Panting Cat: Why? What to do ?

    In this ANIMALZOOPLUS article, we take the time to explain the difference between normal panting and pathological panting so that you know whether or not you should be worried. 

Panting Cat/pexels photo

Normal breastfeeding in cats

    when panting, cats breathe very quickly with their mouths open. Unusual behavior for this species as it normally breathes through its nose. However, it is normal for cats to breathe fast and hard in certain physiological situations such as:

• Excitement or Exercise: Whether it's just running around or playing wild around the house after playing sports, cats of all ages will see their heart rate and body arousal increase, which of course leads them to breathe faster and harder.

• Pussy during birth: The tension and exhaustion caused by birth are such that the body reacts, among other things, to the weather. It is for this reason that it is also quite normal for cats to breastfeed even hours after giving birth. However, if this shortness of breath continues for several days, you must go to a veterinary clinic.

• High temperature: Cats tolerate temperatures between 17 and 30 degrees well, but when the temperatures start to rise, cats suffer because they have almost no sweat glands. Their body temperature therefore begins to rise and they breastfeed in an attempt to lose heat through evaporation.

• Fear or stress: Many situations can stress and frighten the cat. Indeed, simple things like unfamiliar noises, car journeys, renovations, guests, or the arrival of new cats can cause them enormous stress. This change in their bodily balance causes them to gasp, dilate their pupils, raise their hair, and increase their heart rate. If your cat is breathing heavily, but none of the reasons we have told you about apply to your cat, it is possible that something more serious is happening to him, now We will see together the most common diseases that cats do.

breastfeeding in cat/pexels ph

A_Respiratory diseases:

• A clear example is asthma, which is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes in the lungs causing them to constrict to prevent irritants from entering the lungs. Symptoms of an asthmatic cat are wheezing, coughing, wheezing in the lungs, shortness of breath, and runny nose. However, asthma is not the only condition that causes wheezing. Indeed, your cat could also very well suffer from a pleural effusion. The latter is an accumulation of fluid in the space between the lung and the membrane that covers the lung and is called the pleura.

• Severe anemia: Cats can suffer from different types of anemia, some of which are very serious because they reduce the percentage of red blood cells in the cat's blood volume and they lead to poor tissue oxygenation because it is the red blood cells that, via hemoglobin, distribute oxygen to the tissues. Symptoms associated with anemia in cats are tachycardia, increased respiratory rate, panting, general weakness, and pale mucous membranes.

B_Heart disease:

Among them is congestive heart failure, often caused in cats by a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which is a condition sometimes linked to feline hyperthyroidism or restrictive cardiomyopathy.

C-Poisoning:

Certain medications, foods, or plants toxic to cats can interfere with the cat's respiratory center because they prevent proper lung expansion for gas exchange, causing the cat to gasp.

D-Diaphragmatic hernia:

    Cats may also remove it when the chest space for lung expansion is reduced by the presence of abdominal viscera in the chest cavity, as occurs in cases of diaphragmatic hernia. Cats with diaphragmatic hernia exhibit respiratory distress characterized by gasping, and costal breathing, and they may also exhibit other symptoms such as chest noises, reduced lung sounds, regurgitation, vomiting, anorexia, and dysphagia. . If your cat is breastfeeding for abnormal reasons, you absolutely must go to a veterinary center, because your best friend could be sick and her life could be in danger.