We have had our new cat Jupiter for about two weeks now, and we're starting to notice something that we haven't experienced with other cats we've had, so I'm coming here for some help from you friendly folks!
Here's as much background information as we have about him:
-10 to 11 months old, DSH
-was a stray rescued from a Native reserve, brought into the care of a foster home affiliated with a rescue group
-stayed with 2-3 different foster homes before he came home with us
-neutered back in April, still has his claws
-he has had a checkup with our vet when we first got him, and that was a-ok, but Jupiter was also being a bit of a stinker when the vet was trying to examining him so perhaps he missed this?
He is really full of spunk and energy, and the problem is that he doesn't seem to know his limits. He will start chasing after a ball or just running around the house, and maybe 2 minutes into it we notice that he will start panting. He's got two different types of panting. "Stage 1" would be just breathing pretty hard through his mouth, and "stage 2" is the same as before with his tongue hanging out slightly. He doesn't seem to understand when he needs to take a break, and sometimes we will have to put him in the bathroom by himself for a few minutes of "quiet time out" just so he can calm himself down and catch his breath. On two occasions his breathing has gotten even worse when we were playing with him with a Da Bird wand toy - he gets really hyper over those. He would be playing along just fine, and then all of a sudden stop, bend over with his head towards the floor and start heaving like he was going to cough up a hairball. He made a terrible wheezing sound like he couldn't get any air too, and he never coughed up a hairball so I think he really couldn't breathe
Scary stuff. We just sat beside him, talking softly and stroking him gently until he could get through it and feel better.
So obviously that last part with the wheezing isn't very good. Any advice on that? And is it normal for a young cat of his age to tire this quickly? It's getting to the point that I'm afraid to give him any real exercise, which also isn't good because of course he needs exercise to keep himself active and healthy and not chubby. Should we be taking him to see the vet for this?
Thanks for any help in advance!
Here's as much background information as we have about him:
-10 to 11 months old, DSH
-was a stray rescued from a Native reserve, brought into the care of a foster home affiliated with a rescue group
-stayed with 2-3 different foster homes before he came home with us
-neutered back in April, still has his claws
-he has had a checkup with our vet when we first got him, and that was a-ok, but Jupiter was also being a bit of a stinker when the vet was trying to examining him so perhaps he missed this?
He is really full of spunk and energy, and the problem is that he doesn't seem to know his limits. He will start chasing after a ball or just running around the house, and maybe 2 minutes into it we notice that he will start panting. He's got two different types of panting. "Stage 1" would be just breathing pretty hard through his mouth, and "stage 2" is the same as before with his tongue hanging out slightly. He doesn't seem to understand when he needs to take a break, and sometimes we will have to put him in the bathroom by himself for a few minutes of "quiet time out" just so he can calm himself down and catch his breath. On two occasions his breathing has gotten even worse when we were playing with him with a Da Bird wand toy - he gets really hyper over those. He would be playing along just fine, and then all of a sudden stop, bend over with his head towards the floor and start heaving like he was going to cough up a hairball. He made a terrible wheezing sound like he couldn't get any air too, and he never coughed up a hairball so I think he really couldn't breathe
So obviously that last part with the wheezing isn't very good. Any advice on that? And is it normal for a young cat of his age to tire this quickly? It's getting to the point that I'm afraid to give him any real exercise, which also isn't good because of course he needs exercise to keep himself active and healthy and not chubby. Should we be taking him to see the vet for this?
Thanks for any help in advance!