Cat breathing....

I have a 2.5 year old indoor only, spayed kitty and I can't tell if her breathing is normal. She had a little coughing fit tonight, and I don't know what abdominal breathing actually looks like. She's breathing at about 22 breaths per minute at rest, which I read is normal. I took a video but can't seem to attach it here.

In my opinion, take her to the vet immediately. While her breathing rate seems normal (if a bit low?), the coughing and labored breathing might be indicative of something greater (e.g. pneumonia). You can pull up Youtube videos of labored breathing if you need a visual comparison.

Is she resting normal? Hiding? Eating?  I had a kitty that when she purred looked like she was having a heart attack.  Has she been sick? 

If the coughing fit was a one off, it could be something as simple as a hairball.

If a cat is having breathing difficulties they tend to be hunched in a meatloaf type position with their head and neck stretched forward.
[VIDEO][/VIDEO]
This is actually an asthma attack. The cat's position is classic for breathing difficulties and, if you watch his side in between coughing fits, you should get a sense of how abdominal breathing looks.

My rule, particularly with breathing issues, is if in doubt see (or at least speak to) a vet. Far better to have a false alarm than risk things escalating.

:cross: it was just a hairball or a bit of dust

She's eating and drinking normally, slept with me all night as normal. She has coughed like this a few times before, my other cat did at one time show these signs of asthma as well, but when we moved it stopped. I do have Flovent and a kitty inhaler tool that goes over their face. I might give that to her a few times a week and see. Now sometimes on occasion when they drink quickly from their fountain or the tap it will trigger a cough, it's so strange and the vet knows about it. I can't think of why drinking from the tap would trigger it.

Maybe the angle they're drinking from causes a little water to go down the wrong way? :dk: That's all I can think of if it's only related to drinking from the tap.

I would try hairball medicine, too. One of my kitties is sensitive to everything. If there is any dust at all he sneezes and coughs occasionally. I have another one who coughs a little after drinking. My vet said he was likely drinking too fast and to make sure he wasn't drinking more than usual. I would make an Appt so the vet can listen at least to make sure there's no gurgling or congestion

The video posted above about cat asthma is exactly what it looks like when both cats do it, even after drinking from the tap. It only happens every once in a while. What are the chances of having 2 asthmatic cats in the same household?!

Her belly does not look like that during regular breathing though.

Oh no!! Its not that uncommon, especially if there is something triggering it! Poor babies!

Comp625 said:

In my opinion, take her to the vet immediately. While her breathing rate seems normal (if a bit low?), the coughing and labored breathing might be indicative of something greater (e.g. pneumonia). You can pull up Youtube videos of labored breathing if you need a visual comparison.

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The problem is I can't tell if her breathing is laboured or not. I keep trying to look it up and it doesn't seem like she has what I see on these videos....

I have videos of her breathing and wish I could post them in here, but it will only allow pictures. She was just at the vets Monday night and she didn't comment then on her breathing, but she was also frozen in fear.

I think you can post them in YouTube and then link us here? Has she coughed anymore? Any discharge from nose or eyes? Does she go outside?

The following should help you figure out how to post the videos.
[article="24985"]Image And Video Tutorial  [/article]

sweetdz99 said:

I think you can post them in YouTube and then link us here? Has she coughed anymore? Any discharge from nose or eyes? Does she go outside?

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She's indoor only. No visible discharge from eyes or nose.

I actually sent the videos to my vet. We have an appointment tomorrow morning because she did say that the breathing appeared to be more pronounced and abdominal. Currently Khloe is playing with a feather toy and jumping on the counter.... So I don't think she is in distress, but it's a good idea to have her looked at and possibly X-rayed as well.

[VIDEO][VIDEOhttps://youtu.be/Iu6Fc0YsWks][/VIDEO]

I agree!   It is probably some sort of allergy or something triggering asthmatic episodes.  You're a great catparent!   Update after the appt if you can!

I

sweetdz99 said:

I agree!   It is probably some sort of allergy or something triggering asthmatic episodes.  You're a great catparent!   Update after the appt if you can!

Thanks, I've posted a video above.

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My cats breathe like that.  It looks normal to me but I'm not a vet by any means.  Is her heart beating faster?  She is gorgeous.

My concern is heart disease... She's lost a quarter of a pound recently, but is eating and drinking and playing normally as far as I can tell.