Kitten Swallows a lot when Purring

[paws4critters]

I adopted a new kitten when he was about 7 wks old. He is now 3 1/2 mos old. He is a med to long hair. His mother is a black & white med to long hair. His father is believed to be a Siamese tabby. He has not been to a vet yet, as they told me to wait until he was 3 mos old.

He has an appt for Monday 7/20/09 to get his shots and to check out this issue…When you hold him and he begins to purr hard, he begins to swallow hard. You can see him actually swallow like as if you are gulping.

Earlier this week…He and one of the older cats were together when he gagged/choked/coughed or something. I thought they were playing together and the older cat maybe bit him around the throat causing him to choke. It took him about a half hour of swallowing hard to get back to normal. A few days went by. Then I was at the refrigerator and he was behind me. The same adult cat was beside me. The kitten did the same gag/choke/cough again. So, I turned around, and the adult cat, who was beside me, went to him as well. I don’t believe they were together when it happened.

Now, putting the gagging/choking/coughing together with the swallowing hard when purring hard, I am wondering what it could be. I mentioned it to the vet’s office when I made the appt. Of course, I didn’t speak to the vet, just the receptionist. She had us on-call if they got a cancellation today, Friday, but they didn’t call.

He has been wormed once when we found he had fleas. Got rid of the fleas. Don’t know if he has or had worms. He eats with an unbelievable appetite; so, I wonder. We will mention all this to the vet when he goes on Monday.

I have a cat with asthma, but she got asthma due to her being spayed. I know that happens sometimes with anesthesia. I also had two cats with a weird eye infection recently. None of the other 6 cats or the kitten has showed signs of that yet. Thank God. I get nervous when one gets sick.

Have you heard of kittens having gag attacks or swallowing hard when purring hard? Thanks!

[Jim Humphries, B.S., D.V.M.]

With that symptom, I would probably want to see x-rays of the chest and throat.  It is possible there is something going on with heart and lungs and even throat and trachea.  

Some pets (dogs and cats) do not like being upside down.  However with the other symptoms you describe after being on her back, I believe I would want to know for sure she was not having a medial issue within the chest.  I would also want to examine the mouth and back of the throat very well.

[paws4critters]

I am posting this here as a follow up because we can not figure out what is wrong and because I have to wait until Monday to get to talk to our vet, as she was not in the office today.

Regarding the kitten above. We have tried to figure out if there is more to what appears to be difficulty breathing.

In addition to the above mentioned, we have noticed he begins to have a problem breathing more when he is on his back. We initially thought the problem was with him purring. This is what we know now...

When we hold him, cradling him like a baby, in our arms, he begins to struggle to right himself up off his back. He begins to lick at the air. He also begins thrusting his head from side to side. If it goes far enough, he will begin to make a slight noise kind of similar to a faint cry or wheeze. Also if gone this far, he will breathe with his mouth open slightly. He does not go as far as panting.

He has a great appetite, eating about 1/4 - 1/2 of a 5.5 oz can of cat food per meal. He drinks regularly and uses the litter box regularly. He plays with cat toys and the other cats just fine.

When we mentioned the difficulty breathing at his last vet visit, Aug 10th; however, we only told her he seems to have a problem when he is purring. She listened to his heart and lungs. She could not determine anything out of the ordinary. Now I think we have figured out he has these problems when he is lying on his back. I wonder if she could not determine what was going on because he was standing on the little exam table. I wonder if she could have heard anything if he were on his back. I told her at his visit I was hoping to find out what might be the problem before he under goes anesthesia for neutering.

Do you have any ideas what would cause a kitten to have appear to have breathing issues while lying on his back?

Thanks in advance. I will be calling them on Monday.

[Jim Humphries, B.S., D.V.M.]

Sounds like classic "hair balls" to me.  Although it is not actually hair or balls, that's the term.  Cats groom and especially medium to long haired breeds will shed / ingest little bits of fur.  Sometimes this amount is barely visible.  But when sitting in the back of the throat it will tickle, cause slight irritation and cause the coughing / gagging reflex exactly as you describe.  

Have the veterinarian look carefully in the back of the throat and see if any is present.  

Good grooming, even on these young kitties, and there are various easily available lubricating pastes you can give cats that have this problem.  

It comes and goes in cats.  Some will have the annoying problem all their life, others can accumulate enough hair in their stomach to actually create a problem that becomes a surgical correction.  

So talk with your vet about this tomorrow.