My cat coughs when waking from naps. Should I be concerned?

Hello and thank you for reaching out about your cat. The most common causes for coughing in a cat of his age are: heart disease and bronchitis/asthma. Other, but less likely causes: infection or parasite. When a cat is coughing it is very important to get him to the vet so a doctor can listen to his heart and lungs and take an xray. This will help to determine which medication(s) would be best to treat his cough. Thank you.

Hello, sorry to hear about Klo. Ideally, any cough should be evaluated by a veterinarian especially if it is newly developed and there is nasal or ocular discharge concurrently. Potential causes for this cough include anything infections such as a pneumonia or something associated with heart disease. Regardless, Klo should be evaluated to determine the underlying cause of the cough. Hope this helps and best of luck

I have small children too and know how that goes! In general, if Tickys is breathing easily, acting normally, walking well, eating well, etc I am not terribly worried that your daughter did any harm. That being said, any coughing that is severe or lasts more than a day is an indication to see your vet. It is possible it is just a hair ball but coughing can also be caused by other, more serious things such as infection, pneumonia, inflammatory airway disease, and other. Your vet may recommend x-rays or other testing to help narrow it down.

In cats, this is usually related to asthma, hairballs or a heart problem. Because of his young age, I would not rule out a respiratory infection. If it persists for more than a day, I would recommend taking him to the vet in order to get it checked.

If Jolly has mucous built up in her lungs while she is sleeping, she may be coughing to clear that mucous. This is common in older animal and people, but is abnormal in a young cat. Ventolin will not normally make a difference with this because the cough is not caused by the airways closing, but instead because of the mucous in them. I am attaching a link to a handout on asthma below. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=665 I would recommend discussing this with your veterinarian. They may want to consider an antibiotics like Doxycycline or Zithromax since those often work better for upper respiratory problems in young cats or a steroid inhaler before bed in case there is abnormal mucous production. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

He could have a respiratory infection, allergies, or heart disease. If it continues, have him examined by a vet to diagnose. Your vet can take an x-ray to evaluate his heart and lungs. He might need an antibiotic, anti-histamine, corticosteroid, bronchodilator, or other medications.

Hello, and thank you for your question. The most common cause of coughing in kittens is an upper respiratory infection, due to an underlying viral infection such as herpesvirus. Along with this, you may notice sneezing, runny eyes or runny nose. Other possibilities would include pneumonia (lung infection), hairball cough, or feline asthma (which would be rare in a young kitten). If Ash's coughing is continuing overnight, I would recommend taking him in to the vet tomorrow morning. They can perform a full physical exam, check for fever or dehydration, and prescribe the appropriate antibiotic medication if an infection is suspected. If Ash seems to be getting worse tonight, is having trouble breathing, or is lethargic, I would suggest getting him to the emergency vet tonight. Kittens can decompensate quickly, so it is important to get him stabilized soon if he is worsening. Hopefully this is not the case with Ash. I hope this helps, and that Ash feels better soon!