Sudden weird sneezes, plus some recent small issues

[Babypinkweeb]

Apologies for many health related things lately. I'm just worried over every little strange thing they do!

Tonight 20 mins after a regular play session, my cat Nugget was chilling on the floor when he suddenly started making this weird mix of a sneeze/cough noise. I couldn't get it on my phone fast enough, but I got it on my soundless security cam(video at the end). I've seen him sneeze before and it sounded and looked kind of different, especially with the belly movement.

After his sneeze fit, he licked his mouth quite a few times while making swallowing/gulping noises. After a minute of that, he was fine and normal. He does not have discharge from his nose and ate some food soon after with good appetite. Right now he's being his affectionate self.

I'm mostly worried since about 2 weeks ago he was just cleared of an ear infection, and recently I noticed a reddish spot on his ear opening, and he also had a one-off ear scratching/head shaking moment a few days ago after play as well. He also has been having soft stools (not diarrhea) that are super smelly for some reason even tho he was fine for several weeks on the same food when we brought him home. The only change today was I gave both cats their revolution plus treatment. The rest of the time he's totally normal. It's just a lot of little things happening and I'm not sure if it's something I need to drag him to the vet for as he already went 3 times since I adopted him a month ago.

 

[jahzara]

Looks like a cough.
I think it’s from hair stuck in the throat. All 3 of my cats have done it.
Is it deep throaty sounding like this:

As for the soft stools, did that start after you gave him the Revolution? Sounds like diarrhea is a side effect of that medication according to the VCA website:
Are there any potential side effects?
Side effects are rare. A small percentage of cats may develop hair loss at the administration site. Other rare side effects include loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle tremors, itchiness, redness, lethargy, salivation, and increased breathing rate. In dogs, seizures and incoordination have been rarely reported.
Selamectin

You can call the vet or an emergency vet and tell them you just gave him Revolution and he now has soft stool and do you need to bring him in or just keep your eye on it.

 

[Babypinkweeb]

Looks like a cough.
I think it’s from hair stuck in the throat. All 3 of my cats have done it.
Is it deep throaty sounding like this:

As for the soft stools, did that start after you gave him the Revolution? Sounds like diarrhea is a side effect of that medication according to the VCA website:
Are there any potential side effects?
Side effects are rare. A small percentage of cats may develop hair loss at the administration site. Other rare side effects include loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle tremors, itchiness, redness, lethargy, salivation, and increased breathing rate. In dogs, seizures and incoordination have been rarely reported.
Selamectin

You can call the vet or an emergency vet and tell them you just gave him Revolution and he now has soft stool and do you need to bring him in or just keep your eye on it.

Thank you so much for your reply. His favorite toy we use daily is feathers on a stick, and I pick up any fallen feathers but maybe he manage to get a tiny bit in his throat? He's never vomited since I adopted him.

The soft stools started before the Revolution sadly, about 1.5 weeks ago. Just randomly one day he left a super smelly poo and I went to scoop it right away to find it was very soft. He always poops around the same time everyday so I could monitor that it was him and not my other cat. I thought maybe he was sensitive to chicken as I recently rotated to chicken wet food for both of them, so I put him back on turkey which he ate well for previous 3 weeks but the soft poops remained. He has no other behavior changes during the soft stools and has great appetite and energy levels. I have ordered a probiotic to help him for now.

I will call the vet and ask. I want to bring him in but he's already been to the vet 3 times since I got him a month ago, plus I went to see the vet for my other cat, so money is kind of tight.

 

[Tobermory]

Mocha does this periodically. In her case, I think it's allergies. It seems to be a bit worse in the spring for her, particularly if I've had the doors open, but she does it all year. Perhaps that's what's affecting Nugget. Never hurts to check in with your vet. Perhaps you could email a video of Nugget doing this.

 

[jahzara]

Thank you so much for your reply. His favorite toy we use daily is feathers on a stick, and I pick up any fallen feathers but maybe he manage to get a tiny bit in his throat? He's never vomited since I adopted him.

The soft stools started before the Revolution sadly, about 1.5 weeks ago. Just randomly one day he left a super smelly poo and I went to scoop it right away to find it was very soft. He always poops around the same time everyday so I could monitor that it was him and not my other cat. I thought maybe he was sensitive to chicken as I recently rotated to chicken wet food for both of them, so I put him back on turkey which he ate well for previous 3 weeks but the soft poops remained. He has no other behavior changes during the soft stools and has great appetite and energy levels. I have ordered a probiotic to help him for now.

I will call the vet and ask. I want to bring him in but he's already been to the vet 3 times since I got him a month ago, plus I went to see the vet for my other cat, so money is kind of tight.

It could have been a feather. He could also be working on a hairball. My last cat would have a cough episode and a day or two later produce a hairball. So hers was definitely related to hair.
If it's more frequent and doesn't come with a hairball within a few days, apparently it can be a sign of asthma as well. So just keep an eye on it.

The soft stools is more interesting. Smelly poop is typically a sign of food not agreeing with them. I went through skin allergies with my last cat. I might look up some common food allergies for cats and how to identify them and take it from there. A different brand might be a good idea. What brand are you using? Store brands are terrible. They can really mess with their digestive tract. My boys have never had issues with food, but during the pandemic, I had to rely on pet food banks. I got a store brand from them and one of my boys started vomiting. Since switching him back to the foods I like for them, his stomach issues have resolved.

Also be sure to slowly mix his current food with the new food and switch him over gradually cause sudden food changes can aggravate the digestive tract as well.

There are parasites that can cause it as well. Do you have a thermometer, preferably with thermometer covers? If he has a fever, that can help point more towards a parasite or illness. Make sure to lubricate it as well (human lube actually works great! hah)

When you do call for the stool, also mention the cough he had in case they are related in some way. They might still want him to come in, but at least you can get a feel for if it's urgent or if it can wait a little bit till you get the funds and in the mean time can see if another food and the probiotics does anything to resolve things to hopefully avoid a vet visit all together.

 

[Babypinkweeb]

Mocha does this periodically. In her case, I think it's allergies. It seems to be a bit worse in the spring for her, particularly if I've had the doors open, but she does it all year. Perhaps that's what's affecting Nugget. Never hurts to check in with your vet. Perhaps you could email a video of Nugget doing this.

I'll ask if my vet has email options! I never thought about allergies since our windows are almost always open since he loves looking out of it but we never saw him react outside if these individual instances.

It could have been a feather. He could also be working on a hairball. My last cat would have a cough episode and a day or two later produce a hairball. So hers was definitely related to hair.
If it's more frequent and doesn't come with a hairball within a few days, apparently it can be a sign of asthma as well. So just keep an eye on it.

The soft stools is more interesting. Smelly poop is typically a sign of food not agreeing with them. I went through skin allergies with my last cat. I might look up some common food allergies for cats and how to identify them and take it from there. A different brand might be a good idea. What brand are you using? Store brands are terrible. They can really mess with their digestive tract. My boys have never had issues with food, but during the pandemic, I had to rely on pet food banks. I got a store brand from them and one of my boys started vomiting. Since switching him back to the foods I like for them, his stomach issues have resolved.

Also be sure to slowly mix his current food with the new food and switch him over gradually cause sudden food changes can aggravate the digestive tract as well.

There are parasites that can cause it as well. Do you have a thermometer, preferably with thermometer covers? If he has a fever, that can help point more towards a parasite or illness. Make sure to lubricate it as well (human lube actually works great! hah)

When you do call for the stool, also mention the cough he had in case they are related in some way. They might still want him to come in, but at least you can get a feel for if it's urgent or if it can wait a little bit till you get the funds and in the mean time can see if another food and the probiotics does anything to resolve things to hopefully avoid a vet visit all together.

I see! I've been brushing him daily but it's definitely possible since he sheds a lot lately. I also suspected asthma immediately but looking it up and he doesn't show other symptoms and the reaction seemed to be one-off (for now).

I feed him pure vita turkey wet and Rawz pate. When I got him, I gave him only the pure vita turkey for a week to see how his poop will be, and he was making good poops daily. From there I fed the same thing for 2 weeks with tiny bits of other flavors mixed in to get him exposed to other flavors, such as Rawz pate turkey, chicken, tiki cat puka puka chicken. Occasionally he gets a churu or orijen lamb treat when I need to clip his nails or brush him. He ate the mixed foods well for 2 weeks and then randomly one day just had soft poop, and it continued daily from there. I've since then put him back only on pure vita turkey but it's still been going.

He was cleared of parasites during the basic fecal exam when I first got him with my vet. I'm not sure if he has a fever but sometimes his ex-ear infection ear is warmer than his other ear. I will def call the vet about this just to ask.