Panting

I just got back from the vet with my 4 month old kitten. He had a 104.9 fever, so he got an injection of Dipyrone and Flocillin and we brought home some Clavamox. The odd thing is that he was panting quite a bit on the way home in the pet carrier. Is that a concern or is he just stressed out?

The kitten is just stressed out. This happens to my kitties every time we go to the vet.

Thanks for the assurance. He has a heart problem, so I freak out at the sign of anything abnormal. My vet tells me to quit worrying so much and just let him be a kitten, but I still worry!

It is okay to worry instead of ignore. Chances are he was just stressed and over stimulated. Give him a nice dark quiet spot to nap and rest, and just keep your eye on him for a bit.

I use an extra cat carrier, take the door off and cover it (the sides) with a dark cloth and put my sick ones inside. If they feel punky, they usually just stay in there and sleep and I just let them alone to regenerate.

Just make sure kitty is getting water so take some wet food and add water to it to make it soupy to replenish what kitty lost in the fever. Good luck!

Another curiosity question - Roscoe likes to sit in one of the windows in our spare bedroom. In the heat of the day (pretty much all day in Houston) he'll be sitting there and I've come home to him panting a little bit because it's so hot up there. Should I deter him from getting in the window because of it (not sure how to do that ) or just let him hang out there? As soon as he gets down from the window, he's fine and starts terrorizing as usual.

I would install a small fan there or point a larger one at the window. This will dissapate most of the heat and he will be more comfy!

I'd love to get my husband to put in a ceiling fan - I've been nagging, so maybe now we have a good reason.

Yes, he loves the view. It looks on the neighbor's house near their trees. The base of the window is about 3 feet from the ground, so I guess he likes being up high.

Thanks for your post!

Yes, you should definitely try to lower the temperature around the window. My cat started panting one really hot summer day. The vet told me to wet him, to bring down his body temperature. So I stayed up all night putting water on him and rubbing ice cubes on his back. The next day I bought an air conditioner. I never want to see my cat panting again. He looked so miserable!

Another panting question - instead of posting a new message, I decided to add on to this one.

Since Roscoe has his heart problem (hole in heart and mitral valve defect), I worry more, of course. He and the other kitten rough house and play quite a bit. Every now and then after playing, he'll sit and start panting - not too long - just long enough to catch his breath, I guess. Then he's off again to terrorize the house! He's not panting at rest but the panting just doesn't seem normal. I had never heard of panting in cats. I wonder if the heart problem has progressed or if he's just overdoing it. He doesn't do it every day (that I see) and he doesn't do it very often, but even once is enough to scare me.

The cardiologist told me to watch for exercise intolerance (he certainly doesn't have that) or coughing (haven't seen that either), but he didn't say anything about panting. If it IS the heart causing him to pant, is it the hole in his heart or the mitral valve defect that would cause it? Any thoughts?

If it IS the heart causing him to pant, is it the hole in his heart or the mitral valve defect that would cause it? Any thoughts?

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I am not a vet, and don't claim to be, but I would think the hole in his heart MAY be adding to his panting. A friend of mine was born with two holes in her heart. They had to wait until she was a few years old before they could do the surgery, and she told me by that time she would get winded easily, was tired, and was blue at her extremities. Depending on where the hole is in his heart, your kitten may be experiencing something similar. If the hole allows oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to mix with oxygen-poor blood from his body before it's pumped from his heart, his body may not be getting enough oxygen, and he may be panting to get more oxygen.

I'd contact the cardiologist and tell him about the panting. This may be an early or very mild form of exercise intolerence.

Christy