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My kitten pants after short exercise. Is it exercise intolerance?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Male | neutered | 9 months and 1 day old | 13.22 lbs

My 8mo kitten pants after & during short burst of exercise. The vets have labels it exercise intolerance and we're still trying to figure out why. He can start panting after 2 minutes of play with sporadic bursts. BAL cytology, cytology from mucous in intubation tube, cardio echo are normal. Evidence of bronchial pattern on 2 sets of X-rays taken a month apart. Capillary response & tongue colour is normal. If perseverance with play while panting his coordination is affected. Any ideas?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on September 20th, 2017

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.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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