If you are worried about heart failure, your vet can run a pro-BNP blood test to make sure everything is okay. I often do this anyway for my elderly cats before any procedures requiring anesthesia. I currently have a cat with asthma and it is not a big deal.

My beautiful, fluffy ragdoll girl occasionally coughs up a furball late at night, in the bedroom. It sounds like a demon, such a low, harsh, honking sound, and so loud. Very dramatic, but the vet says normal.

Other than this, she's such a demure, delicate girl of a cat. But when she has a hairball...

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your posts. When I originally posted this I was super panicked!

My cat just threw up a pretty sizable hairball..this coupled with the little bits of fur in vomit last week makes me wonder if the poor thing has just been trying to pass a large one and was actually gagging, not coughing, the other night.

She is still going to the vet next week to be safe but I just thought I'd update you all and say thanks.

My cat got asthma as she became elderly. We used a little inhaler for her. She lived happily for many years.

I've had two cats with allergies that became asthma as they aged. If it's that "old man" cough, that's probably what it is; allergies are horrid this year.

As long as your cat is otherwise normal, I wouldn't freak out. Wait a couple days and see if symptoms improve. If you have a HEPA vacuum, try that. Wash the cat's bedding, vacuum any perches etc. If your cat is still willing to eat, drink, use the litter box, play, etc. it's probably nothing to worry about.

If the cat seems lethargic, won't eat, isn't using the litterbox, won't come out from under the bed even for a favorite toy/treat... then you need to get a vet involved.

Has anyone ever had this? My cat was under the bed last night and coughed for about 30 seconds. I thought she was trying to cough up a hairball because she recently threw up some fur, but nothing came up. Upon googling I saw people saying coughing could range from asthma to congestive heart failure.

She has a vet visit already scheduled but I’m of course already panicking. Has anyone had a cat cough and it wasn’t fatal?