Excessive panting

[Rupertpenrysmistress]

Hello all, I know I need to contact the vets and I will. Just wondering if I needed to do it now or can wait until AM. My 9 year old girl has just started to pant excessively with her mouth open and tongue out. She does not seem to be in pain she has eaten today as normal and had white fish for tea. Any ideas what might be wrong or how I can help her, she is currently on my bed where it is quiet, she pants for a bit and then stops. I am so worried my dd 12 is in tears.

Has she been drinking water?

One of my cats will pant but that’s when she’s been tearing up and down the garden on a hot day.

If I were in your shoes and you have access to a 24hr vet I’d be inclined to give them a call and get their advice.

She drinks a combination of water and cat milk and has done today, currently she is sleeping, no panting,I have never seen her do this. My other cat regularly pants but she has a really thick coat and is always flying about.

I would certainly be taking her to the vet to be checked out. Whether you do that tonight or in the morning is obviously your call. Really hope she is ok, I know how worrying it is when pets are unwell.

Is she breathing faster than usual?

Thank you. She is sleeping at the moment I have put some water next to her, I will see how she goes, will wait until the morning if I can but I will contact vets immediately if she starts panting again.

Are you able to have a quick check to see if there's anything stuck in her throat? I'd be concerned about a fish bone.

It needs checking by the vet anyway as it's not normal cat behaviour.

Breathing seems normal rate to me, seemed faster when she was panting, now she is just quiet with big eyes.

If it keeps happening I would definitely get advice from the vet. If she's not hot or breathing fast from exertion then she's either stressed or unwell.

My boy Ozzy had a really tough time last year. He went through spells of panting a lot. I never really got to the bottom of it but I think his flea treatment set off an allergy, but then the to-ing and fro-ing to the vets made him anxious.
Is your cat under any kind of stress at the moment? It’s definitely worth asking the vet to check over.

I did wonder about a fish bone but would that cause panting, I can't hear any unusual/ extra noise with her breathing. I could try to have.a look but am worried about stressing her.

A friend of mine has a cat that has asthma, possibly allergy related. If it gets breathless they have to keep it calm. Prior to that diagnosis vet was concerned about cats heart as it was also a symptom of problems there. I don't want to worry you, but if there is more panting I would get her checked over.

She is a very stressed cat, this is caused by my second cat, bad move on my part but we manage it. My second cat tends to chase her and she looks permanently scared and always looking over her shoulder. The trouble is second cat is a huge but friendly Maine coone who wants to play. We keep them separate, first cat sleeps in my room, she does go out.

That is my plan I have dug out all.tje emergency vet numbers and will call if she starts panting again. Thank you all for taking the time to respond this is the hard part of keeping animals ☹️.

Yes, I took our 6 month old cat to the vets for open mouthed breathing. The vet was concerned about her heart. Anyway, it turned out to be a nasty chest infection. After weeks on antibiotics, she was like a different cat - much more with it! It made me wonder how long she had it?

I have a multi cat household too. My older cat isn't overly keen on the new arrivals. I have found a plug in Feliway very helpful. The difference in the behaviour and how much more relaxed they are is noticeable. Something to try perhaps?

Has she gotten to onion, curry, grapes? Plants? Any possible poisoning if koi carp/birds in the area.

My lab panted (horrible panting not the usual) once - my husband dropped a slice of onion and he ate it! Hubby had no clue it’s poisonous.
Water and vets tomorrow fingers crossed all ok

Something stuck in the throat can cause panting, but it's also a sign of fear. Our childhood cats used to pant in the car on the way to the cattery or the vet, they hated the car. So it could be stress related.

We lost a much loved cat last year (hence the new arrivals!) due to a late diagnosis of kidney failure. It was (still is) heartbreaking, so I totally get the anxiety around our pets being unwell.
We also have some ancient guinea pigs and I check them every morning with slight trepidation.
Hope your kitty has a calm evening and you all get some sleep.

I will keep all of these in mind, just checked she allowed me to tickle her chin, she lifted it a tiny bit. No further panting, she is right in the middle of the bed so can't move her for fear of upsetting her so no sleep for us. Thanks again.

My cat was like this. She had a heart murmur and was on diuretics. She died of a heart attack at the vets right in front of me. It was horrible, but was was even more horrible was having to tell my daughter who adored her.
Call the vet now.

I’m sorry to say that panting can be one of the signs of a failing heart. I would take her to the vet today. If it is the heart, there is medication that will help.

@Rupertpenrysmistress
How is your cat today?

Morning so after I posted last night there was no further panting aside from that 2 minute episode, she slept right in the middle of my bed until 1am when she got up to eat and drink, she then lay on me for the rest of the night purring, she has been playing with my husband today. The vets have advised that as a one of with no recurrence yet or other symptoms to watch and wait.

Thank you all again.

@RupertpenrysmistressOh that’s good news.