panting..

I'm freaked out right now. I noticed Jake panting yesterday and he is doing it again today....
Okay so a little bit of history- Jake used to breath really loud earlier and I was scared because of that but he stopped doing that, I think he grew out of it. He also had some episodes of coughing, it happened around once a month about 3-4 times so far (he is 6 and a half months) but I was told by my vet that the frequency is not a lot and is not of concern because it's most likely hairballs (he's longhaired). So ever since he stopped breathing so loud I stopped worrying and I've been feeling amazingly calm about his health..Usually I'm always worrying over something!
But yesterday, my mom was vaccuuming and I noticed him pant. He was playing before he started to pant but I didn't observe how much he played ...And I thought it may be because he is scared of the vaccuum cleaner which is very noisy...I dunno I told myself yesterday that I will not over worry because there were so many reasons that could explain it, it was around 85 degrees here yesterday and Jake stayed in a room where it's possible for it to have reached 100 during the day...So I thought that may be another reason...
But then I see him do this again today!!
I saw him playing with my dad, and my dad gets rough when he plays with him, at the end Jake hissed at my dad and after he hissed he ran downstairs extremely fast- he rarely runs THAT FAST..Then my dad followed him and brought him back to my room and that's when he started to pant. The weird thing is, even though he started to pant he was so actively trying to find a toy and trying to pick a fight with me. I don't understand why....I've been trying not to move in order for him calm down. He stopped panting and now he is sleeping but I feel like his breathing may be kind of rapid even now!!
Okay so some observations: He panted for about 10-20 seconds but did a few intervals of panting like this.
I checked his gums and they were pink.
So....What should I do??
I'm so scared, finals are this week and at the end of the week I'm going on vacation for 10 days and I absolutely cannot cancel- already paid for my plane ticket and it cost around $900... I'm scared that my baby may need me and I may not be able to be there. My boyfriend is very good and caring and I'm sure that he will do everything possible for Jake if Jake needs to be taken to a vet...But I'm just so scared ..
Last night I was waking up in the middle of the night to check on Jake's breathing and it was very normally paced so I calmed down and was hoping that it was just a one time instance..but when I saw him do it today my heart just sank..
I feel like his breathing is normalizing- it used to be quicker a few minutes ago right after he stopped to pant...
Gosh sorry my post is so disorganized and all over the place, I didn't mean to ramble so much...
Oh and I forgot to mention he got his rabies shot last week if that means anything..

Poor baby...His breathing is all normal now and he is sound asleep..Please please send your awesome TCS vibes that always help for this to be just due to heat/stress/excitement!!!

It sounds to me he might have asthma... Can you take him to the vet before you go?

Given the two situations and his age I'd say it was probably just a stress reaction. Watch him over the next few days and see if it ever happens in a situation when he isn't stressed. Also tell your BF or whoever will be around Jake to watch while you are gone. If the frequencies increases or it's just out of the blue, I'd get him checked out by his vet. Hopefully all is well!!!

The reason it thought about asthma was the panting + the cough + loud breathing... But I am no expert, so...

When Blossom was a kitten, the 1st summer we had her she would pant quite a lot. At the time it was very hot & humid. She would get the zoomies twice a day & have mad attacks of panting. We had an even hotter summer just gone & no panting. I think she may have grown out of it.
And she's always been a fast breather.

Originally Posted by carolinalima

The reason it thought about asthma was the panting + the cough + loud breathing... But I am no expert, so...

Click to expand...

I thought that too- well it was around 2 months ago when I was freaking out because of his loud breathing, coughing and panting...
But I called my vet and explained everything- he said that the cough doesn't sound abnormal..Well it was gag/cough type of thing and it happened around 4 times at a frequency of once a month. So he said it sounds like hairballs. After I called the vet then, Jake stopped breathing loud, hasn't coughed at all and hasn't panted...He hasn't done that at all in those 2 months, and I was hoping he has grown out of it. He still isn't coughing or breathing loud, it's just the panting. The thing is, at the same time he started to pant, the weather changed drastically. It was around 30 degrees last week and now it's 85...So I wonder if that has anything to do with it..
I'm going to watch him closely today (and we have the AC on now) and if he pants again he's going to the vet Monday...

Originally Posted by mews2much

Its ok.
When he had the problem before what was he doing?

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When he was panting before it was just after exercise. The vet said it was normal for him to pant after exercise..
Oh and he's not wheezing when he is panting...

I have seen cats pant from the weather...I have seen them pant cause they are fevered ....can u check his temp ? to rule that out

Yes I checked his temperature last night and this morning it's normal..

manny panted a few times when it was hot and he was playing. I know how scary it can be. Good luck.

How's Jake today ?

It has been very hot here in Atlanta this week. Spooky and Mulder pant when they are hot or when they play too hard (especially when playing with their DaBird!). Thats what it sounds like to me, but of course I'm not a vet.

He is fine, thanks for asking. He went crazy last night and panted but much less than the previous days, he only had one episode of panting that was probably a few breaths with open mouth and no more after which everything returned to normal and he settled down since I tried to make him calm down very hard, I stopped moving and took away all of his toys...I'm thinking maybe something is making him nervous
It happened during the exact same time as yesterday and he looked very anxious and nervous and was running frantically...I dunno I'm confused!
I hope there is nothing wrong. Physically he seems fine though..I'll do some more observing before I can dismiss it or decide to take him to the vet.

ЕТА: I forgot to mention Jake is a bit on the heavy side, i.e slightly overweight.

sending good vibes your way Bless you for your care and concern for your furbaby

Hope Jake is ok.
Libby was panting yesterday, tongue out etc. But it was over 90F on the balcony. Maybe Jake is just hot?

Originally Posted by carolinalima

The reason it thought about asthma was the panting + the cough + loud breathing... But I am no expert, so...

Click to expand...

mY youngest boy, when he was just 2, was exercising and started open mouth breathing. I took him to the ER vet who could not find anything wrong except he was breathing fast.

FAST forward and suddenly he has asthma. He is on an inhaler and flovent 2 puffs 2x a day.

He has been panting still but only when he starts to play really fast and my vet says that's normal.