# Aggressive breathing?



## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

Hi all,

I have a domestic shorthair who is 10 months old now. He's in overall good health and spirits. I've noticed that when he is falling asleep he seems to be working very hard to breath. It might get a little worse in certain positions, like when he's curled up in a ball. Once he falls asleep it seems to even out to normal. He also snores lightly when he sleeps. It sounds like he has boogers in his nose. Im not sure if this issue, in general, is more prevalent now or I'm just noticing it more now. The only other medical issue he has is allergies. He's been on 1/2 pill of Zyrtec almost daily, or at least every other day. 

Has anyone else noticed their cats doing this? My older cat, nearly two, always seems to breath evenly, and he doesn't snore. 

Thanks!


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## molldee (May 19, 2013)

Two of my cats snore. I have no idea why; they are completely healthy. 

I would ask your vet about the trouble breathing when trying to sleep to be on the safe side.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

This sounds like my Zipper. She sometimes snores and thrashes in her sleep. Her breathing sounds odd depending on what position she is in but she seems to self regulate pretty well so we never disturb her unless she seems to be having a nightmare then we very gently wake her up.


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## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

Hi again. 

So tonight I was able to get a video of his breathing. I'm beginning to be worried. Anyone else see this in their cats?


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Are you sure he is not purring as he is falling asleep? I could not tell from the video because of the background noise. Could just be a combination of the curled up position and purring. I would not lose sleep over it.


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## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

He's not purring, he's not making any sound. I know when my older cat sleeps this way, its very smooth. It just looks like he's working so hard to inhale!


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## molldee (May 19, 2013)

Two of my cats do this. They're from the same litter of Maine **** mixes. They snore really loudly, sometimes it sounds as if they can't breathe. They were checked out, and my vet thinks it's just hereditary for them to snore.


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## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

Moldee, I'm ok with the snoring, but what concerns me is the tremendous effort he seems to exert to just inhale. Looking at him work so hard to simply inhale concerns me.


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## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

247 people have read this thread, and hopefully seen the video, and no one else's cat breathes this way  I think a vet visit is necessary.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

247 people is counting everyone who sees it, even non-members, so not all who read can respond.

none of my cats breathe this way but that doesn't mean much. since he's already on zyrtec and has allergies, it doesn't seem much of a stretch that he could have asthma so go to the vet if you're that concerned. i don't know anything about asthmatic cats.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

It could be nothing... but I'll link to a post by Kobster as something to keep in mind, she has a cat with HCM and she's a vet tech.

http://www.catforum.com/forum/859974-post13.html

The first part saying "its not normal" she's talking about panting in cats, not what you're talking about.

Anyway, I think I've seen my cats to this before when they're having a kitty dream in a deep sleep. Not often.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

And about the possibility of purring... sometimes they purr softly, you have to touch them to feel it happening.


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## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

Cinder, you're right about the non members reading this. 

Carmel, thanks for the link. I don't think it's anything deadly, as everything else seems normal. He plays and runs without difficulty. Right now he's having some stomach issues, but when he gets better I plan on taking him to a cat specific vet. Maybe they can shed some light.


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## DeafDogs&Cat (Mar 27, 2013)

My cat, Munch is very often a noisy breather, awake and asleep. He also breathes very heavy when eating... It doesn't seem to affect him at all


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## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

So I figure ill give a follow up in case someone else has to deal with this. I took Simba two weeks ago to a cat specific vet. I showed her the video, but she didn't really notice anything that unusual (granted the video isn't lit well, but I was hoping she'd see that his breathing wasn't smooth). She listen to his lungs and said he's breathing well and seems pretty normal. She says if we see him pant, or breath with an open mouth, or cough a lot than we will X-ray. When he breaths his stomach rises and falls normally, its just a lot of jerkiness in the front half of his body. I guess I have no choice but to assume its normal for him and hope that he's well.


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

That's good news. I would think the vet would have heard something if there was a problem. Hopefully he is just like some people that are mouth breathers, or something like that.


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## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

Right now he's sleeping by my feet and I feel his front paws on me and I feel shuddering coming through his paws. This can't be normal


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## JungliBillis (Mar 20, 2013)

Sounds like he does it only when he's sleeping? My cat use to make kind of a loudish breathing sound and slightly sway when he slept. I was concerned, but he was fine when he was awake. Ran around and everything. I don't notice him doing that anymore now. I guess he was just snoring.

If you are still very concerned, I'd suggest you try to get a better video clip of what it looks like (with better lighting and no background sounds) and show it to the vet again, or get a second opinion from another. Hopefully it's nothing and will go away.


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## NOLAKitties (May 30, 2013)

My big boy snores loud too. Also louder at certain sleep position, just like human. I think he took after me.  he is rarely purr. When we first took him to the vet, she thought she heard heart murmurs. But it might be just stress related being at the vet. He is relatively healthy, just once in a while hotspots, cold, hairball. He is a bigger size cat though, around 16 lbs. I will just watch his weight.


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

I see what you mean. I'd be fretting too - it seems like he's taking 2 or 3 small breaths first and then a bigger one. I wonder if it's related to his allergies. Maybe his nose is stuffy and that makes him feel like he can't get a full breath, whereas once he's asleep, he's not aware anymore and his breathing just becomes more natural??


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## westfayetteville (Sep 22, 2011)

I saw this post last week and I did not reply because I did not have an answer for why my cat all of a sudden started breathing fast and labored, I may know why now.

Our cat has been going to the vet because he is sick for the last two months, and he also has Asthma.( Just a little back ground) Any way 2 sundays ago we found mold in our A/C unit, after cleaning (it in the home) Sparky started having a hard time breathing, we took him to the vet and they said there was not much that they could do, they ran blood work and X-rayed his lungs ( again I said he was seeing the vet for two months every week or two for problems with his blood work) his bloodwork came back better than his last lab work and he was already on and inhaler for his asthma, and pills for his blood, so when we took him home he was still having problems breathing so against the vets advice we started to give him predisone, a day later he was breathing better.

So just on the off chance check your A/C for mold and if you find any(if your A/C is a window unit) take your A/C outside to clean so the mold dose not spread in the air.


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## Gecko_G (Jul 17, 2013)

Can't really tell anything from the video, sorry, but my siamese when she laying in some positions she has this odd breathing where she briefly stops mid breath and kinda slightly rock's forward and back mid inhale/exhale, if she's awake but otherwise calm (ie falling asleep), though she never actually sleeps in those positions. She also snores loudly sometimes when fully sleeping. The swaying gets a little worse if she's also purring in the position but then as soon as she stops purring the swaying goes away. 

It's probably nothing but can you get a clearer (and quieter) video? Or, if (s)he purr's readily, try petting him/her when (s)he does it, just 2 or 3 strokes to start the purring, and see if his/her breathing changes during and after the purring.


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## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

*Narrow nasal passage surgery...*

Hey all,

I posted before about my cat, Simba's, apparent difficulty in breathing. Specifically, when he inhales, his upper body trembles from the effort. We took him to a cat specific vet who listened to his lungs, watched the (poorly lit) video I shot of his labored breathing, and said she didn't hear anything wrong with his breathing. After doing a lot of research, I believe he has nasopharyngeal stenosis - or narrow nasal passages. This article is what led me to my conclusion.

Narrowing of the Nasal Passage in Cats | petMD

Imagine going through your life breathing through a stuffy nose. It's exhausting! No wonder Simba wakes up instantly, because he's hardly sleeping, what with the effort he exerts every time he has to inhale! It's not bad enough that he mouth breaths (although I wish he would; it would be so much easier for him) - but I can't imagine watching him struggle to breath for the next 20 years. 

So, has anyone else had a cat diagnosed with narrow nasal passages (possibly a Persian cat) ? His anyone doen the surgery to repair it? Any feed back would be appreciated!

Thanks!


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## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

*Narrow nasal passage ....*

We took him to a cat specific vet who listened to his lungs, watched the (poorly lit) video I shot of his labored breathing, and said she didn't hear anything wrong with his breathing. After doing a lot of research, I believe he has nasopharyngeal stenosis - or narrow nasal passages. This article is what led me to my conclusion.

Narrowing of the Nasal Passage in Cats | petMD

Imagine going through your life breathing through a stuffy nose. It's exhausting! No wonder Simba wakes up instantly, because he's hardly sleeping, what with the effort he exerts every time he has to inhale! It's not bad enough that he mouth breaths (although I wish he would; it would be so much easier for him) - but I can't imagine watching him struggle to breath for the next 20 years. 

So, has anyone else had a cat diagnosed with narrow nasal passages (possibly a Persian cat) ? His anyone doen the surgery to repair it? Any feed back would be appreciated!

Thanks!


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## koshechka (Jul 14, 2013)

Not narrow nasal passages, but are you sure it's narrow passage and not a polyp? Were the polyps ruled out i.e. did the vet do a deep throat exam to see if there is something there, or maybe X-rays - the polyp wouldn't show on the X-ray, but the polyps are often accompanied by the ear infection, and result in white-out middle year on the X-rays - this was the case in my cat.

The reason I mention it is that when my cat was a kitten she had a nasopharengeal polyp, and her only symptom was a noisy breathing, like she was congested at all times.


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