Question:
Our youngest cat (about 9 months) managed to sneak out of the house a few days ago. She's been out the back, which is fenced in and has generally stayed in the yard any time she's been out there.... but this time it was the front and she was out for 2 days.

We're not sure where she was or what she did. She could have been in a tree or off in someone else's house, we're not sure. But we found her in our yard at 1 AM and brought her in.

She ate some treats and regular cat food that night and seemed good the next day, but the following day she's been sneezing a lot and doing some sort of coughing. Best I can describe it is a "barking" cough. She hunches down.. and has an occasional fit like that. She hasn't thrown up and it sounds a bit different than either of our other cats have in the past when they've vomited (one tends to ingest hair and other things at times and will vomit).

Should we be concerned enough to get her to the vet or is a sneeze and a cough like that sort of a kitty cold? She had all her shots and shouldn't need any more until her 1 yr... just not sure what we should do if anything at this point!

Answer:
Well, if she hadn't got out, I would say she has an upper respiratory illness - very common in cats and usually goes away on it's own in 10 days to two weeks. She could have easily caught it from another cat, or just the stress of being outside lowered her immune system.

But because she was out for 2 days and is having what you describe as "coughing fits", there is a possibilty that she got something lodged in her throat - maybe some garbage she got into.

It might just be rhino, but because of her 48 hour adventure, I would say a vet check might be best.

Answer: