Hi there! As the title says, I have a very elderly cat (17), and besides some dental issues and arthritis, she’s very healthy for her age (as of last vet visit earlier this year, at least). Of course this happened over New Years weekend, so vet will be out of the office until Monday, just wanted some peoples thoughts and experiences in the interim.
Her arthritis and teeth sometimes bother her a lot, so we have some gabapentin on hand for episodes where she’s clearly having issues eating or walking, but it’s traumatic to give it to her so I avoid putting her through that every day.
About a week ago I noticed she was sleeping a bit more than usual, I figured she’d just been in a bit more pain than usual, she tends to sleep more when her hips hurt more.
Today she was pretty needy, wanted cuddled and held a lot, and I noticed her meowing loudly from whatever room she was in until I came in to see her, at which point she’d follow me out. An hour or so ago she came up from her bed in the basement (her favorite spot), I heard her stop behind where I was sitting and start making this hacking / wheezing sound. I fully expected her to have a hairball or vomit, but she wasn’t arching her back or opening her mouth, at which point I realized she was likely coughing / wheezing. The fit ended within a few minutes, but I’ve not seen that happen to her before.
She hasn’t eaten a whole bunch today, but she does tend to normally have days where she doesn’t eat much, so I’m not sure if she’s had any loss of appetite. She’s currently in her “nip box” (cardboard box I put some fresh catnip in every day) sleeping it off.
I’ve had a mild cold for the last few days (no, not THE virus, just sniffles and sneezing mostly), I’m wondering if anyone knows if it possible I passed it to her? I don’t think she’s ever had a cold before because she’s strictly indoors, but I myself have an immunodeficiency disorder, so I do catch bugs that other people usually would not.
Any thoughts? Could it be something I gave to her? Anything I should watch out for? Does this sound like a cat cold?
Just a bit at a loss of how to help her for now
EDIT: totally forgot to add, she had a somewhat loose stool today, but she generally does have a sensitive tummy given her age. We are on a pure soft foods diet for her due to her teeth being sensitive as well.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ko2nnf/elderly_cat_coughing_wheezing_suddenly/
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