Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an approx. 6 month old female cat. I've had her for about 3 weeks. She was born to a stray and lived outdoors before she came to us. When I knew her as a stray she had a cough and seemed to gag as if she were wanting to vomit. Since I've taken her in there is no cough but the gagging remains. When she does "vomit" there is no evidence of digestive matter, i.e. food. Instead there is only a clear, (not yellowish), mucous. She has brought up this mucous about five times that I know of in the last three weeks, but, she gags about 4 - 8 times per minute when held and petted. When she is hiding, which is 99 percent of the time, the gagging is less frequent. She eats well and makes good use of her litter box. Her stool looks normal. I can't help thinking that she hides because she is not feeling well,but, maybe it's just because she was a stray and is feeling out-of-sorts indoors. Any thoughts on this condition?

She needs a vet check just to be sure everything is OK. Ordinarily I'd think the hiding was related to being scared, but since she is gagging and vomitting something else may be wrong with her and she may be hiding because she doesn't feel well!
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

I remember when I was younger we had a cat that coughed/gagged. My mother brought it to the vets and it ended up having some type of worm. You might want to have that checked out.
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Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Moxie, Gabby and sometimes Tucker

Hi,

I am wondering if what your kitten has is a productive cough, rather than actual vomiting. Either way, a vet visit would be a good idea, as coughing/gagging/vomiting may indicate something serious going on. If this were my kitty, I would ask about having a chest x-ray done also, this may indicate a chronic problem, such as feline asthma or bronchitis. There is a characteristic pattern in the lungs when a cat has feline asthma. Your vet may also want to run a blood count to help determine if an infection is present.

Regards,
AshleyElla

Thanks AshleyElla for this response! I hope you'll come around often to give advice when needed!

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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!