Hi all – hoping someone can help. My Himalayan cat who is 10 years old and weighs about 14 pounds has had an ongoing issue. I’ve spent $1700 and seen 3 vets and still am not sure what’s happening with him or if I should be alarmed. Back in 2012 he started coughing like he had a hairball. After a few days of treating hairballs he did not get better so I took him to the vet. She said he sounded a tad wheezy, prescribed prednisone and it cleared up almost immediately. I changed his litter to a dust free kind and rid the house of any air fresheners and am now very careful with any cleaning products, etc. around the house, etc. He never coughed again and all was well. Cut to December 2019 and the coughing started up again. No cat likes the vet, but my little Houdini is a nightmare to get in the carrier, pees and poops on himself, etc. He’s like a rabid possum. So, I gave it a few days and then called an in-home vet. He said he didn’t hear any wheezing or crackling and thought it was more allergies than asthma. He prescribed a 10 day course of prednisone. After 2 days he was fine again, but then 3 weeks later the cough came back. So this time I took him to his regular vet clinic (nightmare that it was). Like the home vet, she said he didn’t sound wheezy but they did $800 worth of tests. They did x-rays, which I wanted, a blood test, a senior cat blood panel, and a urinalysis. Everything came back great. The x-rays showed his lungs were clear and his heart was not enlarged. His blood work was also good. This vet wanted to wait before more prednisone and thought we should discuss an asthma inhaler if it did not clear up. I waited a few weeks and had another in-home vet come see him (the first in-home vet was no longer in business). This time we did another $900 worth of blood tests and all was good. I showed him a video I had taken and 2 seconds in he said, “That’s not asthma, that’s a hairball”. So, we started a few hairball treatments (special food and a laxatone gel) and an acid reflux medicine, (another $100) but his coughing issue has not changed. He still has a coughing ‘session’ at least once a day, sometimes 2 or 3 times. Some a very mild one with a few light coughs, and others go one for a few minutes – not straight coughing but on and off for around 5 min. He never seems stressed after or even during. He just kind of goes on like normal. So, 3 vets and 3 diagnoses. This may just be something he’ll have for the rest of his life that is not harmful, or it is asthma, which worries me, but with clear x-rays can that be true? Also, he has not coughed up or pooped out any hairballs so that is also worrisome. His appetite is great – he’s always been a little piggy – and he poops regularly. Any insight or ideas would be great.
Thank you!!
Thank you!!
