Cat was coughing and now seems to have trouble swallowing

by Denise
(Denver, CO)

I recently adopted a 3 year old female cat from shelter. she is shy, but began to come out of her shell on the second day. But on the 3rd day she began coughing and gagging, and acting sick. We postponed the cat introduction (found a kitten in a median one month prior) and took new cat to vet. vet checked throat,no obstruction, said possible asthma, but really didn't know what is causing it. said to watch her over weekend. She seems better, no more coughing, but when she swallows its hard and seems like it hurts. always juts out her neck with she swallows. eating drinking and using cat box fine. only new things we gave her were fresh cat nip, (no pesticides) and dehydrated chicken pieces as treat. possible allergy?

Answer by Kate
Hi
well yes it is possible that she reacts badly to catnip. Some cats love it, some are indifferent but I have seen cats drool and go a little crazy over the stuff so it may be that it has caused some irritation of the throat.

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/catnip.html

i would stop giving her any more cat nip and keep an eye on her for a few days. Also make sure she has plenty of fresh water (not milk) to drink.

Hopefully it is just a sore throat which will ease over the next few days. If she is still the same in another few days then contact the vet again in case further tests need to be carried out or if something was missed first time around.

hope she is better soon

best wishes Kate

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