Is it normal for cats to pant?

[charliee 10]

can anyone please help me, i have a healthy young kitten - 7 months old. Just recently ive noticed that she gets quite out of breath when playing and sometimes she pants just like a dog would ive had cats before and never seen anything like this so am a bit worried.

[Posiepaws 10]

Mouth breathing in the cat is not normal. Did your vet check her heart when she had her injections?

[charliee 10]

yes she has a clean bill of health from the vet but that was obviously a few months ago now. its only been in the last few weeks that shes started doing it. she has this funny game where she will chase a piece of screwed up paper and fetches it like a dog would, she loves playing this and this is when she gets breathless, so im wondering if she gets a bit too excited maybe :/

[medusa 16]

If she's mouth breathing and panting like a dog then she definitely needs a check up with the vet. It could signify anything from a blockage in her nasal passages or a mild case of cat flu up to more serious things like a heart murmur or failure.

 

It's normal to get out of breath but even when they're out of breath cats normally breathe through their noses.

[Jackie2141 10]

can anyone please help me, i have a healthy young kitten - 7 months old. Just recently ive noticed that she gets quite out of breath when playing and sometimes she pants just like a dog would ive had cats before and never seen anything like this so am a bit worried.

 

My mum had a cat that used to pant quite alot when he`d been running around playing, he was the first cat i`d seen pant and he was perfectly healthy

[charliee 10]

thankyou, i will get her checked at the vet, better to be safe than sorry. her gums look quite pale too i noticed last night, wonder if thats something to do with it too

[mc55 10]

one of our cats pants too. He has always done it from being a kitten when he is playing and chasing various toys. My OH said he has never known cats to pant - we mentioned it to our vet when Loki was a kitten and they gave him a check over, but were not concerned. He is nearly 5 now. He is quite fluffy, so we wondered if its to do with being hot.

[hodgepig66 10]

Cats can pant for a number of reasons,

If they are to hot,heart problems,stressed,

I know you say it's while playing,but it's worth having it checked out.

[charliee 10]

thankyou, i will call the vets in the morning

[smudge74 10]

My kitten (9 months old) pants through her mouth when she's excited or playing vigorously. My vet said its unusual but can happen in perfectly normal cats

[hodgepig66 10]

My kitten (9 months old) pants through her mouth when she's excited or playing vigorously. My vet said its unusual but can happen in perfectly normal cats

 

Well i've learnt something there just never heard of it before,how wierd...

[Fishpole 10]

I would say it isn't normal and something which should be checked by a vet just to be sure. I was alarmed when Khan would come in and lay down in the coolest point he could find and pant heavily, just like a dog. The vet told me at the time that he may have a problem with his diaphragm and we monitored him for quite some time. He was 2 years old and we had just moved house so it could have been stress related, I don't know, I wouldn't like to say that it is something to be ignored in case there is some other underlying issue with your cat. It's better to have them checked and monitored for a while just to be sure. Khan btw is nearly 18 years old so don't panic unduly, just get a professional opinion and take it from there.