My kitten pants heavily and lays down after playing. Is this normal?

You're right that it can be normal to see short periods of panting after active play or other exercise, especially in young cats. But, this can also be a sign of heart disease or other problems. If your kitten sometimes pants, it would be best to have him examined be a vet to make sure that his heart and lungs are normal. If no problems are found, then you'll know there is no need to worry :)

Your kitten will need to have an exam by your veterinarian. She could be suffering from a congenital malformation of the blood vessels near the heart or have a hole in the septum of the heart. This would often not show when the kitten is resting, but when it exercises, runs and plays there is not enough oxygen being pumped to the lungs and muscles because oxygenated and used up blood mixes. Problems often do not occur until 3-4 months of age. Please make an appointment with your vet for an exam.

It sounds like Keeda has had a pretty thorough workup. With the bronchial pattern being seen on x-rays and a normal echo, it sounds like primary respiratory disease might be the cause. If an infectious disease panel has not been performed to look for toxoplasmosis or parasites like lungworms or heartworm you may want to ask about ruling these diseases out although Keeda's symptoms certainly don't seem typical. If your veterinary team feels like all avenues have been exhausted you may want to consider a second opinion at a university hospital if there is one near you - sometimes learning institutions see the rare cases or have access to other testing.

If he was really racing around after the toy last night, more than usual, it could explain his exertion, however, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get him in to see your vet for an exam just to be safe. You said Obi is a big cat, so there may be some Maine Coon in his background, and they have a greater risk for some heart conditions.

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.

That is concerning. How long ago were those test performed? Sometimes as disease progresses, it becomes easier to see on xrays or echocardiogram, so I am wondering if repeating some tests may help. If its been more than even day, things can change dramatically on Xray. A young cat (he is listed at 7 monhts old) should be able to play and be quite active without panting, certainly panting is abnormal after only mild exertion. I recommend that you take him back to your vet, or take him to a veterinary internal medicine specialist. I'm so sorry he's not feeling well! Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thank you for asking this question about Luna. Just like people cats can become tired and breathe heavy after exercise. However, if this is a new behavior, or if she has never had a good thorough physical from a veterinarian then I would be more concerned. You may want to consider making a video of an event and having an examination from your veterinarian. This would give you peace of mind if all is normal or may be an important early find if there is a problem. Best of luck and I hope she does well. Thank you for using Pet Coach.