Energetic, fit cat that pants very heavily after running games

A 2 year old male that we recently rescued as our second cat has no resporatory history in his medical file (owner who eventually abandoned him to shelter did at least have regular checkups, medical files, etc), is muscular, lean, and has tremendous energy for vigorous running... However, after a few minutes of several spurts of running, he will pant, with his tongue fully out, and sometimes also labored breathing for about a minute. We plan on a precautionary checkup on this, but does anyone have experience with this, or do some cats just have the energy to work themselves literally out of breath while others stop before they get to that point? Or is this a sign of a more serious issue? Thanks!

If it's just a few minutes, he really shouldn't be full on panting, unless he's REALLY flying around, exerting himself. In that case, it could be. Cats are not "long distance" runners, so to speak, they're designed for short, intense spurts of action. So if it's really hard play, it could be everything's fine.

But it's a good idea to get a vet check - They'll listen (maybe look via x-ray) for asthma. It could also be related to seasonal allergies he didn't have before? :dk:

I would urge you to have a heart/chest ultrasound done on your baby without delay to check for undiagnosed heart or lung disease. Specific blood work may also be required.

There are two possibilities here. Kitty is being forced to exercise too hard, doing things that would stress any cat beyond the limit, or there is underlying heart or lung disease causing the symptoms you're seeing.

Whatever the case, please take my advice, arrange for an ultrasound as soon as possible and make sure that the vet doing the ultrasound is a board certified cardiac specialist.

I wouldn't give you this advice without a very good reason. So please trust me on this.

Thanks for the replies- will definitely insist on a cardio workup, sounds like an excellent idea. He recovers fast after the panting and wants to run and chase again and again... Still, better safe than sorry.