Cat breathing....

Glad you're seeing the vet tomorrow. It's always good to get these things checked out.

I agree that her breathing is more laboured than ideal in that video, but I've seen far far worse. Try not to worry tonight. Hopefully it's nothing major

If it IS heart disease, remember that there are some great drugs out there these days that can make a huge difference.

sweetdz99 said:

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.

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Thanks, she's my baby princess I don't know about her heart rate, I don't know how to tell.

I would try not to worry about it.  Just watch her, you have an appt Monday and you can ask them to check everything and then ask how you can check at home too since they are pretty much freaks at the vets.  Sometimes when we worry our anxiety is felt by them too.  ALL of my cats feed off of my energy and react to it.  I can tell you are very close to yours too so I am sure she feels your concern.  

It's also more noticeable when she is laying in that position. When she's sitting up its not appearing as much.

sweetdz99 said:

I would try not to worry about it.  Just watch her, you have an appt Monday and you can ask them to check everything and then ask how you can check at home too since they are pretty much freaks at the vets.  Sometimes when we worry our anxiety is felt by them too.  ALL of my cats feed off of my energy and react to it.  I can tell you are very close to yours too so I am sure she feels your concern.  

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My vet has Saturday morning hours so I'm going in first thing in the morning.

Even better!!!

Columbine said:

Glad you're seeing the vet tomorrow. It's always good to get these things checked out.

I agree that her breathing is more laboured than ideal in that video, but I've seen far far worse. Try not to worry tonight. Hopefully it's nothing major

If it IS heart disease, remember that there are some great drugs out there these days that can make a huge difference.

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She's only 2 so I'm not sure how common it is that young.

It depends on the type of disease. Certainly, heart murmurs aren't all that uncommon in my experience, but just having a murmur doesn't necessarily mean it's going to develop into anything more serious.

Don't misunderstand - I'm most definitely NOT saying that there's a heart problem...just that there are some great treatments out there if it is

Columbine said:

It depends on the type of disease. Certainly, heart murmurs aren't all that uncommon in my experience, but just having a murmur doesn't necessarily mean it's going to develop into anything more serious.

Don't misunderstand - I'm most definitely NOT saying that there's a heart problem...just that there are some great treatments out there if it is

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If so its been previously undetected. She was doing the asthma cough, same as my other cat. I just can't believe I would have 2 cats with asthma, seems unlikely as only 1% of cats have asthma apparently.

Unlikely things do happen - I had a cat AND a pony who both needed asthma meds. My pony's vet was staggered that I'd already been through it all with the cat, as it's rare in both species! The pony uses the same AeroKat style canister as the cat, but just with a MUCH bigger mask :lol3:

A URI or an allergy is the most likely culprit imo...but allergies can replicate asthmatic symptoms pretty well

Try to relax tonight. Hopefully you'll have some answers in the morning :cross:

She does sometimes get a clear fluid issue with her eye, the vet blamed it on herpes.

She slept on me normally tonight, but I've since gotten up, unable to sleep, and she is now like this on the back of the couch... She has laid like this on occasion before.
Not sure if this is indicative of pain?

Her position in that pic indicates that she's breathing more easily - it'll be harder to breath with her head tucked under like that, so she wouldn't do it if she was breathless. One of mine sleeps like that pretty regularly!

How's she doing now? What did the vet say?

They did an ECG and a chest X-ray. The vet couldn't see anything glaringly obvious but is sending it to a specialist to analyze. She said the ECG was normal, a couple blips from her moving around only.

She's also currently mad at me for taking her to the vet. My other kitty Massimo, who is currently recovering from a broken foot due to his own shenanigans, was just glad it wasn't him that had to go! He also has asthma but has been mostly asymptomatic since we moved a year and a half ago.

I'm glad that the vet couldn't see anything. Hopefully the specialist will say the same :cross:

I'm well used to the post vet sulks :lol3: Hope she forgives you soon

hno: Poor Massimo to have a broken foot. Those shenanigans must've been pretty wild to cause that!

He was pawing at his own reflection in a full length mirror, and it fell off the wall onto his foot. A clean fracture in the metacarpal bones... ThIs then led to cystitis in his bladder due to stress, so he's on a urinary food and glucosamine supplements. Apparently the inside of the bladder lining is well supported by glucosamine. These cats cost me a lot of money haha.

:jaw: That's a new one on me :rolleyes2 Hopefully he'll stay out of trouble for a while

So my kitty with breathing issues went to the vet Saturday morning. They did a chest X-ray and ECG. Her heart rate and rhythm was normal. The vet didn't see anything glaringly obvious in the chest X-ray as far as fluid, lung swelling, heart, etc, but she's sending it to a specialist to look and I should have answers early this week. IF she's not asthmatic, what else could be causing this abdominal breathing? It's not overly pronounced and is a normal rate, but it is slightly abdominal. The vet said she couldn't see any signs of pain. She's eating, drinking, peeing normally, and she only has a bowel movement every couple of days (which the vet said might just be normal for her, despite being on gastro fibre food). Anyone else have experience with this?? She's only just over 2 years old.

Update; the specialist looked and her chest X-ray looks normal. She has no fluid in her lungs or chest, but the vet said that she could have mild asthma and it doesn't always show up. We're going to try a short term steroid to see if it helps. If it doesn't, it could be a heart issue. Her heart size looked normal but the vet said they could only tell if the walls were thickening internally with an ultrasound. Anyone else have experience with this??