The cat is panting: causes and remedies


Have you noticed that your cat is panting? Let’s see the possible causes and understand what we can do to help him.

In a normal inhalation / exhalation condition, the cat always breathes through the nose.

However, as with the dog, so too the cat can have problems with shortness of breath. What is important to note is that this is not a normal situation, as the cat never breathes with its mouth open. It therefore becomes essential to try to identify the causes for this abnormal breathing and intervene accordingly to help our feline friend.


The cat pant: the most common causes

When we find ourselves dealing with small kittens, it can happen to see them panting after playing a lot: they still do not know their limits and may be really too tired to be able to breathe regularly. Alternatively, there may be a drop in blood sugar, as they do not eat the correct foods or at frequent and regular intervals: in this case a change in eating habits could eliminate the problem with the growth of the kittens.

If, on the other hand, we notice a continuous panting from the adult cat, this could depend on a particular state of mind or, as is more likely, on a serious pathology.

If our cat has undergone severe stress or has an intense fear, he could have difficulty breathing: this is the case of a cat that meows all the time in the car before arriving at the vet and once there it breathes with its mouth open.

As we said, a panting cat could hide above all more serious problems of a physical nature, pathologies that have difficulty breathing as one of the symptoms. For example, it could be asthma in the cat, which manifests itself as dyspnoea or with a cough in the cat.

Even in the case of feline thromboembolism, the cat breathes with its mouth open when there is an acute crisis of the disease, which implies oxygenation difficulties due to emboli in the lung area and to some extent pain.

Wheezing for a cat may also hide other types of physical problems, such as:

  • affections of the bronchi and lungs
  • congenital heart disease and heart disease
  • diaphragmatic hernia
  • heatstroke in cats
  • toxoplasmosis in cats
  • intoxication
  • severe anemia
  • hyperthyroidism
  • viral or bacterial infections
  • stroke
  • tumors

The cat breathes with its mouth open: what to do?

As we have seen, if cat is breathing heavily, he certainly has a basic problem.

When this is of an emotional nature, due to anxiety related to transport or the veterinary visit, it could be solved by trying to gradually educate the cat to the carrier and the doctor’s manipulations, perhaps even helping him with the administration of feline pheromones.

On the other hand, when it comes to more serious pathologies, it is better to avoid do-it-yourself and rely on a veterinarian, who will be able to make a precise diagnosis through specific in-depth studies, such as blood and urine tests, ultrasounds, x-rays, etc.


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