Rapid Breathing in Cats

My 7month old cat is brething so fast.. early today, we had a family/relative get together in our house. The children are playing with kokwa, kokwa is afraid and keeps on running away from the children, he hides so no one can caught him. Tonight, i notice his rapid open mouth breathing.. how's my cat? This is so unusual. Can you help me find what is happening to Kokwa?

Why does my 4 month old kitten breathe heavily while sleeping on his back? It's only when he sleeps that way and as though he just ran a long distance. He's fine at all other times but I'm worried he may be struggling to breathe.

Its been 3 days until he was breath fast, he is listless but then he can still groom himself and eat but only fish, he can still drink on his own a lot, scratch his scabies

I just noticed my 10yr old female cat has been breathing very fast and shallow. It started about 24 hrs ago. Should I keep an eye on her over the weekend, or is this something I should rush her to the doctor for?

Rapid breathing legarthy listless. She's normally an outdoor cat but doesn't really want to go out. Having accidents indoors, sleeping more than normal. Not eaten much but drinking milk, sits on cabinet with her back to us

My 16 year old cat is breathing very rapidly. She also has lost a lot of weight in last few months but she is eating excessively. Seems ok otherwise. Is an illness causing this ? Is her age a big factor ?

Hi! This is my first time using this website. I adopted a kitten from the humane society two months ago. She is currently 6 months old. She is an extremely sweet and loving kitten and have had no problems with her except for some gum swelling around 5 mo. I took her to a vet and was told she was fine, the gum swelling went down and she lost some baby teeth. I assumed the gum swelling was from that. I am now noticing in her rapid breathing when she is resting, and more recently, at random times she makes a monotone short snore sound. It’s almost as if she is having issues breathing. I have noticed zero behavioral changes. She seems to be doing fine, however I know cats can hide their issues well. I will add she is a Siamese kitten and talks like one!

My cat has started so breath really shallow more rapid breaths rather than his normal breathing rate and depth. The only thing I can think of that has occurred in the last couple of hours is that my fiancé fed him along with our other two male cats some beef tendon which she has done before. The other two cats are just fine. Kingston however seems to be having a hard time taking a full breath and breathing at a normal rate. I checked his mouth and did not see anything. He isn’t active like normal and will only sit in one spot and not move. I picked him up and held him in front of his back legs and behind his front legs and he let out a slight meow as to not like that. I am not sure what to do for him. We have some allergy medicine but I do not know if that would help in any way. I couldn’t even get him to take a treat which he never turns down. Please help.

Recently my cat has been breathing a lot. I counted how much she breaths in a minute and it led up to 62 times. My cat is a indoor cat and has never gone outside and she is around 6 months old. We started feeding her a new type of brand of food 2 weeks ago and I don’t know if that was the cause. Is my cat sick?

My cat lucky is 13 Siamese cat, he has always had a healthy appetite and was a big boy. Recently he isn't eating as much, he vomits a lot, he lost weight, a lot of weight, gags, and sometimes at night his breathing sounds off, it's not tapir, or to slow just sounds muffled a little heavy?? I am worried

My cat was seen by my vet 2 days ago for lethargy, loss of appetite and rapid breathing. The vet diagnosed a viral or bacterial infection and slight dehydration. She had a temp of 103.4. She was given I.V. fluid, a long acting antibiotic shot and a fever reducer. She's not much better. Should I give the medication more time to work or does she need to be seen again.

Cat has been breathing relatively quickly-- brought him home to family for holidays. Was wondering if this is due to stress or if he has something else. Also sleeping more than usual

My daughters cat is mainly an inside cat but goes outside on occasion, 3 days ago she went outside to have a sniff when she spotted another cat and went bolting after it , in panic my daughter and I went running after her when we retrieved her she started vomiting up what I guessed was stomach acid due to the fact her body was not prepared or designed for that fast bolt. My daughter let her distress and calm down. Later in the evening we noticed she was still breathing very rapidly like she was when we retrieved her we thought maybe she was still highly stressed and that it may go away by morning. Morning came and I had work my daughter was looking after her cat and her condition had not changed my daughter tried feeding the cat her favourite treat ham which she usually can’t get enough of and now she ate one little bit and left the rest which is very out of character , my daughter told me this when I got home so I tired to feed the cat some dinner and she wouldn’t touch it this is when my daughter and started to feel really worried. We wanted to take her to the vet the next day but unfortunately all of them were closed due to it being a Sunday and we noticed she hadn’t used her litter and hadn’t been drinking unless my daughter fed water to her though a syringe. It is the middle of the night now when I’m writing this and she is still rapidly breathing and still hasn’t eaten for 2days please any help would be appreciated this cat is everything to my daughter thank you I hope to hear from you soon

I have a four week old kitten who was dewormed today and i took in for a check up because he wasnt moving much and wasnt eating. When we got home he ate from his bottle and walked around a little. Right now hes fast asleep but his chest is rising and falling way faster than his littermates. Is he okay, what should i do?

Okay so we’ve had our cat since being a kitten and she’s always been very scatty as we think she was abused, due to getting her and her having marks on her neck, but her breathing has always been rapid. (80 resps per minute) but in herself, she’s like any normal cat. She’s very friendly, not in any form of pain, is this something that needs to be addressed?

After I had a party at my house a few days ago, my cat has been acting very differently. He sleeps all day and only gets up to pee or poop, doesn't eat and drink as much as he used to, and starts breathing more rapidly and heavily. I've brought him to a vet and they said that it's likely due to stress caused by the party, and for the past couple of days I've been giving him liquid food and vitamins with a pipette, but I feel like his breathing has actually gone worse. I'm just afraid that the vet misdiagnosed him (since I live in a rural town in Indonesia, I don't really trust the vet here), so do you think there's something more going on than just stress? Oh and if it helps, my cat had just done his first vaccination about a week ago. Thank you

I have a 7 yr old Scottish Fold. I took her to the vet on Friday because I noticed her breathing rapidly. The vet said there were no signs of a respiratory infection (lungs sounded clear, eyes & ears appeared fine) but gave her a shot of antibiotics and some pain med. (in case she was panting due to being in pain)and sent us home. Its now 2 days later and shes still having a hard time breathing. Could she possibly jst have a stuffy nose from allergies and thats causing her to struggle. I mentioned it to the vet, but he said no because her nose doesnt have any discharge.

My cat (6 years old, castrated , female) for a week is showing signs of periodic but long lasting tachypnea. During the last week her breathing rate has reached 60/min ( normal 18-20/min) . Whenever she is tachypneic she is also very lethargic . Her popliteal lymph nodes are swollen and her white blood cel count ( 4,63 ) and neutrophil count (2.48) is slightly low. Abdominal ultrasound , cardiac and thoracic x rays did not show any abdonormalities ( mesenteric lymph nodes heart and lungs were normal ). Biochemical blood work results where normal . She is FeLV and FIV negative. She is also suffering from diarrhea and frequent urination ( 6 times daily)
She has been taking antibiotics Clavaseptin 62,5mg for a week without visible results .
What could be the cause of these symptoms ?
Thank you very much I look forward to your answer.

I took my cat into the vet Monday and Tuesday. he was giving a shot to bring down his fever both times also antibiotics that he is still receiving morning and night.he was acting up not eating not drinking water and a fever. Wednesday and thursday he was just fine being normal but he still hasn't ate a lot. Thursday night his breathing started to become fast and short what could this be. Vet did not believe this was distemoer.

Hello, so after I had a party at my house a few days ago, my cat has been very weak, sleeping all the time, won't eat or drink as much as he used to, and breathing rapidly. I tried bringing him to a vet a couple of days ago and they said it was only stress due to the loud music and crowds from the party, and they told me to give him liquid food along with vitamins every hour for a few days. I've done that for a couple of days but it seems like my cat's breathing actually had gotten more shallow and heavy. I'm afraid that the vet misdiagnosed my cat (I don't trust the credibility of that vet, since they're not the one I'm used to go to), do you think there's anything more than just stress? Also if it helps, he's just gotten his first vaccination around last week. Thank you

My cat has been demonstrating dyspnea. He has a decrease in appetite and hasn’t been able to sleep. We brought him to the vet to be checked in which they stated they drained an abcess and have him an antibiotic, to which he was ok for a day in which they symptoms returned once again. What should I do?

My cat had an leg amputation two days ago, he recoverd fine and this morning he was walking in the house, eating and using the sand box. Suddenly this afternoon he began to act very strange he began breathing heavily and a few hours ago he started to wheeze and he wants to vomit but nothing comes out. I am really worried I did phone my vet she said it is normal for them to experience great pain. He received tolfedine for pain to be taken in the mornings, could it be the pain medication has wornbeen off and he is experiencing pain or is it something else?

My cat is about 9 years old, and about two days ago his breathing started to become very rapid at about 60-80 breaths per minute. He is eating properly and acting normally and doesn't appear to be in pain. Is there any reason this could be as this hasn't happened to any of our previous cats. He is also very healthy and has only gone to the vets for mess once for a urine infection he always has the de wormer and the anti flea drops as well as his vaccines

We have a 12 year old cat that is breathing hard and rapidly. about 6 weeks ago he got stepped on and the breathing rapid started about 2 days later. We took him to the vet. They did xrays and blood work. Said his back was bruised and gave him antibotics, steroid shot, and pain meds. He was fine for about 3 weeks then started breathing hard again. This time we took him back they said he had a cats nail stuck in his neck. Gave him a steroid shot and he was fine for 2 weeks. Took him back 3rd time and they gave him a steroid shot.This time it didnt help. Took him to a different vet. They looked at his blood work and took xrays. Said he either had cancer or fungus on his lungs. They were swolen. He is on his second week of antibotics and anti-fugal meds. Really breathing hard but not panting. Not sure if he's suffering or how to tell.

My kitten (6 months) is breathing about 70 times within 60 seconds. I’m not really sure what to do in this case. He also has the sagging part of skin towards his back legs on his stomach and I’m not sure if it’s just excess skin or something more severe and might be a reason for his breathing increase

Breathing fast
My cat is breathing fast and today after the x-ray it showed that he has got a tumor. I wanted to ask if something can be done. He also have positive leukosis, but everthing seems to be normal.

I had to take my cat to the vet about a month ago, as she was coughing. The vet had said she was healthy, but he thought the coughing was due to a hair ball. We put her on a medication, but unfortunately the medication has not been working. I'm starting to notice that my cat is having a decreased appetite, and she's not as crazy, happy as normal. I'm concerned that this could be that she's allergic to something, or something is going on with the weather? I'm taking her to the vet on Saturday morning to get a better examination, but I wanted to see if you had any other suggestions, or if you could prepare me. Thank you!

A stray cat showed up at my house a couple days ago. She is very thin and I've started her on small throughout the day. She is eating, drinking, voiding, and stooling okay. Eyes, ears, and nose are all clear. The only major thing I've noticed is rapid breathing when purring or stress (loud noises make her skittish). I have pets of my own and really cannot afford a costly vet visit, and our local shelter and a rescue are overwhelmed with companion animals at this time. I've started her on antibiotics and am keeping her isolated from my own pets. My daughter has asthma and this looks very similar. Any advice? I've found out that her previous owner passed away and a neighbour tried to bring her to her house, the cat bolted and they couldn't find her, 3 weeks later she showed up at my place. She is a spayed 5 year old female who was up to date on shots.

Hello. I have recently got a 12 week old kitten. He's very friendly, eating and drinking fine, playful, albeit frequently tired. His breathing is constantly rapid, even when sleeping, over 100/minute. He is very skinny and "ribby". Do you have any advice on what it may be?

Hello, I took my 9 month old Maine Coon to the vet 2 days ago to get a couple of mats shaved. I tried and was unsuccessful. It was a very stressful event for him, it took 3 people :( He started coughing and breathing very heavy last night. He is eating well but the quick breathing and coughing is continuing. Could this be related to stress? I am scared to stress him out more by taking him in.
Thank you,
Lorie

My cat seems to be breathing rapidly like he is our of breath when hes lying down.hes not off his food and is still getting about and using the litter tray etc

Sharleen ear temperature change hot to cold 4 times overnight. Sound stuffy when purr. Breath heavily and urinate lots and often last few weeks. Took her to the vet for blood work and check up today. She seem worse and in pain. Lower lip is now swollen, right front leg a little limping. Not active all afternoon. Night fall and she seem restless. What can I do to ease her pain while waiting for blood work result?

Hello there! My girlfriend and I have an exclusively outdoor cat who has recently shown some worrisome behavior. Typically, Simba is very independent. Only allows some human interaction when we feed him, and even then it's more like we have to sneak a pet here and there. About three days ago I came home and noticed his breathing was fairly rapid. I thought maybe he just came to our porch after some activity, so I mentioned it to my girlfriend in passing. Yesterday she called me at work worried. Simba was letting her pet him and even came into our garage (which is basically set up like a living room. There's a heater, ac unit, tv, carpets, etc.) It's very home-y. Anyway, he's been in the garage the past two nights since its been in the thirties at night time. He lays very still, breathes very rapid and heavy. I can hear, what I think is congestion as he breathes. He hasn't eaten or drank much. The only thing I have gotten to eat are a few cat treats. I read online we could give him a small dosage of benedryl. But I don't want to give him anything that would essentially hurt him. He also has random asthma like episodes. Wheezing and coughing with his mouth closed. He meows when we talk to him, or look at him. Part of me feels like he's asking for help! Unsure if whatever he has is life threatening or just a little kitty cold.

For as long as I can remember my 5 year old cat has intermittent rapid breathing. She doesn't seem bothered by this and she doesn't have any other symptoms when she is breathing quickly. I always forget to ask about this when she is at the vet and her breathing is always normal there. When her breathing is fast it's around 70 75 breaths per minute and normal is around 32. The intermittent fast breathing last maybe a few minutes and then goes back to normal.

I've adopted a cat that was dumped under our hedge. She is very skinny but is gaining weight in the week I've had her. She drinks about half a cup of water daily and breathes very rapidly even when resting. Is it normal for a cat that had been so skinny and is now gaining weight to have such rapid breathing? I'm concerned having been so starved her organs may have been affected, she is quite young. Otherwise she appears very content, alert and relaxed. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

My cat was sick about a month ago and got better. However, this past week she has been lethargic and we’ve noticed her breathing change - it’s often very rapid and shallow. And she’s sleeping much more than she usually does and eating less.

My cat seems to have rapid breathing, I can see her stomach area rising and falling as she sleeps. I tried to take her breathing rate and got 60-65 per minute. She is grooming herself more than usual. She has always been skittish, her eating is normal, and she has had normal bladder and bowel functions. I have a hard time getting her into a carrier so I do not take her to the vet often. I am in an area that is getting prepared for a powerful nor'easter, so I can't get her to a vet for a few days. Should I be worried? What can I do?

Hello, I adopted a cat 6 months ago and he is almost 1 now. Ever since I got him, he has breathed fast and noisy. He was treated for URI’s a couple times and lung worms once. There was slight improvement when he was being treated with Panacur and prednisolone, but it is back to it’s fast pace. He is otherwise normal, eating and drinking fine (maybe eating too much..), playing fine. He sleeps a lot during the day but then will be a wild hyper cat after I get home from work. He doesn’t open mouth breathe (except once after laser play), no coughing or vomit. His poo however is extremely stinky and greasy looking. He is not in pain. He is about 13 pounds and he eats Iams Indoor dry food and Blue Buffalo wet food. Any suggestions? My vet is at a loss.

My cat seems to be a really healthy cat. I recently brought him to the vet and he had a physical exam done. They didn't find any problems. However, I do notice that he has always been a fast breather. I have two cats, and one has always breathed faster than the other and meowed a lot more than the other. However, other than those two things he seems fine - eats well, very active, skin and fur look great, etc. Do I need to be worried enough to take him to get a blood test?

Hi! My cat squeakers has always been breathing faster than normal. Our other cats only do it after playing and running around. She seems to have been breathing like this for her whole life. She doesn’t display any other concerning symptoms at all. She’s eating and drinking normally. She gets in exercise when she plays and she’s still her old self. I’m wondering if it would be best to take her to a vet? Or maybe is it just normal for her?

My cat is breathing rapid and labored. His nostrils are flaring out but his mouth isn't open. He is eating and alert. Would you consider this a reason to bring him into the emergency vet? Or is he most likely ok?

whats wrong with my cat? my cat is 8 and hes an indoor cat, he doesn't have much of an appetite since yesterday but still eating a little bit and drinking very little water, hes sleeping all the time and sleeping in odd places and doesn't seem to have much energy and breathing very fast.

My cat is 14 years old and has became very skinny and her breathing is very fast. She is eating ok and her eyes and coat look very healthy. Some times it looks like she is struggling to breath also her tummy is always gurgling

We have a 9 week old Bengal kitten that it was discovered yesterday at our vet appointment that he has a grade 4 cardiac murmur. He has been eating and moderately playing like normal. Tonight his breathing is pretty rapid - ranging from 60-80 bpm. He’s sleeping peacefully now. Anything I should do? I did call a cardiologist, but we can’t get an appointment until July and even if we could, we can’t afford the visit. Looking for help!

My 1-year old cat, Chip, seems to be in a relatively constant state of tachypnea. He’s had a history of rapid/intermittently shallow breathing since I adopted him at 3 months old. He otherwise acts normal, with no periods of lethargy/concerning weight fluctuation/appetite or thirst fluctuation/GI upset. His mucous membrane color is always good and pink, and his physical exams have always showed NSF, so no palpable thoracic masses or anything like that. Should I be concerned about an internal mass, heartworms, or anything like that? Thanks so much for your time.

My cat is approx 18yrs old & had 4 seizures a couple of weeks ago. Vet ran bloods & said nothing found just white cells up a little. Gave Noroclav 50 for week, no fits since but breathing very fast and hard, can’t get comfy & struggles moving about just sleeps a lot. Little food & water. If walks it’s very slow. Lost weight and ribs are poking out.

My 6 year old savannah seems to be breathing rapidly, abdomen breathing, he is seeking warm areas. I'm not sure if he's losing weight. He doesn't seem to be in distress, also he isn't seeking attention as much.

My cat is breathing very fast, gums and eyes look ok and he isn’t breathing with his mouth open, he does suffer with a small heart heart failure grade 1 but that doesn’t tend to affect him? It has been very hot today 23oc but he has also been eating and drinking fine?

My cat just suddenly started breathing very fast, panting with her mouth open, and twitching. She got very week short after, in able to walk, with an extremely fast heart rate. She stumbled to get her self to an is played corner where i left her to calm down with her babies and the Window opened to help her get more oxygen. She is a first time mother of four kittens that are about 5 weeks old, and im scared to death that she might be really sick. She seamed to have called down a bit, but she still seams extremely week and gets tired fast. Has trouble walking and her appetite seams to have gone down dramatically. I want to take her to a vet but I am studying abroad in jordan and there are basically no animal hospitals here, but there are veterinarians. Is there any recomended medications or something i can do to help her get better?

My 7 year old female cat lulu presently showing rapid and shallow respiration for last 1 day during daytime when it's too hot around 100degrees outside.otherwise she is absolutely normal,eating,playing,sleeping.
During rest and sleep her breathing rate is 22..What is going on with her?

I am watching my cat who is lying on my bed. She is breathing rapidly (tummy going up and down) but I don't see any other symptoms. She is eating. She is lying comfortably. Closed mouth. Could it be serious. Should I take her to the vet?

My cat, Arwen, just came out to the living room limping badly with her front right leg kinda knuckling over. The leg and paw is cool to the touch in comparison to the rest of her body and her shoulder blade is just flat. I pinched her toes a little and there was no reaction. She's also breathing kind of shallow and fast with it seems like she's breathing from her stomach not her chest. She is crying a little bit but not when we touch the leg, onky when she tries to move around while laying down.

My cat is acting completely normal, but I've noticed him hyperventilating a little here and there. Like just sitting on my desk, for about 10-15 secs, he just took a bunch of quick breaths. Not a big deal or a problem?

4 week old kitten rapid breathing vomited once very lythargic have been giving him karo pedialyte and some formula ate good this morning then this afternoon went down hill does not have wet gums and is not cold

My 1 year old cat occasionally breathes heavily through her mouth and meows when someone picks her up. I thought it was just her being stressed and uneasy, because she only ever does it in that specific situation, but i don’t want to push it aside if something is actually wrong.

My dog stepped on my cats stomach and now he’s breathing rapidly is he okay?? Is he going to die?? Please help I need to know if I have to rush to the vet I am so scared because he’s the only thing that’s been keeping me happy and I can’t lose in

My about 8 or 9 year old cat started breathing heavily today after me and friend did some major cleaning. She was diagnosed with feline leukemia when we took her to the vet for the first time after we got her when she was about 5 months to a year as a stray. It's never bothered her at all though, she's never had an issue. She's also never breathed like this before. So I didn't know if it was because all of the dust. The dust was so bad that we had masks while we cleaned. We just thought it was the dust in the air and I've opened up all the windows to air everything out. It was also 70 something degrees outside today and she does go in and out of the house.Other than her breathing she is eating, drinking and acting completely normal. So I was just going to take her to the vet if she was still breathing like this tomorrow, but the more I search online the more nervous I get that it's not just the dust and she may have a serious issue going on.

We have a female persian cat and was diagnosed of cancer last December. Operation was scheduled right away but when the vet saw cancer cells spread all over he did not remove any of these cancer cells. So what we did, were are giving her turmeric everyday hoping it would help her in a way. It’s 5 months since then and i thought Cindy, name of our cat will continue to be well. But, something unusual i noticed, she is breathing rapidly and her appetite to eat lessen. Actually, she wants to eat but she can’t swallow the food. It breaks my heart to see her suffering difficulty in breathing. Is my cat dying? What medicine to give her to ease her breathing? Please advise. Vilma

Hi, our 15 year old girl, Buddha has gotten super weak so fast. She had a lump on her nose/lip area, which contributed to a number of doctor visits. They took blood, sample of the tissue, etc, everything came back normal. So the vet told us that if it doesn't bother us, to leave it be. She was still ok at that point just had that lump. Then after our last visit which was very stressful to her to say the least, when she came back home, we noticed that she was limping, that was new to us. The gradually, she started losing weight, so within two weeks she dropped almost 8 pounds, yet she is eating and very excited about it still. And now started the panting which has gotten worse a week ago, she's breathing heavy, with her whole stomach moving. And there are time when she's breathing with her mouse open and her tongue slightly sticking out. And she has started to pee all over the house, she still goes in her litter, but also all over the place. She is still eating, she's not hiding, still like to be pet and be around us, but at times I feel like she's so miserable. We don't know what to do at this point, another visit to the vet will be super stressful to her. And I have no idea what they can do, since last 4 visits did absolutely nothing but make her worse. :(

My cat is breathing really weird??
He keeps meowing really weirdly like raspy and he's having a hard time breathing?? It is currently quite hot where we live and we are not sure if he has been drinking water..