it really seems it was the dust from scented Fresh Step litter that was triggering Ireland the worst. I told the vet what happened with the hacking but we, too, never had Ireland tested for asthma: the expense and the stress just seemed too great, particularly given the fact that her coughing is so very minimal now. The main thing is that we keep an eye on her and the vet knows what happened.

Speaking of stress, most advice on feline asthma mentions stress as a factor. Ireland is a pretty high-strung cat: she and her sister are rescue cats from a household with too many cats, and they were horribly underfed when we adopted them.

Anyway, good luck LillysMom , I hope you're able to figure out what to do for Lilly! (Maybe you've already found a solution since your last post? I hope so!)

 

[kitty chew]

My cat also has a cough. I think it may be asthma. Taken her to the vet a few times, and they say it's nothing to worry about. Finally I found a vet that agreed it might be asthma. Have to get xrays done now. Not sure about food allergies. It could be, but I thought they are usually more stomach or skin related problems. Let us know what happens.

 

[DanielBunbury]

@lisaha Regarding stress being a factor, indeed. My cat that had the coughing is relatively high stress - complete opposite of her sister (Siamese twins ;-)). It's not the cause of the reactions, but perhaps it makes them more susceptible to reactions/allergies.

 

[DanielBunbury]

My cat also has a cough. I think it may be asthma. Taken her to the vet a few times, and they say it's nothing to worry about. Finally I found a vet that agreed it might be asthma. Have to get xrays done now. Not sure about food allergies. It could be, but I thought they are usually more stomach or skin related problems. Let us know what happens.

Personally, I think asthma is overrated. Not that it's not a problem, but it's almost always caused by external sources and not specifically a health problem with the cat. Treatment with steroids is expensive and shortens the life of the cat. The very best you can do is eliminate as many chemicals in the air and food as possible. Smoking, air fresheners, scented candles, incense, toilet blocks, treated/scented litter, fabric softeners etc. etc. are all bad for your cat's airways... The smells of cat food are inhaled, and who knows what gets added to make them more appealing, so try fresh chicken or fish as an alternative. Vets and doctors tend to prefer seeing things as illnesses and treating them with medicines, but if you can avoid them, you do your cat a great favour (and s/he'll be around longer).

 

[Furballsmom]

Regarding the stress factor, have you considered any of the many calming products, in addition to feliway? There are a couple of websites other than the usual you could look at--Only Natural Pet and Lambert Vet Supply, and there are treats, collars, sprays and diffusers, and a LOT of different ingredients including prescriptions for major stress-heads - as I understand it from another member, Gabapentin is good for travel and amitriptyline can help with general anxiety and OCD (like excessive grooming).
Also there's a thread you could take a look at; Calming Treats For A Very Picky Cat

 

[DanielBunbury]

Regarding the stress factor, have you considered any of the many calming products, in addition to feliway? There are a couple of websites other than the usual you could look at--Only Natural Pet and Lambert Vet Supply, and there are treats, collars, sprays and diffusers, and a LOT of different ingredients including prescriptions for major stress-heads - as I understand it from another member, Gabapentin is good for travel and amitriptyline can help with general anxiety and OCD (like excessive grooming).
Also there's a thread you could take a look at; Calming Treats For A Very Picky Cat

Tried various natural products, but apparently I have two cats which are part of the 20% of cats which are genetically completely unaffected by catnip, valerian root, mint, etc. etc. Basically I think the one cat which is more sensitive to stress would prefer to spend days hunting outside for tasty birdies, but alas, going outside is not an option for them where we live (3rd floor condo).

 

[maggiedemi]

Chicken and Fish do not have the nutrients in them that cats need unless you are adding supplements to them. I would also be careful of a mostly dry food diet, it could cause urinary problems. Believe me, I know.

 

[duckpond]

Personally, I think asthma is overrated. Not that it's not a problem, but it's almost always caused by external sources and not specifically a health problem with the cat. Treatment with steroids is expensive and shortens the life of the cat. The very best you can do is eliminate as many chemicals in the air and food as possible. Smoking, air fresheners, scented candles, incense, toilet blocks, treated/scented litter, fabric softeners etc. etc. are all bad for your cat's airways... The smells of cat food are inhaled, and who knows what gets added to make them more appealing, so try fresh chicken or fish as an alternative. Vets and doctors tend to prefer seeing things as illnesses and treating them with medicines, but if you can avoid them, you do your cat a great favour (and s/he'll be around longer).

I agree with the eliminating all those things from the environment. However be careful with feeding fresh chicken, and especially fish. Unless you are doing raw foods correctly you can cause more health issues than the asthma. lack of vitamins and minerals is a big problem!

 

[DanielBunbury]

When I write "fresh", I don't mean raw. Cooked and either tinned or as sandwich meat slices (yes, I always check ingredients/additives). It's only as an additional treat, their dry food is corn-free and complete.

 

[DanielBunbury]

Oh, and my pussies drink plenty of water, so potential urinary problems due to dry food is not a problem. The junk in the fluid of most wet food is worse than dry food and fresh water. Try heating and stirring your wet food in a pan on the stove, and you'll likely see it's not chunky meat, but compressed particles held together with starches and gums which disintegrate (and they charge more per kilo than human food!). If you're concerned, buy extra cat vitamins, minerals etc., available at every good pet store.

 

[maggiedemi]

I have to respectfully disagree that dry food is better than canned food. I saw dry food give my cats urinary problems with my own eyes.