Comments on: Cats can pant?

By: A

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 08:23:54 +0000

I lost a cat today! I picked up Yoshi (Bengal cat) from my friends house today. I gave Yoshi to Ana (my friend) 3 yrs ago but Ana is in remission in cancer, she then decided to give back Yoshi to me. I was planning on giving him to my sisters. My niece and nephew are waiting for me to arrive. On my way there, at first I know Yoshi was uncomfortable. She meowed alot but become relax after awhile. the trip took about an hour and a half to my sister’s home. Then suddenly, she meowed again and crawled to me while I was driving as if he was giving me a kiss ( he is affectionate and likes hugs alot) …then I noticed his mouth is half open and eyes are wide open (pupil is so big) and meowing. As soon as we arrive at my sisters house, he meowed and again, his mouth is half open (this is an odd look) and when he tried to get up, he is so weak and collapsed all of a sudden. Then he didn’t move after that! We lost him I do not understand. He goes to vet and had regular shots he needed, he is healthy strong and happy cat. Did it sounded like a heart attack? He is only 3 years old This is heartbreaking!!!!

By: Ayla

Ayla — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 08:21:05 +0000

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:24:19 +0000

I brought my 4 month old kitten in to the vet today based on the similar observations that everybody above mentioned. It turns out he has asthma. If you are really concerned about your kitten or cat panting excessively, you should get them checked out. It may or may not be serious, but regardless, it will definitely bring your mind to ease.

By: Helen

Helen — Mon, 25 May 2009 22:13:31 +0000

My kitten started to pant at 5 months. First it was after she got over-heated lying in the sun, but then it was after even a small burst of exercise. She’s now 8 months and going in for a day of tests tomorrow, as she also has a cough. The cough is soft and wet, and an x-ray showed a shadow in front of her heart, which could be anything from a tumor to fluid, from the lungs or from a heart problem, or even a ‘thymic mass’, ie a tumor. If it’s so normal for cats to pant, then why do vets ALWAYS say “cats should not pant” ???

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:18:27 +0000

I’ve got an 8 month old Maine Coon cross and he pants after heavy play sessions or when he’s anxious. Unless the panting continues for a long time or is accompanied by more accute symptoms (such as a cough, or discoloured gums) I wouldn’t worry about the occassional pant. Like dogs, cats have to get rid of the extra body heat, this is especially true in the longer-haired breeds. Although they can get rid of some heat via. their paw pads the do not sweat and panting is one of the best means of evaporative cooling that they can do.

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:54:16 +0000

You will never see your dog with sweat rings under his arms or your cat wiping his brow with a handkerchief. Dogs and cats don’t sweat the way people do for the simple reason that they have hardly any sweat glands at all. (The few sweat glands that they do possess are on the pads of their feet.) One exception is the sphinx cat, which can sweat a surprising amount.

Unlike humans, who can shed jackets and sweaters when they start feeling warm, dogs and cats wear their fur coats all year-round. Having so few sweat glands makes them very sensitive to heat, but they do have another way of staying cool: They pant. Which is why, after a walk in the park or a fast game of chase-the-string, they will be puffing away with gusty, window-fogging breaths. (Cats are more discreet than dogs, and you won’t see their tongues hanging out very often, but they also pant when they are feeling warm.)

“Panting is the main way that dogs and cats have of getting rid of body heat,” said C. Dave Richards, D.V.M., a veterinarian in private practice in Valdosta, Georgia. “If they weren’t able to pant, they would collapse from the heat.”

Dogs and cats also pant when they are feeling nervous after a scolding, for example, or when they realize that they are going to the vet. In fact, fear is a common cause of panting.

If your pet is panting even when he is cool and relaxed, there is probably something wrong, says John Daugherty, D.V.M., a veterinarian in private practice in Poland, Ohio. A fever often causes panting. Anemia, a condition in which there aren’t enough red blood cells to deliver adequate oxygen to the body, can cause pets to pant. So can problems with the thyroid gland, which may make your pet’s metabolism run too fast, causing him to heat up too much. Poisoning is another cause of panting, Dr. Daugherty adds.

Perhaps the most serious thing to watch for is heatstroke, in which a pet’s temperature can shoot above 104 °F, causing very heavy panting and extreme exhaustion. Signs of heatstroke also include drooling, glassy eyes, deep red gums, and excessive weakness. Heatstroke may occur when a pet has been left in a parked car or if he has been exercising too vigorously in hot weather. This is an extremely serious condition that can cause brain damage or even death.

See Your Vet If…

* Your pet has gotten into toxic substances
* He has been exercising vigorously
* He is drooling, has deep red gums, or is very weak
* Your pet’s temperature is 1048#176;F or higher
* Your pet’s voice has recently changed.
* Your pet is panting excessively
* Your dog or cat is coughing, wheezing, sneezing, or gagging
* Exercise makes him unusually tired or causes him to cough or wheeze
* Your pet has recently begun snoring, wheezing, or panting at night
* He is breathing rapidly or taking shallow breaths
* His belly is heaving when he breathes
* His nose is dry, crusty, or bleeding
* There is a discharge from his mouth or nose for two days or longer
* Your pet’s tongue or gums are blue or pale

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:35:05 +0000

Wow! I am more alarmed at the amount of cat owners here now than I am about my two female all black 13 month old cats panting. I am alarmed by the sheer lack of knowledge that so many cat owners have who have posted. After so many posts about cats panting after playing rigorously for at least 10 mins it should be obvious to those who read this that cats pant. Ask yourself this question, after you run around rigorously, don’t you breathe deeper and more frequently immediately following? Yes, of course you do! So why would it be of any surprise that a cat would too? A cat will stop playing and calm down when he/she has had enough. One of the 2 kitties that I have is more fit and trim than the other… and even she was panting tonight. They were both tearing around together playing and running through the house and then came to a stand still in my front room. They rested, panted, layed in the windows… and eventually stopped panting. Now, certainly, there are health issues with some kitties and my reason for this post if not to take away anything from the importance of seeking medical attention when necessary. But, it seems to me (and this frustrates me) that more pet owners need to read books about being a responsible and ‘knowledgeable’ pet owner. Let nature take it course… most animals know what they need to know, it is us humans who have the harder time trying to figure that out. I am always wary of vets who will put an animal an anything just to put them on something. It is a natural occurrence that an animal without sweat glands will pant.

To Alva who posted a little ways up, be careful when putting a kitty that is very warm into cold water as it will shock his/her system. Hopefully the water is more room temperature than ‘cold’. Better yet, just let the kitty cool down naturally… by panting and resting.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 02:21:36 +0000

My cat came in the house one night panting……she wouldn’t drink or eat anything she just ran through the house as if she were going crazy….then we haven’t seen her in a week and tomorrow will be a week and a day.

By: Eliza

Eliza — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:06:33 +0000

I was starting to feel better about my cat’s panting until I read Jeff’s post. I know that my little female has a heart problem (it’s a birth defect), but the vet said that everything was okay, and all I could do was watch her. She pants sometimes in the heat, and because of her heart I pay very close attention. It was making me less panicky reading that other people’s cat occasionally panted, and were fine. Now after reading about Jeff’s cat, my obsessive worrying has returned. Ah well, I’ll just have to keep her as calm as possible.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 02:33:37 +0000

Our cat has panted on and off, but not related to temperature. The other day he was panting and started to dry-heave. He started to dry-heave so violently, he was throwing himself a couple feet across the room. In less than 10 minutes he ended up collapsing, dead. After speaking with the vet, they determined it was an underlying heart condition that eventually his body could not handle with age. I’m not saying all panting indicates a heart condition, but be careful and try to observe patterns. We noticed our cat would pant most often during stressful experiences.