Coughing blood and mucus.

Dr. Marie replied:

I don't often see a cat who is coughing up blood. This will be a hard question for me to answer without seeing Marvin, but I'll give you a few thoughts.

First of all, it is unlikely that this is related to a tumor on his side, especially if the vet didn't think that the tumor was anything to worry about. There are not a lot of skin tumors in cats that can spread to the lungs. Usually if there is a cancerous tumor it will just look "angry".

Are you sure that the blood is coming from coughing? Could it be sneezing? It's sometimes hard to tell the difference in a cat. If a cat is sneezing and there is blood in it, the first thing I think of is an upper respiratory virus. Sometimes the force of the sneezing can cause small amounts of blood. If it is due to sneezing then it could also be due to a foreign object up the nose, a tumor in the nose (uncommon in a young cat) or a dental problem.

Is it possible that what you thought was coughing is actually vomiting? If so, then the force of the vomit could cause small blood vessels to break and produce the blood.

If Marvin truly is coughing up blood then I think it is a good idea to have your vet examine him. Your vet will likely want to take some xrays of his chest and also do some blood tests to see if he is losing blood internally.

I wish I could give you more advice! Feel free to reply and give me more details if there is anything else you can tell me about Marvin.

Dr. Marie.

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