My cat snorts when breathing through his nose.

by Danella
(Saddle Brook, NJ)

For the past couple months, my approximately 13 year-old cat has been snorting when trying to breathe through his nose. Also, at times he coughs, like he has a hairball but sometimes nothing comes up. The weird part is that when my cat begins to purr, the snorting stops. Also, another important thing to note is that my cat is overweight.

This snorting seems to be getting worse and more frequent; at first it did not seem bad, but now is becoming more apparent. Could my cat possibly have allergies or asthma? I am thinking of taking my cat to the vet this week, but first I wanted to get an opinion of what may be wrong with him and what can be done.


Dear Danella,

Cat asthma normally presents more like large, deep, heaving breaths, not necessarily noise while breathing, although coughing can certainly be a sign of feline asthma. Cats allergies are usually manifested in their skin, not in their breathing as it is for us humans.

Cats that are overweight commonly make noises when they are breathing, including snoring while they sleep and snorting noises while they are awake. However, this could also be a symptom of a feline upper respiratory infection or polyps.

In any event, without seeing your cat in person and hearing the noise you are describing, diagnosing his condition would not be possible. Bringing your cat in to the veterinarian for a check-up would be a wise idea!

All the best,
Dr. Neely