Cat bronchitis

[Kitty-The-Cat]

My cat has periodic episodes of bronchitis - periods of dry, hacking cough - and she's been having another one lately. It doesn't seem too severe - she gets the episodes maybe a few times a year. The first couple episodes were pretty harsh, she was having coughing spells every hour or so, but the current one seems milder, at least so far. Maybe 1 or 2 coughing spells per day, some days none (that I know of).

I've been through everything trying to figure out what might be causing it. She mostly seems to have the attacks in a certain room, but I've done everything to clean out the dust and the whole bit in that room. It could be that she hangs out in that room most often, and so her coughing spells in there are just coincidence. I've also got a vaporizer in that room and have turned the heat up. Last year when she had another spell I took her to the vet who prescribed this medication, which seemed to work pretty good after a few days. I've started doing that again with the same medicine.

She also does something with her mouth after she has a coughing attack which looks like she's got some icky stuff in her mouth (phlegm, whatever).

I do not smoke, nor is there anything else in the house I can identify which looks like it might be causing it. One thing I have figured out is, cold dry air does affect it - one night a couple weeks ago she slept in my room with me. Usually I turn the heat off in my room even in the winter, because I like to sleep in the cold, and this night was no exception. Anyway, in the middle of the night my cat had one of these coughing attacks, and in the morning when she meowed it sounded like she had a sore throat (she sounded better by the afternoon).

Anyone else ever had a cat with bronchitis, and figured out a way to get rid of it or treat it successfully?

[RockyandLily]

are you sure she does not have asthma?. Lily does something similar and it is the dust and allergens on the fur that set her off so I wipe her down with cat wipes..

[Kitty-The-Cat]

^
To be honest, I'm not sure. There's a fine line between the two. The thing that makes me think it might be bronchitis is her tendency to get the episodes during cold weather (though she's had a couple attacks during the summer, most have come during the winter). When she got the cough and sore throat just from sleeping in my cold room a couple weeks ago, that really made it seem like bronchitis instead of asthma. AFAIK asthma is not set off merely by being in cold and dry air, but correct me if I'm wrong. However, everything I've read about bronchitis has said that cold and/or dry air can set off the symptoms.

[Kitty-The-Cat]

Originally Posted by Kitty-The-Cat

AFAIK asthma is not set off merely by being in cold and dry air, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Oops, I take that back:
What Are the Causes of Feline Asthma in Cats? | eHow.com

Certain foods (particularly fish), stress, vaccines, and cold, dry weather are also believed to contribute to feline asthma.

Well then, I really don't know. If it's asthma for the life of me I can't figure out what might be causing it. At one point I thought it might be the cat litter in the adjacent room (very dusty stuff) so I got rid of that and it seemed to help, but it hasn't completely gone away.

[Kitty-The-Cat]

One other thing I should mention: The first time she had one of these attacks, I took her to the vet, and they gave her an antibiotic, and quite suddenly she was fine for about 2-3 months, after which it re-occurred. If it was asthma, an antibiotic wouldn't have done any good (I don't think). But on the other hand, since it's recurred maybe it might be an environmental trigger - and asthma - after all?

I was just browsing through the following page on a website dedicated to feline asthma, and there's not really much in my house which sounds like it would be a trigger.
Feline Asthma & Other Respiratory Disorders

If it was the detergent I use, for example, why would she not *always* have these attacks since I use the same detergent all the time? It's probably not pollen since most of the attacks have come in winter. Then there's possible household cleaners:

The vapors from household solutions and sprays aggravate asthma symptoms and can sometimes bring on an attack. Liquid chlorine bleach, pine scented cleaners, scouring powder, toilet bowl cleaners and deodorizers, scented dryer sheets, fabric softener and laundry soap, powdered carpet cleaner/freshener, scented hand soap, shampoo and conditioner are just some of the basic household products to be aware of.

Sprays (aerosols) including furniture polish, oven cleaners, room deodorizers, perfumes, deodorant talcum powder, hair spray, moth balls, cedar, paint, varnish, paint thinners, incense, potpourri, and perfumed candles and the fumes and vapors from hobby and craft projects can also trigger an asthma attack. In addition, there are other things that should be left out of any asthmatic’s house.

But I rarely or never use most of those items. And the ones I *do* use I use all the time, which would not explain why her episodes are so intermittent.

[westfayetteville]

Hi There
My cat has Asthma, We treat him with pill's (Theophlline) and he uses an inhaler(flovent) he seemed to have a attack every few days until we startrd him on these med.'s Here is a video of a cat having an attack

Feline Asthma - YouTube

Feline Asthma - YouTube

[Zilla]

Question.... It says up there fish can cause these attacks.... Like real fresh fish?? Or can a kibble with majority fish cause it too you think??


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[Marcia]

We adopted our Main Coon, Winnie at 15 years old in May. Her owner had been put in to a nursing home and the daughter couldn't be bothered with a cat. Winnie was at Animal Control for over 2 months. A death sentence. She coughs and coughs all the time. I feel so bad or her. Vet says she is otherwise healthy. I've often wondered if her first mom smoked cigarettes? If she lived in a smoking home for 15 years it would be no wonder she has a chronic cough.

[Kitty-The-Cat]

OK, update.

Yesterday I (belatedly) took down my Christmas tree, which had been up since I think early or mid-November, and I turned on the heater behind it for the first time since then. It's an electric, floor-board heater. Since it hadn't been on in a while, it smelled funny when I turned it on, like burning dust or burning metal, or something. Basically it smelled like it hadn't been used in a while.

Soon afterwards my cat started coughing again. Is it possible to be sensitive to the smell of burning dust, or newly burning metal??? It's pretty obvious that was the cause, because the smell was pretty pervasive for several minutes, and that's when she started coughing.

The other thing I was wondering was this:
Toxic cat litter - Newark pet care | Examiner.com

I use a clay litter, which I use because it's low on dust. I once used one of the litters in their list of good litters (World's Best) but I stopped using it because it was so dusty, and contrary to the article I think it was, at the least, contributing to my cat's coughing. I'm now wondering about the Swheat brand on the list, but I was reading some old threads here and some people said it was pretty dusty. So I'm not sure that's a winnable proposition if it is indeed the litter: Either she coughs from the dust in the "good" litters, or she coughs from the silica in the "bad" litters.

But I don't even know if that's the cause. After her first couple coughing episodes about a year-and-a-half ago, none of her coughing episodes has been severe, but they do seem to arrive regularly.

She also does something before and/or after her coughing which looks like she's got a funny taste in her mouth. Not sure what that means.

[Yuki'sMum]

I have asthma myself and when I'm having an attack, I cough a lot and do cough up mucous. I know it's gross but that's probably what she's tasting. My cat had an asthma attack once, I recognized it right away and got her to the emergency vet. It was a reaction to paint fumes because the apartment below was being painted. The vet said cats are extremely sensitive to environmental chemicals/fumes etc. if you can, give your house a thorough vacuum, mopping and dusting. Try using natural cleaners like white vinegar or lemons. There's lots of non-toxic cleaning recipes online. It can't hurt to try good luck. Seeing your cat struggle to breathe is very upsetting, I know.


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