Katee, in the video above, has a cough, and her owner is concerned.
Just
like people cats can have a cough that sounds different from one-another. Their
cough can be loud or quiet, wheezy or honking, congested (productive) or
dry. The may cough once, a few times or
have coughing jags (paroxysmal coughing).
At cat may have a different cough associated with different illnesses as
well, so it could manifest differently at different stages of the cat’s life.
One
challenge in obtaining history regarding a cough is that clients and
veterinarians alike sometimes write it off to normal “hairball' problems. In
fact, the cough is often due to respiratory disease including chronic
tracheobronchitis. Tracheobronchitis in cats is common and results in recurrent
coughing followed by gagging. It is the gag that may trigger vomiting after a bout of coughing, which can confuse the issue.
Illuminating this history is difficult and one must first ask the question,
then explain the distinction, then mimic or demonstrate with video the
difference between vomiting and coughing. If we don't have a high index of
suspicion, if we don't have the time to get a good history, and if we don't
have the tools to open the client's mind and help them to understand the
distinction, then we will not get this history.
Attributing
a cough to a hairball is a misnomer with virtually no scientific basis. This
notion will likely never be expunged from lay dogma. There is no documentation
in the literature of uncomplicated trichobezoars (hairballs) causing coughing in cats.
Coughing has been reported in complicated surgical cases of gastric
trichobezoars in man, but has not been reported in cats. Cough attributed to gastroesophageal reflux
disease in man is common (over 20% of chronic coughs), but this has not been
described in the cat1 (Tatar). It is possible that an esophageal location of
a trichobezoar could compress pulmonary structures and thereby elicit a cough,
however, this too has not been reported.
While
white petrolatum, Vaseline, is often recommended and administered to cats for
treating constipation and/or trichobezoars, giving Laxatone (or any other
flavored white petrolatum) orally has never been shown to change the
consistency or the slipperiness of the stools or aid in the passage of hair in
the stomach. Theoretically, if you want
to lubricate the rectum you could administer Vaseline in that manner, but giving
it orally ends with petrolatum simply being incorporated into the stool.
Searching
PubMed (Aug. 2012) reveals no published studies in man, or animals, that
demonstrate any the effectiveness of these products. While there is not a
significant risk (and some cats love this stuff) some reported concerns would
include passive steatorrhea and fat soluble vitamin deficiencies. There are
over 50 published reports related to the efficacy of liquid paraffin for
constipation in man, but none in cats. There is one report of liquid paraffin
being superior to lactulose in children. The use of Vaseline in cats may be
intended to result in the same effect, but they are very different products.
Mineral
oil, of course, should be avoided because it can be easily and silently
aspirated. Aspiration of mineral oil does not elicit a cough reflex (like
aqueous based products) leading to lipid-like pneumonia.
If
constipation is a concern (difficulty passing hard stools, straining) and a
stool soften was needed then one could consider canned foods, adding water to
the existing diet, water-soluble fibers, PEG3550 (Miralax), and lactulose.
The
ongoing recommendation of administering product containing white petrolatum as
a means of dealing with constipation or ‘hairball’ is a fallacy that should not
be perpetuated.
Bibliography
