My MC Brown Tabby is a spayed female about 11 months old. I got her from a local breeder about 2 months ago. Her short name is "PJ" and she is a real circus. BUT - when I picked her out - or she picked me - I noticed that I could feel her wheezing as I held her. I asked the breeder, and she acknowledged the problem. She said that the vet had tried many antibiotics and other treatments on the cat - but to no avail.

I am wondering if this is typical of the breed? We love our kitty and would not trade her for anything. At least we always know when she is in the room - her knickname is "Snorter" - she makes A LOT of noise when she drinks her water.

Could this wheezing/snorting be a danger to her. Is it a symptom of some cat disease we should learn about?

Any info would be appreciated.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 1998

Answers

I don't belive this is a Maine Coon trait.

Have you discussed this with your own vet? My vet has seen an enormous increase in cats with seasonal allergies, as well as cats with asthma, due to the odd weather conditions and increased mold and pollen counts.

There is also the possibility there is a physical cause for her wheezing - such as polyps - and a complete exam would be necessary to rule this out.

Call your vet.

regards

Cathy

-- Anonymous, November 02, 1998

This is not typical of the breed. A very likely suspect is polyps. Your vet should check her out.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 1998

My MC Kitten (6 months) has a similar "snort", breeder said had a problem with her nose and breed prone to allergies. Located in San Antonio Texas where allergies for people are a problem.

At the vet check up the assistant noticed the snort and called it to the Dr attention, who didn't seem concerned. Its not constant more when sleeping or relaxed.

Guess its something to keep an eye on, now that see others have problem will bring up at next vet visit.

Randy

-- Anonymous, November 14, 1998

Marcia,

I've got a 11 month old wheezer, too!

I found a vet that seems to know a lot about the specifics of these breeds, here are his suggestions:

Check for polyups. This vet seemed to feel that there was a perdisposition for MCs to develop a benign growth down towards their tonsils that sets the immune system into action.

He also feels that this tends to happen in thisd breed because of their slow development. Until their immune systems are up and running correctly, there is going to be a chronic wheeze, sneeze, and runny nose.

No polyups for us, so we have just been getting through it with occasional courses of antibiotics. She even likes the taste of them now!

David

-- Anonymous, December 21, 1998

I posted the original mail regarding PJ's wheezing. I appreicate all the responses. I have not taken the cat to the vet because she has been getting better in the last 2 months. Her wheezing and snorting are almost non-existant now. Perhaps the winter weather has made the difference, or the cat's adjustment to her new home, or just the maturing process.

If she gets worse in the spring, when I usually have a problem myself, then I will see if there are de-sensitizing medications which could help.

Our kitty is really loving, sits on our laps to take her cat naps, rubs our legs frequently, and has mostly stopped scratching the furniture & uses her posts. We are extremely please to have our MC kitty.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 1998

My MC also wheezes he snores really loud too!

-- Anonymous, January 28, 1999

I have a MC that had a wheezing problem. It ends up that he has severe asthma. He started having symptoms after he was one year old. He is currently two 1/2 yrs old. His asthma has gotten more severe over the last year. We live in Nebraska and the vet hoped that with the winter freeze, the asthma would go into remission. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Another symptom of his asthma is soft stools. He is on medicine and that seems to work most of the time. You may want your vet to do a blood test to check for asthma. My cat went undiagnosed for one year!

-- Anonymous, March 14, 1999