Siberian Kittens Breathing Fast

I purchased 2 Siberian kittens and have noticed that their breathing is very fast, like around 80 - 90 bpm. I have read that normal bpm for a sleeping cat is around 30 - 40 (on the lower end), but mine are much higher. I have taken both to vet for checkups and one vet thinks maybe a foreign object, but X-Rays and barium contrast have been inconclusive. Vet thinks yes and the radiologist thinks otherwise. This was over a month ago. I stopped taking him because $3K later still no answers and vet wanting to do exploratory surgery. He is so tiny and I didn't want to subject him to unnecessary surgery, so went with the radiologists opinion. I am happy to say that he is very active and has almost gained 3 lbs since then, but have noticed that both he and his litter mate breathe very fast. They have very healthy appetites and are full of energy, but I'm still concerned. I don't want to take back to cat vet because I am sure they will want to run more tests and diagnostic procedures just to tell me that they can't find the problem and suggest exploratory surgery again. I've been to 3 different vets and no answers. I don't want to subject my babies to any undue stress, however, I don't want anything bad to happen to either of them. Are there any other families with Siberian cats/kittens who can tell me if this is normal?

Thanks much!

Deb

Are they pure breds?  Maybe call the breeder and ask about some of the other kittens they have? 

Yes they are pure breeds. I did ask the breeder and she is stumped. The female is now breathing with her mouth open so I'm thinking about taking her to emergency animal hospital. My husband suggests we watch her for a little while longer. My nerves are frayed and I can't stand the thought of anything bad happening to either one. I love them so much.

Could they be too hot?
My cat also breathes fast when she's stressed, but I don't think that's that problem with your cats since it's been awhile. Are they still breathing as fast as before?

I don't know your location but are you a reasonable distance from a veterinary medical teaching hospital?  They would have different specialists who are well trained to help diagnose your kittens, e.g. cardiologist, pulmonologist, etc.  Hope this helps and you can get some answers soon.  Thinking of you.

My friend has a siberean but her kitty only does that when very hot, so she buzzes her in the summer. I would contact another vet clinic and explain your situation and hopefully they can help you find answers. Cats will pant if hot or stressed and their body temp goes up. They will pant if in pain or scared--wishing you and your kitties the best!

Neely said:

I don't know your location but are you a reasonable distance from a veterinary medical teaching hospital?  They would have different specialists who are well trained to help diagnose your kittens, e.g. cardiologist, pulmonologist, etc.  Hope this helps and you can get some answers soon.  Thinking of you.

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That is a great idea. We have one about 2 hours away. I'll make the appointment today. Thank you for the suggestion.

We would have loved to have adopted from our local animal shelter but my husband is allergic so we opted for our babies. Once we discovered that he had no allergic reaction to them we made the decision to bring them home. I grew up with cats and thought I would never be able to have another. Thankfully I was wrong. I love my babies so much! [emoji]128525[/emoji]

darkhorse321 said:

My friend has a siberean but her kitty only does that when very hot, so she buzzes her in the summer. I would contact another vet clinic and explain your situation and hopefully they can help you find answers. Cats will pant if hot or stressed and their body temp goes up. They will pant if in pain or scared--wishing you and your kitties the best!

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No way are they too hot. I'm menopausal so my thermostat is set at 68! Lol. I took her to vet last week for follow up after finishing her regime of Clavamox but she couldn't find anything. Thought it's URI and gave her Clavamox. She was on it for 10 days and the problem persists. We have been to 3 vets, 2 of which are cat specialists who only see cats. Both are also ABVP certified specializing in Feline Practice and each has her own practice. I have made an appointment with another cat specialist who specializes in feline internal medicine and has established an ABVP residency site at her clinic. I'm hoping that since she has more experience than the others she will know what's wrong and get the problem resolved. My point is I'm doing everything I can to get her well. But I just feel so darn helpless. I wish I were like Dr. Doolittle and could "talk" to the animals.

I have no answers, but I hope you are able to find out what's going on.

I would be sending all the bills, relating to this issue, to the breeder you got these kittens from.

Thank you. [emoji]128570[/emoji] The breeder has been great. She offered a refund early on and to pay for the original vet bill, but I've bonded with them and no way can I return them. I'm in it for the long haul. I am looking at common health problems associated with this breed and all I could find is HCM. But my vet said that all cats are prone to that disease.

Oh, I never expected you to return them, only that the breeder is legally expected to pay for ALL the diagnostic bills relating to this issue, as long as you got them in for a vet exam within like 10 days or whatever your contract says.

The disease you are suggesting is very serious and the prognosis is really not very good since it's a progressive disease. I think the vet should be fully responsible for selling you possibly seriously ill kittens.

I admire you for going to all these lengths to find the answers. Please keep us all updated.

What litter do you use? I am thinking possible asthma. I have read that kittens can grow out of it eventually.

I am SO sorry! That is so upsetting. And I'm with you on the menopausal stuff. Those hot flashes are a nightmare!  

I know my female's breathing increases if she's in pain----she had a bout of pancreatitis this time around that nearly killed her. I've never seen her pant since then. But your vets sound very good----I'm stumped! Panting/breathing open mouthed is usually to cool the kitty down. They aren't running fevers and are acting normally correct? No heart murmer detected? 

My vet said it all sounded fine. We are taking her to a veterinary teaching hospital tomorrow as an emergency. Unfortunately to get a regular appointment we have to have a referral and I can't get in to see the local vet until Sep 8.

I'm so sorry you had to go through so many vets/exams! I can only imagine how stressful this can be, especially when you just got 2 new kittens.
Are the 2 of them breathing fast? I was a bit confused because you were mentioning "her", no the 2 kittens. It's great the breeder was understanding, I still hope the breeder has paid for some of those expensive exams.

I think your appointment was on September 8th? How was it? Any updates?

I have 2 siberian kittens too and I can understand the relief of the no-allergy situation. (I'm really allergic to cats and so is my boyfriend).

We wound up taking the female to the animal ER because it looked like she was in distress when trying to breath. Fortunately everything was okay, X-rays showed no abnormalities and we went home. We did follow up with her vet and she said everything looked fine. She wants us to video her so that she can see what we are talking about. Bottom line, everything appears to be fine, she is in good health... lungs are clear, mucous membranes are pink, and she is oxygenating appropriately.  She is scheduled to get her rabies vaccine in a couple of weeks because my vet does not want to overload her system with different antigens, and then spay 3 days afterwards. She is also going to reflect soft palate forward and look back into the nasal area and look for any discharge or polyps when she spays her. I just wonder if it (breathing fast) is common in the Siberian breed, because her male litter mate seems to breath fast from time-to-time as well. They are wonderful companions and we are so happy that they are a part of our family. 

Just seen your message.  We bought two siberian kittens last November and noticed almost straight away that one of them was breathing very quickly at times (over 120 bpm) even when relaxed and resting.  Like you we took our kittens to an emergency vet and had all sorts of tests done.  They could find nothing.  They saw the fast breathing rate for themselves but we also made a few videos and showed the vet these too.  Again like you we asked the breeder whether this was a problem that siberian cats suffered from and was told they had no knowledge of anything like this.

Our male siberian is now 14 months old.  Extremely active, eats lots and seems happy and healthy.  But he still breathes very quickly sometimes - he's just been relaxing on my lap and I noticed he was breathing quickly again (along with loud purring) hence my google search.

He wasn't hot, hadn't been running about so there was no reason for the fast breathing.  He didn't seem distressed in any way.  

His sister does breath quickly too on occasion but not as quickly as her brother and less often.  She too is extremely active and seems fine, happy and healthy.  No other signs of anything to be concerned about.

I'm beginning to think it must be a trait of the breed despite the breeder, who is extremely experienced, saying he had no knowledge of this.

Hope this is of some use to you.  I hope your cats are ok and I would be interested in how things progress - I will happily let you know how our our siberian cats are getting on.

Thank you! Your response is very helpful and has reduced my anxiety quite a bit. My female breathes faster than her brother, but both are full of energy and very playful! They are almost 6 months old and I can't wait for their one year birthday!

Wow! Wish I would have found this post three months ago!! I have a 5 month old pure bred gorgeous Siberian.....and guess what? He does the same thing!! At 11 weeks when we brought him home I noticed he was breathing about 90 times per minute at rest. Went to the vet and they did a series of X-rays, blood work and a course of antibiotics. He checked out normal. She's suggesting a cardiac ultrasound to rule out heart issues but I've decided to wait. The temps here have dropped significantly and our house is now 6-7 degrees cooler and o haven't noticed it....except for tonight...we had an unusual 85 degree day here in PA and his breathing is rapid again. I'm thinking this guy is over heated. When he is on a deep sleep (paw test, pick it up and it drops like a rock) he's in the 40s. Certainly a strange phenomenon with this breed.