Cat Coughing

Hello, I've tried to upload a video of my cat coughing but it's too heavy even the shorter ones. He is coughing for about 3 months now and more frequently. In January it was a few times a week and now in march it's minimum like twice a day. Normally he coughs as if he wants to throw out something, occasionally nose fluid jump out of his nose ( throat and mouth looks fine). My vet recommended a hairball paste but it's not hairballs for sure after trying it so many times and brushing him twice a day or more. I also tried to post the x-ray which seems to show it's not asthma either or else you'd apparently see donut and tramway shapes on the lung airways and Vet didn't confirm it either. My vet also said it could be a parasite so stronghold 45 mg was administered. Not sure if it works for lungworms. I just really hope this is not heartworms, worst case scenario He does catch wild birds and eat it sometimes but heartworms would be mosquitoes which aren't around in January or December. I feel I was scammed when going to the Vet cause the doctor said in Portugal there are no heartworms and didn't mention lungworms ( stronghold which I later administered the second dose appears to not work on lungworms too ). Should I bet it's lungworms and go to a different vet in hopes stool analysis finds larvae for lungworms? He never coughed 4 months ago and he is 3 years old now coughing every single day. Everything excepts this coughing, he acts perfectly healthy and wants to eat a lot and run. It's suppose to not be allergy either because nothing has changed in 2 years not even the food. Thank you,

Hello!   It sounds as though your cat has a (productive?  something coming up??) cough, and as though you don't trust your vet very much.  It is therefore very difficult for either of you to make constructive headway on this case.  It sounds as though you either need to make a decision to trust your vet, or to change vet, or to ask to be referred elsewhere for a work-up for coughing (e.g. from an expert medical vet). There are many possible causes for coughing in felines.  Hairballs are very common.  However as you know, there are also airway disease, tracehobronchitis, lungworm, heartworm (ask vets to use the Latin names if you can, as lungworm and heartworm refer to different parasites in France which can be confusing), asthma, cat flu, pleural effusion, airway obstruction, foreign bodies, fungal disease and so on.    Athsma is perhaps one of the most common. We do not interpret other vets' radiographs and in any case, radiographs should always be viewed in two directions - top-bottom and left-right - to allow thorough  interpretation to take place. At this point, perhaps you could try asking your vet: what could still be causing the coughing?   What has been ruled out?  What does it make sense to rule out next?  How would they like to achieve it?  Are they happy with the abdomen?  What possible / reasonable options are there from here? Allergies, I'm afraid, can indeed develop over time. I hope that this gives you something to work with.

Here is some useful reading Cat asthma:    https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/2021/08/15/can-cats-get-asthma-and-what-are-the-symptoms/ Antiparasiticides in general:   https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/2021/08/30/flea-and-worm-subscriptions-for-cats-are-they-worth-it/ I hope that something in all of my info-dump helps!  Best of luck