Are cats supposed to pant?
Danielle
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Cats can pant but should be seen by a veterinarian to make sure it is not something serious.
Cats rarely pant. It could be the cat is overheated, is it hot where you live, or it could be a lung problem. In many years of owning cats, I've only had one cat pant and she was injured by dogs. It is definitely something to be concerned about and is not normal. Please call your vet.
Susan
NO! Cats do NOT pant, In fact we just went through hell with our cat last week (an operation) He almost died from a piece of plastic stuck in his intestines & that's one of the signs they told us to watch out for (panting) The 24 hour emergency Vet said If a cat pants, it signals an EMERGENCY (like poisoning, etc!) Call or bring it to a vet RIGHT AWAY!
---> CALL A 24 HOUR VET NOW!
I've noticed my perfectly healthy cat panting after vigorous play. He's young, but he plays with a dog about his size, and they wear each other out. If the cat is constantly panting it should be seen by a vet a.s.a.p. If the pants only after running hard and jumping, it's probably just hot. If you're worried it's best to see a vet just to be sure nothing serious is wrong.
Sarah Jane, strictly a house cat, alarmed us by panting one evening. The next morning, I became a grandmother when she surprised us by giving birth to three kittens! (She'd apparently had a quick encounter with Andrew, a neighborhood cat we let in the porch briefly on a cold night.
If it is too hot, a cat will begin panting as a form of cooling itself. It is important that they do not get to that point. It takes a lot for a cat to get hot enough that it needs to pant. By providing a source of shade, a cool area and plenty of water, the cat should be fine.
Lots of good information here already, but I see no mention that cats will sometimes pant if they are very frightened or upset. Panting is not good, even when caused by a temporary external situation.
Heavy breathing and heaving sides that goes on over a long period of time even when the cat is at rest can be a sympton of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), an infection that is invariably fatal.
I once had a kitty, a boy, who LOVED to chase feather-on-a-stick, and also LOVED to play fetch; once in a while he would play so much that he would have to just plop on the floor and start panting, complete with his tongue hanging out. He always had a clean bill of veterinary health, and after he panted it a few times I was able to recognize when he was about to get that tired, and would put his toys away so he could rest.
Labor, severe anxiety, heart distress, or real pain. Not a good sign, ever.
I got pretty worried today as I walked into the hall to find my young cat staring up at me wide eyed, mouth open and panting rapidly. On closer look he had a scratch on his face (from another cat), being only a young cat he hasn't been out much and rarely left the garden. Today he had been on his travels and must have gotten into a rather nasty altercation with a neighbourhood cat, when he ran home he was terrified.
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