Is a Cat’s Intermittent Cough a Sign of Illness?

1 Cat Intermittent Coughing: Causes and Care

1. Causes of intermittent coughing in cats

1) A foreign object stuck in the throat can cause coughing; usually, once the object is coughed out there is no big problem.

2) If a cat sits in front of an air conditioner for a long time, the cold air irritates it into coughing; too much AC time can also lead to a cold with nasal discharge.

3) If the cat coughs and also wheezes, pay extra attention and confirm whether it has asthma, then treat it promptly.

4) Irritating fumes also make cats cough, so keep cats away from any strong or irritating gases to avoid triggering other problems.

2. Care tips

1) Keep food clean and don’t feed hard-to-digest food or random fish bones, to avoid a fish bone catching in the throat.

2) Keep the cat warm, especially its sleeping spot. During big day-night temperature swings it catches colds easily, so watch its condition closely.

3) If the cat has asthma, the owner must watch the air quality where the cat lives, avoid intense exercise, and give the prescribed medicine on schedule.

4) During shedding a cat swallows its own fur and coughs; clean the loose fur and offer hairball paste or cat grass.

5) Coughing can also come from a respiratory disease, usually with fever, breathing difficulty, and poor appetite — tell these apart and go to the vet in time.

6) Coughs are split into dry and wet types; a viral infection can even move from an early dry cough to a later wet cough, so watch the cough pattern to act better.

If a cat coughs with no other symptoms, it is mostly from outside causes; but if other symptoms appear, go to the vet for a proper diagnosis and treatment in time. For other questions, you can consult an online vet.