Expert: Ali - 1/18/2009

Question
My cat is coughing all the time.  She has been on medication for allergies and asthma.  But nothing has worked.  She is not coughing anything up.  It's started out as a dry cough but now is starting to sound loser.  This has been going on for a little over a year.  Do you have any ideas what it could be?

Answer
Tom,

Has the vet recommended chest x-rays to see if her lungs are clear or her heart is enlarged? Depending upon the age of the animal persistent coughing can mean upper respiratory infections, hairballs, pneumonia, or even congestive heart failure. Without a vet check you won't know what's going on. I would recommend that you speak with your vet about doing a pre-anesthetic blood profile and a chest x-ray at the very least. Cats don't typically cough as a result of allergies the way that people do, in most cases cats with allergies are very itchy and some even pull their fur out in an attempt to alleviate itching. As for the asthma medication I can't really comment since I really don't know enough of your cat's general health history and I'm not a qualified veterinarian. I can offer educated guesses although those are best left to a vet that you feel completely comfortable with. It's very important that you aren't intimidated by your vet because your pet's health depends on your ability to take in, understand and apply the knowledge being passed on to you by veterinary staff. I usually recommend that pet parents consider seeking out the services of a holistic veterinarian - I drive 45 minutes to ensure that my cats get the very best possible care from a vet that I respect and trust completely. A holistic veterinarian is a vet trained in conventional medicine as well as one or more alternative therapies such as homeopathy, acupuncture or even massage. You would be amazed at the results that can be obtained through using alternative therapies either by themselves or in combination with conventional medicine.

I would also recommend that you consider feeding this kitty a high quality holistic cat food made with human grade ingredients, sometimes a good diet makes all the difference in a cat's ability to fight something off. I recommend that you check out catinfo.org for some basic nutritional information, this site is done by a practicing vet and it's the same site that my family vet referred me to when I needed answers. If preparing the diet described at catinfo.org simply isn't an option for whatever reason I would recommend that you check out foods like Wellness (wet and dry) and Spot's Stew for cats by Halo (wet and dry), these are both high quality foods that I am comfortable recommending. You may experience a bit of sticker shock when you initially go to purchase a bag of food, however a 6 lb bag of Spot's Stew feeds my 3 resident cats for over a month which means that it will last at least 3 times as long in a single cat home, longer if you supplement the cat's diet with high quality canned foods (which is a good idea, the more moisture cats get in their diet the better, it ensures that their urine doesn't become overly concentrated and begin to cause health problems since cats evolved from the desert and naturally have quite concentrated urine).

According to the history that you've passed my way this is a serious ongoing issue. It sounds to me as though you are rapidly running out of patience with the vets that have treated your cat up until this point. I understand the frustration, my eldest resident cat spent the first 4 years of her life with insanely itchy ears because vets kept telling me that there wasn't anything wrong with them. My vet actually took two minutes did a swab and found one ear mite. We treated the issue and my little girl's ears have been great ever since. I believe that this is an issue that can be resolved, it's going to take some time, patience, persistence and the right veterinarian for you and your pet. I can't really offer much in the way of encouragement that you'll definitely find a vet that fits your needs perfectly since I don't know what part of the world you are in. You could also try checking out the allexperts "Ask the Vet" section, one or more doctors may be helpful in steering you in the right direction in terms of who to turn to in terms of the right veterinarian for your family.