7 Reasons of Cat Cough

Cats are one of the common pets for household. Like human beings, cats may also cough under some circumstances. If you notice your cat frequently coughing, you should find out what is wrong with its body. Here are 7 reasons that can explain cat’s cough.

1. Foreign objects stuck in throat

The most common cause of cats' cough is that they get hair balls or food stuck in throat, which causing them to cough until they throw it up. Normally, you don't need to worry too much, but if your cat seems unable to cough up the foreign object by itself, you need to take it to the hospital and let veterinarian take it out.

2. Dusty surroundings

Cat may also cough when there is too much dust in its litter box or your house. The cat litter with poor quality contains more dust and gets worse when you do not cleaned it often. It is easy to accumulate a lot of dust if the room is not cleaned frequently, especially in a dry weather. The dust gets inhaled by cats, then causing coughing and sneezing.

3. Asthma

About 1% of cats cough because of asthma, a chronic disease that is usually congenital, but may also be triggered by smoke or perfume. Cough caused by asthma is more frequent, it may happen several times a day and last for several minutes each time. A serious asthma can lead to dyspnea or even suffocation, which is life-threatening so you should take your cat to hospital as soon as possible before it gets irreparable.

4. Respiratory tract infection

If a cat suffers from upper respiratory tract infection diseases such as the Feline viral rhinotracheitis, its throat will become inflamed because of virus infection. It often occurs when a cat exposed to a lot of other cats outdoors, such as at an animal shelter. The cat will cough, sneeze, have runny nose, fever and other symptoms.

5. Nasopharyngeal polyps

A mass caused by chronic inflammation of the nasal cavity or throat usually produces mucus and hinders breathing, which may cause your cat’s cough, sound changes or snoring. You should go to the hospital to see if it needs surgical removal.

6. Physical injury

When a cat gets physically injured due to falling, car crash, or beating, there may be intratracheal hemorrhage or lung punctured, which makes it hard to breathe. In that case, the cat must be sent to see a veterinarian and get rescued immediately.

7. Pneumonia

Pneumonia is one of the reasons that can make your cat cough. It may also experience fever, lack of appetite, lethargic, and dyspnea. Usually, pneumonia is a sequela caused by a long-term cold, but it may also be caused by bacterial, virus, parasite, protozoan(such as Toxoplasma gondii), or fungal infection.

Under normal circumstances, cats will not cough. As a pet owner, you should keep warm indoors to avoid your cat catching cold and always pay attention to the health condition of it at the same time.