Barium for an Xray - Necessary?

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Lkldcatlady

Member Since 2013
Hi all - my poor Bob is not feeling well and I just wondered if anyone had any experience with this.

It started with him doing the "dry coughing" thing like he is trying to get up a hairball. I've seen him swallow hard while he is doing this on a normal basis but once the little episode is over, it's over. On this night (maybe a week ago), he continued to swallow hard and be very distressed. He was purring really loud and making little weird noises and I could tell he was upset. I haven't heard as much "coughing" , but I've continued to see him do the hard swallowing. He doesn't have vomiting and he is eating although not as much as normal. I've also noticed on his bad nights his numbers have gone really high. After the first night, I gave him coconut oil every other day for a total of 3 times and then took him to the vet. She gave me cat lax and reglan syrup to "move things along". She said she wanted to rule out a hairball. I did give him the reglan syrup, but he flipped out because it was such a large amount, so I only gave it to him for the one day and stopped.

The vet said she could do a radiograph (or something like that) where she gives Bob barium and sees it go down and sees if there are any issues.

Just wanted to get some opinions. Is it possible he has some sort of ginormous hairball causing discomfort? If so, will a regular xray show it? Is the barium necessary? Does anyone have thoughts on any other tests?
 
Using contrast will identify if something that does not block x-rays is in there, by the absence of the contrast around the culprit.

A regular chest/thoracic x-ray might identify asthma, another cause of non-productive coughing in the cat.
 
Hey BJM! Well, he's really not coughing a whole lot anymore, now it's more the hard swallowing. I'm assuming he's not nauseated though because he is eating a little (less than usual though). No drooling or licking his lips either. Would you recommend the bloodwork if I just had it about 4 weeks ago?
 
Ask what the risks vs benefits of a contrast x-ray are. My concern is there might be a growth partially obstructing the esophagus. My kitty, Farral (GA) had ectopic thyroid tissue growing at the base of her tongue which was removed.

Ask the vet if the bloodwork is likely to change in just 4 weeks (presupposes the cat didn't drastically change during that time)
 
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