Choking Kitten
My 6 month
old kitten sometimes acts like she has something caught in her throat,
although she isn't eating anything when she does this. She will
swallow several times rapidly and may cough briefly afterwards. She was a
bottle fed kitten and I have had her from birth. She does this rapid
swallowing about once a week, and has been doing it since she was weaned
from the bottle. She seems to feel fine because she is constantly on the
go. Could she have a cogenital defect?
Your kitten may have a thread, foxtail or hairball stuck in her throat as suspected. Hairballs are most likely. Cats lick themselves to clean their fur. The ingest much hair that doesn't pass through the digestive system easily. Much of the hair gets caught in the esophagus and stomach and upper intestines, like the hair on your sweater after holding her for a while. The hair weaves together, making mats of hair. Kittens do not master the hairball gag reflex until later in life, and seem to choke.
Try giving her cat laxative, available over the counter in most pet shops. Give her several inches a day, directly into her mouth. Cat laxatives work like sticky chewing gum, grabbing the hair and helping it pass through the gastrointestinal tract. You may also consider one of the hairball remedy foods when you wean her off of kitten food at one year of age.
If her choking worsens, consider having your veterinarian examine her, for you don't want to miss an infection or foreign body. Congenital defects are unlikely.
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