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My cat breathes weirdly in sleep, has eye discharge. Should I worry?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 7 months and 2 days old | 9 lbs

My cat just started breathing differently I noticed this was because I watched his abdomen when he was falling asleep near me, his abdomen was moving up and down more noticeably and when I put my ear to his belly I could hear his breathing loudly, I thought this was strange because he was resting. I also noticed he has yellow/ discarge coming from one eye but it was a very little amount. Just wondering if I should rush him to the vet or is this just cat allergies? the abnormal breathing stopped

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on January 3rd, 2017

If Felix's abnormal breathing occurred when he was sleeping, then I would be inclined to think he was dreaming and that caused the change in breathing. Cats dream, and can twitch in their sleep and have changes in breathing in response to their dreams. As for the eye discharge, I would monitor it for now since you report it a very little amount. Should there be more of it, or it becomes greenish, then I would take Felix into the vet for an eye exam.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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