My cat's cough is worsening, but vets can't find a cause. What's next?

I agree with you that a cough that lasts more than a month is longer than I would expect if she was coughing secondary to a cold or infection. I would expect that the next step would be to take x-rays of her chest to evaluate her heart and lungs. You didn't mention how old Winnie is, but we certainly see asthma in cats. I will attach a handout with more information about that below. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=665 Good luck! I hope that was helpful and you can figure out what is causing Winnie's cough. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Hi and thank you for using Petcoach. Unfortunately, there can be many possible reasons for a cat having a chronic cough, just as there are in people. Parasites can cause coughing in some cases, so it may be worth getting a broad spectrum dewormer and treating Jarbou. Other causes for coughing can be viral infection (feline upper respiratory complex), bacterial infection, foreign body or asthama/allergies/bronchitis. There really is no good way to know the difference without a vet exam and probably x-rays. Keep watch on his overall health and make sure that he continues to thrive, is on a good quality diet and deworming is a good start. Make sure there is no smoke, oils or other fumes present in his area. Here are some articles for more info. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1596 http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=665

Poor guy. I am so sorry Bogos is still not doing well after receiving antibiotics for his cough. It sounds like the next best step here is to get some x-rays done on him or potentially try another type of antibiotic. Sometimes infections can be resistant to antibiotics, requiring cultures to specifically find what antibiotic will get rid of the bug. Hopefully this is just a resistant infection that will respond to something else. Other potential causes for coughing in cats are: primary lung disease, parasites, or even a fungal lung infection. I hope that things work out well for your pet Bogos. Schedule an appt soon with your vet and they will go from there. Take care.

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.

Poor kiity. THis is a very long time to have a cough. Permanent changes to his lungs are highly likely at this point, so the cough may never go away compleely, but we can at least do things to improve it. The first step here is to find out the underlying cause for the cough. Hiro needs to have x-rays taken of his chest to get a proper diagnosis. Once we know the underlying cause for the cough, then we can know what specific treatment he needs. Coughing can be caused by numerous things including: bronchitis, heart disease, fungal disease, or even a lung parasite. I would also recommen baseline bloodwork so that we can get an overall health assessment of Hiro and also look for further clues to solidify the diagnosis. He is likely peeing outside the litterbox now b/c he is stressed. Cats especially get stress cystitis (inflammation of the bladder). Other possible causes would be urinary crystals. He needs a urinalysis to find out for sure here so that he can start treatment for this also. I do hope that Hiro's cough improves soon! Best wishes moving forwrd. Take care!

I suspect she may be allergic to something in your new apartment. It could be allergy to plants or pollen but some allergies in cats are triggered by floor cleaners, dust, new carpets etc. Also, coughing in cats is often a sign of asthma, so maybe Mia has mild asthma ? Sometimes this kind of allergies or mild asthmatic attacks are very difficult to diagnose. The common way to go to in such cases is prescribing anti-allergic / anti-asthmatic treatment for 1-2 weeks. I would suggest you to discuss that with your vets.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am afraid that without diagnostics such as radiographs there is no way to tell what may be going on. This is not likely to be due to a hairball. Coughing can be a sign of many conditions such as pneumonia, bronchitis, heart disease, among many other possibilities. I recommend that you have Max evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Likely diagnostics to be performed include thoracic radiographs and bloodwork. Treatment would be dependent on findings. Good luck and have a good day!