Why is my 9-year-old cat breathing heavy a week after being outside?

Good for you for noticing that Simba is breathing more heavily than normal! This is a fairly subtle symptom that many cat owners don't notice until the problem is severe. Increased respiratory effort like this is not normal, and definitely warrants a vet visit. Some possible causes could include heart disease, a severe respiratory infection, fluid in the chest, or even lung cancer. Your veterinarian can listen to Simba's heart and lungs, and may also take chest x-rays to help diagnose the problem. Many of these issues are treatable once a diagnosis is made, so it's definitely worth trying to determine what's wrong before things get worse.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Heavy breathing is certainly abnormal in cats. It can be seen with conditions like asthma, heart disease, bronchitis, pneumonia, among other possibilities. This is usually concerning in cats and warrants a visit to a veterinarian as soon as possible for further assessment and possible treatment. They will likely going to perform thoracic radiographs, among other diagnostics dependent on the results obtained. Treatment would be dependent on the findings. Good luck and have a good night!

This can be a sign of a respiratory infection, but in a senior cat, it can also be a sign of heart disease. If possible, I'd take Heidi into a vet now. Otherwise, rest her, keep her indoors if she's allowed outside, keep her comfortable, and get her into a vet tomorrow. I hope this helps.

Hi there! It's possible that this could be allergy related, especially if Perry sounds congested when he breathes or if he is having any sneezing or nasal discharge. The breathing changes could also be due to a respiratory infection, bronchitis, feline asthma, or even a more serious problem such as heart disease or a tumor in his chest. Since some of these problems can be quite serious, I would recommend taking Perry to the vet for an exam as soon as you are able to. The vet can listen to his heart and lungs, and may recommend chest x-rays or other testing if needed to help diagnose the problem.

Breathing more heavily than normal is often an early sign of illness in cats, so I would definitely encourage you to take Prince to the vet for a check up as soon as you are able to. Often, we see this in cats with heart disease, fluid in the chest cavity, or even certain types of cancer. They may not show any other symptoms of a problem until their illness gets much worse, so it's always best to have this checked sooner rather than later. Your vet can listen to Prince's heart and lungs to check for any obvious abnormalities, and may also recommend chest x-rays to look for some of the problems I mentioned above.

I would definitely be concerned about this. Without actually seeing the incident or knowing a little bit more about your kitty, it's difficult for me to tell you what this might be. That being said, what you are describing definitely sounds like episodes of feline asthma or some other inflammatory / obstructive pulmonary condition. If your kitty is an older individual, the chance that this is something more harmful like a respiratory cancer or infectious process would be higher. In very young kittens, I would always suspect upper respiratory infection over any thing else until proven otherwise. An x-ray is usually good enough to diagnose feline asthma though in some cases it can prove challenging. Hope you and your vet can figure things out. In the meantime, I would tune down the playtime.

Poor Salem! It does sound like he is sick, and his symptoms could be caused by a respiratory illness, heart disease, heartworms, or cancer among other causes. It's quite serious when a cat is struggling to breathe, and should that happen again tonight, I would have him seen by a vet immediately. Otherwise, monitor him tonight, and take him into the vet first thing in the morning. The vet can diagnose what is causing his symptoms, and can treat him for them.