Our obese orange striped cat (here on the left, with his arm around his “girlfriend”) gags when he purrs. He rarely or never seems to bring anything up. But he gags quite a bit at times. We may have to take him to the vet. But for now, does anyone know what could cause such a thing?
We got the orange cat as a kitten in 1994 and the siamese in 1999. And though they are both fixed, they appear to really love one another. So it would be tragic if the orange cat died prematurely.
I am looking for any input anyone has. And if anyone has ever had a similiar experience with their cat, please reply.
I’ve got two Russian Blue sisters who do the same thing–though it’s more like they’re coughing than gagging. When they get to purring too hard and energetically, they’ll start coughing and sticking their tongues out. Maybe they *are * gagging. I mentioned it to their vet and she said she didn’t think it was a problem, but it still worries me a little when they do it.
My previous cat had an extremely powerful purr (as a kitten she could be heard purring two rooms away). As an adult she would hop up into my lap, settle down and commence purring like mad. After a while she’d “overpurr” - my best guess is that she gave herself a sore throat from purring - and it’d change to a sort of cough or throat-clearing sound. She’d then get a slightly annoyed look on her face (“I’m comfy and want to purr, dammit!”) and go sit somewhere else until things calmed down. Didn’t do her any harm as far as I can tell though.
Well, Pumpernickel died last night. We will greatly miss him (fat orange cat). I don’t know if the gagging had anything to do with it. For a couple of days he just wanted to be alone. And we discovered him today, lying in a comfortable position on the floor. So far his “girlfriend” (Siamese cat) seems unaware and unaffected by what happened. This is good because, although we were planning on getting her another “boyfriend”, we may have to wait awhile since we have other problems to worry about now.
<memory lane>We got Pumpernickel as a kitten in 1994. Someone has literally discarded him in a local park, but we rescued him. My father immediately fell in love with him and insisted we keep him. Pumpernickel wasn’t perfect. As a kitten, e.g., he bit alot. So we named him “Pumpernickel” which means “Devil’s fart” (look it up if you don’t believe me ). But Pumpernickel had endearing qualities as well. He tried to make friends with everybody he met, even dogs. Much to his disappointment, dogs didn’t always like him back . He liked humans too, which naturally did usu. like him back. Pumpernickel will be greatly missed. I love you Pumpernickel and will miss you too.</memory lane>
Animals are considered part of the family in my family. So if you have any words of condolence, I will pass them along to my family.
I’m sorry to hear about Pumpernickel. I know how hard it is to lose a kitty who’s been a member of the family for so long, and I hope it gives you some comfort that his passing seems to have been fairly painless.
. He liked humans too, which naturally did usu. like him back. Pumpernickel will be greatly missed. I love you Pumpernickel and will miss you too.</memory lane>