7 month old cat panting from apparent heat - what to do?

My little cat Max is 7 months old and about thave his first midwest summer. In the past three days or so, we've caught him a few times panting. The temperature and humidity where I live have been steadily rising during this time. However, it hasn't been THAT hot, and he's doing it right now even though our house is only about 80 degrees, though it is very humid. It seems like it has been happening at the same time as the heat, but I'm very worried as the things I can find on the web seem very ominous and our other two cats are not panting. 

What can I do? Could this be something other than heat?

I am sure other people will post and have more information.  However, I think 80 degrees is very hot and probably very uncomfortable for him.  We live in Denver and I set my air for 74 and it kicks on immediately.  When I lived in Phoenix and shared a condo with a person who didn't want to spend the extra money on air conditioning I moved out immediately .  Just my opinion but 80 degrees is too hot.  Don't you have air condition or at least a window unit?  

We do have air conditioning, but we try to keep it turned off. I just checked the thermostat, and it's at 78 degrees not 80, though that doesn't seem like much of a difference. I got a washcloth and got Max all wet with cool water, which he seemed to tolerate pretty well, and he's not panting anymore. What mainly worries me is that all four people and the other two cats seem perfectly comfortable, while Max is panting up a storm. He isn't panting any more at the moment, but he is sitting in front of the fan to cool off, and covered in water. 

80 surely isn't high for a desert animal?  And years ago when I had and used a gas fire, my cats used to lie in front of it until their fur was almost too hot to touch.

A vet call might be in order.

I think a vet visit is in order. He may have asthma or allergies to the stuff in the air, which is always worse when it is hot and humid.

Be careful about playing with him when he is in this state. A fan on a low setting should help too. 

I would definitely watch for signs of WHEN he is panting, what was he doing right before that. If he was playing, you might want to check him for cardiomyopathy or heart murmur.

I lived in AZ and 80 degrees in the desert with no humidity feels very different then 80 degrees in FL. JMHo. I have no idea where the op lives. If this kitty does have asthma it is important not to have him the windows open with everything blooming. Booboo has asthma but she doesn't open mouth breath unleess she has an attack. If he were my kitty I would see if cooling the house helped if not I would go to the ER they will want to do blood work and chest xray.

I live in Texas and it's hot.  We keep our AC set at 78º during the warmer months.  That is not too warm for a kitty.  We also run the ceiling and a couple of floor fans.  Have you noticed any other changes with him?  Has he been coughing or sneezing?  I would also recommend a trip to the vet to be sure it's nothing serious.
 

I also live in Texas just 90 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and it's very humid. Yesterday was 88 degrees outside. We keep our thermostat set at 78 degrees and with all the ceiling fans turned on, my almost 15 year old cat shows no signs of heat distress and never has.

Another vote here for a vet visit. This is a bad time of year for respiratory issues from allergies or asthma. It might be something like that.

I don't like air conditioning until the heat index gets into the 100's. None of my cats have ever panted like that from the heat, even when 95 and humid. We've already had a couple of days over 90 here with high humidity, and even my 17 year old and 2 other sick cats showed no signs of distress. They lay in the sun on these days.

I live near Washington, DC, in a third floor condo, with a faulty central air conditioning system; I'm lucky if the temp inside goes as low as 80--and that's with the AC running 24x7.  Ritz doesn't pant at all.  And I don't play with her in the evenings when it is the hottest.

If Max is extremely long haired, you might also want to think about a "lion cut" during the summers.

And if Max is breathing with his mouth open, I would be REALLY concerned.

To be safe, I think a trip to the vet is in order.

I so agree with everyone else. A vet visit is in order, ASAP. This is nothing to fool around with!
 

IS your cat drooling.

I just had this same problem with my 11-month-old Magnus. The weather here has gotten unexpectedly warm and pretty humid this week.

Today I caught Magnus panting like a dog after he had been rummaging around the closet. I got worried and wet his fur down and called the vet.

They said to bring him in. I blasted the AC on him while in the car ride to the vets. When we got there the vet checked him out. She said his heart was fine. his temperature was slightly elevated at 102 ish. but he seemed fine otherwise. He was not panting at the vets. His breathing was fine. She checked his heart, his mouth, his ears etc and she said he seemed fine but just to watch him.

I caught him doing this a few more times today. The last time I shut him in the bedroom and plugged in our window unit air conditioner (we only have one window unit AC, which we don't usually run until at least June but I figured I should bring it out for him). I also got a wet wash cloth and wet him all over, which he seemed to actually enjoy. I also put a fan in the room with him (although he is not a fan of the fan, as he's scared of the noise). I let him out after half and hour though because he kept scratching and whining at the door to get out and i figured any cooling off I was trying to do with him was being negated by him being agitated trying to get out of the closed door. So I let him out and he hung out in the shade under the table for a while .

His appetite is fine, and he's still playful / active. His bathroom habits are fine. No diarrhea or vomiting, no drooling or any other signs of distress.

I am concerned though because we live in a very humid state and when summer really kicks in we'll get temperatures in the 90s (and sometimes even above that in the 100s) but with very high humidity. I've been in desert areas where the temperature is high but without the humidity, and that humidity makes a big difference. And I'm wondering if I should be concerned for Magnus at all. He has long hair / thick fur. And we live on an upper story apartment with no central air conditioning. I do keep the AC on in the bedroom unit but the rest of the house just has  open windows to keep cool (and a few more fans).

I should also note the pollen levels and mold spore levels in the area are extremely high this week, according to the weather reports in our area. Would this have any effect on him?

So Magnus was panting again today after I played with him for a short period of time. I called the vet again and brought him in.

The vet looked at him again and gave him some oxygen in case he was having problems with getting enough air. He also checked his heart and his lungs and checked his oxygen levels and said everything sounded really good, his breathing sounded fine and his heart sounded fine. After looking at him a while he thinks that in Magnus’ case it’s either the heat or because he’s high strung (which is true, he gets freaked out by the slightest noise). Also he’s gained 5 lbs. since December so the extra weight maybe affecting him when he runs around the place exercising.

So if it’s the heat, he shaved his belly fur so that he can get some air on his belly to cool down.

If it’s high strung, then just to watch him and try and get him to be calm.

He told me some warning signs to look for where I should be concerned but so far he’s not done any of those things.

As I’m typing this he’s panting again (as he runs down the hall). There’s nothing scaring him. I really think it’s the humidity in here (it feels a bit like a tropical rainforest in my apartment at present, very humid / muggy). it still freaks me out though.

When we first brought our Siamese, Yoda, into the house, he was in very bad health, with infected eyes, starving, very ill.  A month later, we had a period of record heat, with more than 10 days of temperatures over 100 degs F (this is S.F. Bay area).  I have a picture on Flickr, of him coiled around the water dish on a day when the outdoor temperature was 111 degs !  We have no air conditioning here in our house.  He never *once* was panting, though he would sometimes put his front paws in the water dish!

(BTW, we had three other cats, none were reacting visibly to the heat; certainly not panting)

So, based on this experience, I doubt that relatively high heat, by itself, will cause a cat to start panting.  Something else is going on. 

As several others have commented, you need to have your companion examined by a professional to see what is happening.

BTW, here's a photo of Yoda on that ghastly-hot day:

Whatever the weather my cat pants...

He is super fit and in gleaming good health - his vet said so at his last annual check up.

Yes , i have never seen a cat pant before. But it is a thing he has always done when he has been very active - racing around like a mad thing at home, or a two hour walk on his harness in the woods with us.

Have you noticed that when cats get hot, they naturally cool themselves down? One way is by lieing on their tummies and creating a "vent" underneath. Or rolling in dust???

My cat Sylas pants when it's hot, or when he runs too much. He has Asthma and CH. I think the CH affects the Asthma because he has to work harder to walk. I would definitely take your cat to the vet to get checked for lung infections/Asthma/etc. Better safe than sorry. If he does has Asthma, it's not always a horrible thing. Sylas is 8 years old now, and he's never had severe enough attacks to need medication. He is happy, and he knows his limitations. He avoids triggers like over-exercise, and he doesn't go outside when it's hot.

The weather has been increasing in humidity and heat (today it's been 90 degrees, with almost 90 percent humidity, and it's hotter in my apartment than it is outside since we are upstairs) but after my second trip to the vet to make sure he was OK, Magnus, knock on wood, seems to have stopped panting. The vet shaved the thick undercoat off his belly and this seems to have helped because I've see him lying around the bathroom tile with his belly on the tile and he seems happy as a clam. I've also kept the A/C window unit in the bedroom and he comes in there to cool off if he needs to. I've also added a little water into his wet food in case he's been dehydrated.

So far, so good....keeping my fingers crossed. 

I did video tape him the last time he was panting in case I need to show the vet.

There are mats to keep dogs cool. Maybe you could look into something like that and a fan.