Weird Breathing

iluvlucy15

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Hey all. Been a while since I posted. I am having some concerns over my girl, Lucy. She is approx almost 2yrs old and quite a fiesty ginger. She plays hard (always has) but loves harder but only when no one's around. She's my best friend. Since I rescued Lucy (she was spayed and had all her shots done by the rescue - quite a respectable rescue too) but I've always said at times she would breathe oddly. Or it seemed like it to me. Ive only ever lived with one other cat. Anyways, it always seemed like her belly moved more than it should, that she was taking deeper breaths than necessary. Also, she would hack from time to time, not a lot but it was like a hairball but I've yet to see her produce one. Also she dies sneeze once in a while. And I should add that she's indoor only but was found abandoned outside young and alone. Anyways, I take her to the regularly for nail clippings and I had taken her for a yearly physical, where I explained this weird behaviour (in my opinion). The vet said her heart and lungs sounded great, we talked about possible things.. I had looked up feline asthma, allergies. They said at the time to keep an eye on things, and come back for x-rays if I felt necessary etc. So a year later her we are. Lucy and I recently relocated - same city tho, and last Saturday she started breathing differently than I had seen. Short quick breaths (NOT open mouth or panting), and it almost sounded like she had a cold. Like a kid with their mouth open trying to get through cold season. It's the best way to explain. I took her in, it was too weird for me not to, had a full physical exam - same thing - told she had good sounding lungs and heart but we talked about possibiliy of asthma, allergies, pollups, FHV (feline herpes). I didn't want to do x-rays but now regret it cause tonight she's doing it again. I did start giving her lysine... Sort of like a vitamin gel type thing to help keep immune system up in case her immune system went down due to stress related to move.... But I dunno.

Sorry this is long...
Anyone experience this before? Or anything similar?

Thx!
 

Columbine

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I'm so sorry that Lucy isn't breathing right :alright: I honestly think you need to go back to you vet and get the testing done. Breathing isn't something you want to play around with. I've dealt (and am dealing) with animals with heart problems and asthma, and the sooner you know exactly what's going on, the better.

It's great that her heart and lungs sound fine :) That should definitely give you some peace of mind. If it's polyps, then they should be treatable, and if it's allergies or FHV you should at least be able to manage them to keep her breathing easier. Once diagnosed, asthma is pretty manageable too, and even heart problems are easiest to cope with when diagnosed early (though I'd be very surprised if this IS heart-related, as any heart issue advanced enough to visibly impact her breathing would almost certainly be apparent in a physical examination).

Try not to stress, but you do need to get to the bottom of this - if for no other reason than your own peace of mind.
 

Caspers Human

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Casper was a rescued cat when we adopted him.  He was abandoned by a former owner and he had been living outdoors for the better part of a year.  He was also neutered, tested and had all his shots.

The first thing that happened was that he had worms.  He probably picked them up when he was living outside.  The Animal Welfare Society where we adopted him said that he had been wormed but, as you might know, one dose of medicine doesn't always kill all the worms.  Sometimes, you need to dose them again.  That's what happened with Casper.

He used to breathe really hard, as if he was coughing up a hairball but nothing came out.  Worming him again, took care of most of that problem.

After he was wormed, he still coughed like he had a hairball.  When we took him back to the vet, we were told that he probably had a low-grade bacterial infection of some kind.  We were given some antibiotics and we had to dose Casper twice a day for a week.

Afterward, Casper's coughing completely cleared up and it's been several months since he has acted like he has a hairball.  Zero coughing.

Might I suggest that you talk to your vet and ask if your kitty might have a similar problem to Casper's.

I'm not saying that your cat has the same problem that Casper had but it could be something simple like that.  Maybe a course of medicine will clear up your kitty's problem like it did Casper's.

No matter what the problem, it IS worth at least giving the vet a phone call and asking.
 

kitty chew

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My pepe has a similar problem. Haven't heard her cough in months, but she did it again last night. Only ever done it a few times. Her breathing was a bit funny for a minute after, then fine again. She also has her mouth open at times like she is panting after running around. The vet said she seemed fine after her first exam, but to keep an eye on her, and try to film her coughing if it happened again. Xrays were an option, but too expensive if not needed. I called her again today about last nights episode. She said to bring her in again, and get xrays done this time. She said it is not good if a cat has its mouth open, or seems to be having trouble breathing. Hope this helps. Think you should get those xrays done as well. I will let you know what happens, and please tell me how it goes with your kitty.
 
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