Expert: Jessica - 11/14/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi, about a month ago my cat's voice began to change, and sounded as if she had a sore throat. After this persisted for two weeks, I took her to the vet, fearing it was an infection. Her meow sounded like a quack from a duck.

The vet gave her a check up and found nothing wrong. Then he gave her a blood test, and found no infections.

After a week her meow started to sound better, but then it became even worse. Three times I've caught her regurgitating something, but never threw it up. She swallows it back down. I think its grass that she's eating in the back yard. But I'm not entirely sure. Two days later, now she makes a vocal sound when she exhales, and her purrs sound choppy.

The entire time she's been playful and loving, chases her toys and runs around -- no behavial changes. In the morning I'm calling the vet again to make an appointment, but wanted to get your medical opinion first, as I've become very concerned now.

Thanks.



ANSWER: Hi Brian.  There are a few things to consider.  I would definitely talk to the vet about having an x-ray done to check for asthma and masses in the chest area.  Secondly, assuming this was not part of the blood tests (it usually is not), I would recommend having a feline heartworm test done.  These things can all certainly cause her coughing, gagging, choppy breathing/purring and a change in voice.

An x-ray can show obvious masses in the chest area.  It isn't so great for showing growths that may be in the throat, since the skull is in the way.  If it’s suspected that something may be higher up in the trachea, many vets will prefer to put the cat under some light anesthesia and physically look down the throat.

X-rays will also show white blotches in the lung area of a cat who has active asthma problems.  Your vet probably would have noticed wheezing on her last exam, and in some cases, eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, are high on a blood count when cats are having problems with asthma.  But I think radiographs would still be a worthwhile investment.

Feline heartworm cases are on the rise, especially in cats who go outdoors.  There is an antigen test available now that is relatively dependable.  Because cats are not the natural host for heartworms, the worms rarely make it to the heart and cause problems there.  However, they do cause significant problems in the lungs and airways.

If your cat has lost any weight or has had an increase in appetite, you may want to have her thyroid checked.  This is usually an add-on to blood tests, so check with your vet to see if this was included.  If not, it might be something worth doing, especially if your cat is getting older, since an enlarged thyroid can cause a change in voice and difficulty swallowing.  Even if her T4, the primary hormone they check on a thyroid test, is normal, she may still have hyperthyroidism.  When strongly suspected, the FREE T4 level should be checked and a T3 suppression test should be run.

Best wishes!

Jessica




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, thanks for the reply. The day after posting, I had to bring my cat to the emergency clenic. She couldn't breathe almost at all, and was extending her neck out, and had watery eyes. I took her right away after waking up.

The vet said that she had a temp of 103, her mouth was extremely swollen/irritated, red and 1/4 the size it should be. So she had to give her anesthesia to place a tube down her throat for fear of suffocation.

She said that she wanted to keep her for 3 to 4 hours and that I should come back then. During this time she shot her up with steriods and antibiotics and got a call back an hour and half later saying my cat is ready to go home. She prescribed amoxicillin and something else I can't quite pronounce. lol.

When I brought my cat home, she was breathing fairly well, she meowed, but was still in rough shape. I gave her medicine at 8, and afterwards she fell into a bad sleep, her eyes were half closed, watery and bloodshot. And she looked like she was sweating (clumpy furr), and she was moaning in pain as she breathed. But the next morning she was back to her old self.

Now a week later everything's fine, except for the original problem. Her voice is still changed. She still sounds like a duck. I gave the last of the pills as directed, and her liquid medication ends saturday night. I have a follow up appointment with my regular vet saturday morning to scope her throat for bumps or whatever.

So, I thought I'd let you know what's going on. She's okay, but not out of the woods yet. I guess this was an infection, but could it also have been an infection due to strain on her throat? I will ask the vet about what you said and see if it will shed some light.

My cat is overweight, she's 2 years old, and was spade in april. So, I don't know. I guess it could be a lot of things.

Thank you very much for your help.  

Answer
Wow, sorry to hear she took a turn for the worse!  I hope she makes a full recovery.  It's possible that the infection was the cause of her voice change rather than the infection being secondary to the strain on her throat, even though blood tests ruled out an infection.  On blood tests, bacterial infections will cause a rise in monocytes, a type of white blood cell, but viral infections don't always cause a change in white blood cell counts.  Sometimes there is a drop in neutrophils, but this is not as dependable as looking at a high monocyte count to diagnose an infection.  Even if a strictly viral infection was suspected based on blood tests, no treatment would be prescribed in many cases, since viral illnesses can't be cured.  They do, however, lower the cat's resistance to bacterial infections.  So it's possible your cat had a viral infection when she saw the vet the first time, and it couldn't be diagnosed, but she later developed a bacterial infection as a result.  However, if they do find throat polyps or tumors, this could certainly contribute to infection due to the inability of food, saliva, etc., to exit the esophagus at a normal rate.  I'm sure your vet will have lots more information than I could provide for you.

At any rate, I hope she's feeling much better soon and that the exploratory shows that she has no underlying issues!