Help! Choking or hair ball???

nori.lychee.sesame

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My cat Lychee rarely has any hairballs, but when he does, we usually find it somewhere in the house. While him and I were cuddling, he got up suddenly and started to wheeze/cough for about two minutes (video attached). You can see in the video that in between his coughs, he’s sitting back down, asking for pets, etc so we were unsure if he’s choking or not.

We have had previous concerns with him possibly having asthma as we noticed that when he plays heavily for an extended period of time, he ends up panting for the next couple of minutes. Is this wheezing something to be concerned about?

Thank you for any insight!
 

di and bob

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Panting after extended exertion is not uncommon and normal. At this time of the year, it may be allergies too. If he was choking it wouldn't quit and he wouldn't be calm. Give him a tsp. of butter a couple of times a week, that is what I do for my cat's hairballs, or get some hairball treatment and see if that helps. Or put a little bit of oil in his food a couple of times a week. Usually, hairballs sound more like throwing up, but they could also be just getting to the point they bother him in his stomach.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. For some reason I couldn't look at the video. But, I will say that sometimes Feeby will have hacking/wheezing-type bouts, without anything being thrown up, a couple of days before actually coughing up a hairball - sometimes longer. There are times I believe she is able to 'dislodge' a hairball by those hacking events and then they manage to pass on through her system. So, hopefully that is all it is.

Don't know how old Lychee is, but I don't recall Feeby doing it as much when she was much younger. Although, it is the opposite of what I have heard from others, I think Feeby grooms more than she used to so she has more hair she is ingesting nowadays. For her, that seems to make a difference - or, perhaps her digestive system just doesn't function as well as it once did!
 

fionasmom

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To me, it looks as if he is trying to get something up, like a hairball. I do have a cat who wheezed due to an allergy (allergen removed) and it was very distinct from the hairball sound.
 
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nori.lychee.sesame

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Thank you everyone for your help! We were mostly worried because there was no hair ball that came out after and it happened for a couple of minutes. It was the first time we’d seen anything like that from him. He’s only about a year and a half, so maybe that’s why we haven’t either.
 
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