Cats and Panting.

So recently my cat Bruce had started panting occasionally. It would be happen after he had been running around, and the panting would generally last for 5-15 seconds.

Bruce is a 1 year old, orange and white, domestic short-hair. I got him back in late February, and when he first came home, he had some occasional panting, but I chalked that up to the fact that he hadn't been able to run in months. This eventually went away.

Bruce has always had some "snoring" sounds. I noticed them since the day that he came home, and the vet checked him out, and said he wasn't at all concerned.

He's always had this "snoring" sound occasionally, but just recently he has started panting again. When Bruce was a kitten (according to the SPCA records) he nearly died from a severe URI (upper respiratory infection). He was given some heavy-duty drugs to help him out, but he did finally come out.

The panting isn't constant, it only happens a handful of times per day, and it doesn't last long (anywhere from 5-20 seconds). He's still eating well, he's still running around and playing, and he doesn't appear to be in any kind of distress. (In other words, he's acting like a perfectly fine kitty, aside from the panting.)

I took him to the vet today, and the vet checked him over. He said that his heart sounded fine, as did his lungs. He checked his mouth and he didn't see anything in there, and he was able to determine that he didn't have any kind of invasion tumor in his nasal passage. Overall, he wasn't concerned with him.

He said that his best prediction is that he has some type of tissue damage, or nerve damage in his nasal passage or throat that was either there when he was born, or that was damaged when he was sick. He said that if this was the case, it'd affect him for his entire life, but it's not by any means a serious thing. He said that he could do a chest x-ray, but due to the fact that he didn't have any reason to think that he'd find anything, he said that there was no point.

Again, Bruce is acting perfectly fine, and the vet said that nothing "jumped out" at him. He just told us to keep an eye on him, and assuming that the panting doesn't get worse, and assuming that he continues to act fine then there should be no worries....

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

It seems somewhat random. If he's been chasing the other cats around, he'll occasionally pant, but if he sees them again, he'll immediately begin chasing them.

Sometimes he'll pant after no exertion, but that happens less commonly. Other times he won't pant after exertion.

It all seems somewhat random, but regardless of the situation, it doesn't seem to last long, and he seems to recover quickly.

Again, he's acting fine, and the vet said he had no major concerns with him....

He listened to his heart and said he heard no issues - he had a regular heart beat, and he heard no murmur.

I did some research regarding HCM, and I'm not terribly concerned about Bruce. He isn't a purebred, and he's a domestic shorthair... so that right there puts him at a lower risk level.

Although he does have occasional panting, I did calculate that he was breathing at 22 breaths per minutes at a resting rate - which is basically perfect.

Lastly, the vet listened to his heart and lungs, and he heard absolutely nothing wrong. I know my vet, and I know that if he thought that the slightest thing was wrong, he'd recommend taking further action, but as I said, he said that Bruce's lungs and heart sounded perfect. Regular heartbeat, and no murmur. He also doesn't have any other symptoms (anorexia, coughing, lethargy, reluctance to lie down, lack of appetite, etc, etc).

With all of this said, I'm fully confident that my boy doesn't have any kind of heart problems, or any kind of serious issues right now... I fully expect that (as the vet said) that he has some nerve or tissue damage in his throat or nasal passage and that's he perfectly fine.

As I said, his heat and lungs were completely perfect according to the vet after an examination... on top of that, he doesn't have any of the "risk factors" that you look for (breed) and he has no other symptoms, other than an occasional pant which lasts for a few seconds....

I'm nearly positive that Mr. Bruce is fine. He was examined, and absolutely nothing concerning popped up.

So I called the vet today and I'm going to get Bruce in on Wednesday to get a chest x-ray.

The vet still doesn't expect to find anything out of the normal (he didn't hear any kind of mumur or irregular beat during his recent exam) but this will completely rule out any kind of heart or lung problems. Assuming that everything looks normal, I think I'll finally be able to relax, and assume that he has a minor issue.

I got Bruce into the vet today, and they again listened to his heart and lungs, and did a chest x-ray.

The vet said he heard no heart murmur, and no irregular beat. He said that his lungs sounded alright.

He then did an x-ray, and from what little time he had (he was rushed - had another patient waiting) he said that his heart might look slightly large, but he couldn't tell without doing further testing. With that said, he also said he thought he saw some pockets in his lungs that may be indicative of early stages of asthma. He's going to send the x-ray to a respiratory specialist and get her opinion. At this point, we have 3 possibilities - asthma, heartworms, heart disease. While he wouldn't rule out heart disease, he did say that it's incredibly rare to have heart disease with no murmur and no irregular beat, so he put that at the bottom of his list. He said that heartworms is a possibility, and that he'll run blood tests for that, but that he isn't sure he has that either, and if he did, that it'd play itself out (in all likelihood). He did say that asthma was a good possibility, especially given that it's the allergy season, and that he had terrible respiratory problems as a kitten (very sick with respiratory issues at the SPCA).

We're waiting a few days for blood work results, and waiting for the other vets opinion, but he said that he isn't terribly concerned right now, and that his best bet is that he has asthma.

I'll keep you guys updated.

I'd get him checked out at the vet.

I assume that your vet will do a physical examination, including listening to the heart. They'll also probably do a chest x-ray, and they may also do a blood test for heatworms.

At that point, the vet will gather info and go from there. Assuming that he/she hears no heart murmur or irregular beat, and assuming that the heart looks relatively normal on the x-ray, they'll probably rule of heart issues for the time being. If the lungs look suspicious, they may or may not start your cat on prednisone to help control possible asthma. Obviously the heartworms test will reveal whether or not he has heartworms, which is a generally a simple disease, assuming that the parasite doesn't enter the heart.

If he's acting fine, it's probably not an emergency - but if he appears to be in distress, or if he isn't getting his breathing back to a normal rate, then you should have him seen immediately. Regardless, you should have him seen at some point.

I'm not saying that it's not possible to have HCM without having a murmur or irregular beat, but I am saying that from what I've heard, most cases of heart disease in cats is accompanied by a murmur or irregular beat, or both. I've talked to multiple vets who have all stated this - they also said that it's even more unlikely because his breathing rate at rest is fine, and that he's young, and he doesn't have any other symptoms.

Again, I'm not saying that it's impossible, but I'm saying that it's incredibly unlikely, and that we have a plausible reason for the panting (possible asthma.)

If he does have asthma, I'll definitely let you guys know.

Just out of curiosity, who were these people that you knew that had cats die from HCM without any symptoms? Were they breeders? People online that you known? etc etc?

Bruce got a echocardiogram today with a certified heart specialist (gold standard for detecting heart disease, and it essentially supersedes all other results).

The vet said that his heart is perfectly fine. We also had a heartworm test done, which he tested negative for, and we had bloodwork done, and nothing appeared out of the norm there.

Our best guess that he has damaged nasal passageways (bone structure damage, damaged turbinates, etc, etc) from the severe respiratory issues he had as a kitten. The other guess is that he may have fall allergies which could be aggravating his already damaged nasal passageways. We're not sure what's causing it, but he's acting perfectly fine aside from the panting, his bloodwork looks good, he doesn't have heartworms, and his heart's perfectly fine. Needless to say, I'm no longer concerned about him. I'll keep my eye on him for any changes in behavior, but as of right now, he's perfectly healthy.

Thanks for all of your help guys.

(BTW, he doesn't have asthma.)

I just wanted to thank you guys for all of your help. Hearing about HCM from you guys frightened me, but I'm glad I got an echocardiogram, and I'm glad that I now have peace of mind.

I send my thanks, and I send my Bruce's thanks. You guys really helped!

I may post some videos and/or pics of Mr. Bruce. He's absolutely adorable.