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My 18-year-old cat struggles to breathe. Should I take him to the vet?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Male | neutered | 17 years and 10 months old

I have a cat who is 18 years old. Recently his breathing has become a bit labored, it seems as though he has to try harder to catch his breath. Other than the breathing issue, he has been continuing on with normal activites, purring, etc. We know that if we bring this cat to our regular vet She’ll advise to put him down as he has lived a full and healthy life But we don’t wanna put him down to early

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on March 2nd, 2021

I understand that, but Mimu is having trouble breathing so it's a medical emergency. This will be very distressing to him, and it may be he is having heart problems such as heart failure. Heart failure will cause fluid to build up back in his lungs, causing labored breathing. If he does have this and it's left untreated, he will literally drown in fluid in his lungs. You do not want to do that to him, so you need to bring him into a vet immediately. If he does have heart failure, there are medications that can be prescribed to make him more comfortable and diminish his symptoms. Please take him into a vet now. Best of luck.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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