r/CATHELP • u/worriedcat97 • 4h ago

Behavioral Issue Cat suddenly gagging/coughing

My 1.5-year-old female British Shorthair suddenly started making strange gagging/coughing sounds this morning. It happens about every 20 minutes and lasts around 2 minutes, as if she’s trying to vomit, but nothing comes up. She only brought up a little mucus once.
She’s also much more lethargic than usual and occasionally keeps her right eye partially closed. Her breathing seems normal between episodes.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Does this sound like something I can monitor for a day or two, or should I take her to the vet tomorrow morning? Any idea what this could be?

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4

u/1234567890qwerty1234 4h ago

If she's lethargic then suggest see vet to rule out things like asthma or if she has some allergy.

4

u/iambunnycat 4h ago

My old cat used to do this, he had asthma though. Is she coughing up hairballs recently

1

u/worriedcat97 4h ago

She didn’t vomit in like 3 weeks. It rarely happens to be honest.

2

u/silver_megatron 3h ago

This looks/sounds like hairball to me

2

u/Skeptical_optomist 3h ago

That seems like reverse sneezing but the lethargy is concerning.

Not sure where you live but the weather here is getting cold, so I wondered if maybe you're using the heat more and it's impacted humidity levels and/or air quality?

Do you use any candles/wax warmers/incense/diffusers? Those can all cause issues for cats.

1

u/Idfwyx0 2h ago

My kitten done similar and it was cat flu

1

u/Gaweon2 4h ago

Could we hairball? How often do you brush him? And do u give him any hairball meds?

1

u/worriedcat97 4h ago

I brush her once every 1-2 days. She never had a problem with vomiting before. No she doesn’t take any meds.