Poor Casper. After rescuing this big boy from the outdoors (his previous owner's abandoned him), we found him doing this strange cough. It didn't look like a hairball cough and happened often enough that it concerned us. So we took this video to show our vet. And sure enough, this is the telltale sign of kitty asthma. They also took Xrays to verify.

This is what a feline asthma attack looks and sounds like. During an asthma attack, a cat will put his head down near the ground and stretch his neck out (like a seal). This is not a hairball cough. Feline asthma affects approximately 1% of the american domestic feline population.

Casper is now taking a steroid, Prednisolone, daily which has helped to decrease the frequency of his attacks. If you see your cat doing this, take him to the vet for a checkup.