kitty 'panting'...

My friends 1 year old maine coon mix has a tendency to pant after he's been playing for a bit, like a dog, or, more appropriately, a lion. He doesn't seem exhausted when he does it, nor does it continue on for more than 15 seconds or so. It seems more of an excitability-thing than an out-of-breath thing. Regardless, I've never seen it in a housecat.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

I have seen it before.
One my mom's cats Illusion tends to pant sometimes after chasing the laser light for awhile.And my very old cat,Coconut (yrs and yrs ago) also panted sometimes.Both cats are healthy and didn't seem overheated or anything,however they are/were both longhair cats.

the cat I used to have used to pant after "hard" play lol... they pant for the same reason a dog pants, to cool down... it's totally normal and nothing to worry about... now if kitty was panting and hadn't done anyhting that would warrant it, then I'd be worried, but it just sounds like he was hot after some hardcore playing and needed to cool down

Sunny is 7 mos. old and has always done this. He's a longhair with an exceptional amount of energy. He's also perfectly healthy.

I've seen it several times too. I've also seen asthma in cats triggered by hard play but you'd know there was something wrong as they wheeze a lot and have other symptoms in addition that don't happen during play.

None of my cats do that but some of my friends cats do.
My Coco has bad asthma but she has always been ok when she plays.
MyRussian Blue Mix grunts when she plays.

Gus would pant, but only if he was anxious, like riding in the care on the way to the vets office. We have used the same vets office for years and years, and we used to live a ways away from it (now we live just a few blocks away, thankfully) and he would pant and cry the whole way there, poor guy.

I've never seen a cat do it after play, though.

Originally Posted by kara_leigh

Gus would pant, but only if he was anxious, like riding in the care on the way to the vets office. We have used the same vets office for years and years, and we used to live a ways away from it (now we live just a few blocks away, thankfully) and he would pant and cry the whole way there, poor guy.

I've never seen a cat do it after play, though.

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maybe it was to warm for him in the car and carrier? then again he may have been having a panic attack... if you've ever had a panic attack, you'll know that you get real hot and flushed and have trouble breathing during one (well I do anyway...)... maybe he's just really scared and having a panic attack in the car? have you ever asked your vet about it?

Originally Posted by jscole

maybe it was to warm for him in the car and carrier? then again he may have been having a panic attack... if you've ever had a panic attack, you'll know that you get real hot and flushed and have trouble breathing during one (well I do anyway...)... maybe he's just really scared and having a panic attack in the car? have you ever asked your vet about it?

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He was just having a panic attack from anxiety. Most of the time we would give him a relaxing med before going, but sometimes I would be in a hurry and just forget or have to grab him quick after work and not have time to give it to him. He died about a month ago so I don't have to worry about it anymore.

omg I'm so sorry I didn't know... my condolences

Originally Posted by jscole

omg I'm so sorry

I didn't know... my condolences

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That's okay!!

my new himalayan does it after playing...its the first time i ever saw that tho!

JC sometimes does that (he's Maine Coon) and it seems to be directly related to being excited in a happy, energetic type of way. He also "whoofs" loudly to show frustration when I won't let him outside. If the litterbox isn't clean enough, he'll put the scoop in it as a hint. When I take my grandson back to San Diego after vacations, JC sometimes pirates a personal item of mine (only mine), such as a hair pretty, paperback book, jewelry, and buries it in his poop-litterbox
.....there's no end of entertainment with a MC in the house