Panting while playing

Daphne pants after about 5 minutes or so of playing hard with her feather toy. At this point, I stop and put the toy away because I'm not sure if its good for her to continue. Our apartment hasn't been very warm for a few days but the weather doesn't seem to matter.

Is it safe to let her continue or am I doing right by stopping?

I'm a worrywart!

Is she over weight? and is it a bad pant? While shes playing make sure theres pleanty of water out for her. If she is panting bad try and get her to drink. If it seems bad and she seems to be having trouble catching her breath may wanna get it checked out make sure her respiratory system is ok. If its not to severe and she breathe's fine try keeping water out around where she is playing and if she starts panting get her to drink some water.

It isn't severe that it slows her down. She wants to continue to play. She is young, 6 months and healthy. She has fresh water available in two places and does drink. I'm just worried that she may be getting too worked up? If that makes sense.

Yeah it could be at 6 months old shes got a lot of energy. Probably isnt much to worry about if its not severe and she can breathe ok. But if she does get bad a cool down is probably the best. Its probably just because shes running a lot, to much for her own good lol. As long as shes breathing fine i'd say shes fine and if need be do take the toy away to let her cool down a little bit.

Personally I think its better to stop. I have to stop Diego or he would just keep playing until he died of exhaustion. When him and Neko play together and they start panting, I separate them. Neko ended up getting bronchitis a few weeks back coz he wore himself down, so we avoid any potential risks by separating them. Lately we haven't let them have any contact with each other.

Thats my opinion anyway.

Originally Posted by Bonnie1965

It isn't severe that it slows her down. She wants to continue to play. She is young, 6 months and healthy. She has fresh water available in two places and does drink. I'm just worried that she may be getting too worked up? If that makes sense.

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Coco and Toby both do that if they play too hard. They are both high energy and tend to get carried away. I stop and let them get their breath before continuing to play with them.

It's pretty common for kittens to pant when they play. Both Jaffa and Mosi panted after strenuous play when they were small. Cats aren't really designed for any sort of sustained running (they stalk their prey then pounce on it) so they do get out of breath easily if they get carried away playing. I asked my vet about it when Jaffa panted as a kitten and my vet told me that it was nothing to worry about so long as it was only after exertion. Hot weather can make them pant too. If Daphne is only panting after playing I shouldnt worry, although I would stop the game and give her time to get her breath back, but if you're worried or she's panting when she's not been running around a lot then I'd take her to the vet for a check up.

Thanks guys

The only time I have seen her pant is when playing. It makes sense about cats being stalkers then pouncing. They really don't expend energy at a constant rate.

I haven't seen her pant due to the heat yet. Will keep my eyes open though Thanks again

When my kitties play hard especially in the summer they pant. If I am playing with them I try not to play to long...or wait until it's cooler. I thinks it's normal.

George did that when he was a baby. I was worried so I took him to the vet and he said he was ok. He did outgrow that, now when he plays there is no panting

I just have one word of caution. If you notice it happening when playing all the time you should take her to the vet. I had a cat who would pant after playing hard for 3-4 minutes and I just thought the same thing, that he was just needing to catch his breath. I took him to the vet and the vet told me that he probably just had allergies due to the dust in the air from remodling and to just keep an eye on him. He kept doing it after running around hard but no other time. About a year later he had, what I can only describe as an episode, where he couldn't breathe. I thought he was choking to death and took him to the emergency vet right away. They found liquid on his lungs and diagnosed him with heart disease. I lost him soon after we got all of the tests done because it was too advanced to save him. I don't want to scare you at all but I can't help but wish I had forced the issue w/ the original vet. I would just take her to the vet for a check-up to make sure it's not anything serious. It's much better to catch these things earlier than later..

Thank you, tubby. How do they discover the liquid in his lungs?
I am so sorry you lost your friend

Hi Bonnie.

I have 2 cats that are 3 years old. When Sebastian was a kitten, he would pant after a couple minutes of running and jumping in a small area. The vet said that he had a mild heart murmur, but that it was part of his development and as long as it went away by the time he was a year old, he would be fine. And, it went away. If he's a kitten, he may just be developing, but do listen to your vet and don't ignore anything that worries you. Better to be safe!