Cat Panting...?

[pepsiandmax]

I know the answer is honestly take them to the vet, however since it is weekend the vet is closed.

I wanted to get some input. I think I am 95% sure that this is normal panting and not something more serious, but some input would be great.

I have two cats, they are 2,5 years old, and for the first time they got to go outside on their own. I recently moved (a couple of month ago) from a place right next to the high way (where we have lost cats before) to an area that is a little away from any roads where cars would drive fast.

One of them, Max, is overweight. I have tried dieting him, but it has not worked, I am hoping that now he can more or less run the kilos of. His brother, Pepsi, is not overweight. Both of thwm came in panting today. Pepsi granted have run around a lot and it is warm outside, so his panting seems normal.
Max however have not been running around, but I live on the second floor and he was walking up and down a lot! Which is exercise, and panting would not be abnormal...? Right?

I will keep a close eye on them, give them ice water, and I have taken them inside for a time out; forced relaxation.

But any input would be great, anyone have experience with exercising cats and cats panting?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Cats WILL pant if they overexert, OR if they are especially scared. One of mine will open mouth pant when I put him in the carrier to go to the Vet.

So, only you can be the judge if you feel Max overexerted from his normal amount of exercise. It kind of sounds like he got more than normal

As far as putting Max on a diet, we've had a couple of people here on TCS who've had OBESE cats manage to lose weight by putting them on scheduled meals of wet food only. Is that what you do? We can help you there if you want.

 

[pepsiandmax]

Cats WILL pant if they overexert, OR if they are especially scared. One of mine will open mouth pant when I put him in the carrier to go to the Vet.

So, only you can be the judge if you feel Max overexerted from his normal amount of exercise. It kind of sounds like he got more than normal

As far as putting Max on a diet, we've had a couple of people here on TCS who've had OBESE cats manage to lose weight by putting them on scheduled meals of wet food only. Is that what you do? We can help you there if you want.

Mostly I wanted peoples input on the panting. It stoped when I put them on a time out, so most likely due to going up and down stairs.

The diet, I have tried wet food, dry food, firm 3 meals a day, weighing him snd the food, reducing food even more... I really have gone all out for months and he really stood still, going a bit down one week putting it all on (pluss a little extra) the next week...
diet not working. Tried different brands of food as well. Now I am hoping movement will work for him, beging an k dor castrated cat is not a good combo, so I have high hopes for outdoor exercise! although I put him on a time out, he was ready for more seems to enjoy it! So thats good. Still keep an eye on the food of course, but really I think he needs to get up and walk/run around really

Thanks for the reply! I will see if he/they get better, that they just need to do some "cardio" exercise (I could also benefit from joining Max on the stairs)

 

[kashmir64]

Did you check the temp in his paws? Contrary to the myth, cats do sweat. But only on the pads of their paws. If his paws were hot, then chances are it was a normal pant and he was just over exerted himself.

 

[LTS3]

Reducing the amount of food doesn't help. You need to feed the appropriate amount of calories daily. The general rule is 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. You don't want to cut calories cold turkey. You have to reduce it slowly over a week or more to prevent fatty liver disease.

 

[pepsiandmax]

Did you check the temp in his paws? Contrary to the myth, cats do sweat. But only on the pads of their paws. If his paws were hot, then chances are it was a normal pant and he was just over exerted himself.

No, I did not, will try this if it happens again

 

[pepsiandmax]

Reducing the amount of food doesn't help. You need to feed the appropriate amount of calories daily. The general rule is 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. You don't want to cut calories cold turkey. You have to reduce it slowly over a week or more to prevent fatty liver disease.

I was using the tabel on the back of the food bag. It says how much a cat on a diet should eat in grams for the whole day, based on the cats weight. So for Max, 7.4kg, I found the appropriate amount, but when it did nothing, even making min put on weight, I reduced the food amount (and in the beginning he even did not eat all of the daily amount), not daily reduction, but would take away a few frams from his daily amount once a week, very gradually reducing his food intake.

 

[kashmir64]

I was using the tabel on the back of the food bag. It says how much a cat on a diet should eat in grams for the whole day, based on the cats weight. So for Max, 7.4kg, I found the appropriate amount, but when it did nothing, even making min put on weight, I reduced the food amount (and in the beginning he even did not eat all of the daily amount), not daily reduction, but would take away a few frams from his daily amount once a week, very gradually reducing his food intake.

Has he been checked for thyroid problems? I am just like him. I could eat one rice cake a day and put on weight. Turns out, my thyroid is completely wacko.

 

[lalagimp]

I have to say that most serving suggestions on a bag of pet food are a lie. It's merely a suggestion. The rest is going to depend on your cat's metabolism and size. I got Stewart to lose 4 lbs, then followed the suggestion on the back for maintenance, and he gained back a whole pound. The only bag of food that laid out a good plan for me was prescription, so I followed that for a year or so and then I went to low calorie over the counter food. Tommy needed to lose 8 lbs and we did it on 220 calories spread out over 5 small feedings per day.
If he's panting make sure he has plenty of water and after a while it goes away. if he starts panting after rest, then I would check him out at the vet that there's no underlying problem like a heart issue. They can usually listen for murmurs.

 

[LTS3]

The key to weight loss is calories, not the amount of food. Dry foods are very calorie dense so even if you reduce to just 1/4 cup a day, which isn't going to keep your cat's tummy happy for very long, the calorie content may still be very high. Weight loss takes time to achieve so don't expect results in a matter of days or weeks. A safe weight loss for cats can take months.

7.4 kg is 16 lbs. To maintain that weight, a cat would have to eat around 320 calories daily. To start losing weight the calories need to be reduced slowly, say to 300 first and maintain that until the cat loses a little weight, then reduce it a little more, etc. How much weight does your cat need to lose?

 

[pepsiandmax]

The key to weight loss is calories, not the amount of food. Dry foods are very calorie dense so even if you reduce to just 1/4 cup a day, which isn't going to keep your cat's tummy happy for very long, the calorie content may still be very high. Weight loss takes time to achieve so don't expect results in a matter of days or weeks. A safe weight loss for cats can take months.

7.4 kg is 16 lbs. To maintain that weight, a cat would have to eat around 320 calories daily. To start losing weight the calories need to be reduced slowly, say to 300 first and maintain that until the cat loses a little weight, then reduce it a little more, etc. How much weight does your cat need to lose?

He is currently on a dry food with less calories, designed for weight loss, no improvement though.
Honestly Pepsi is a little taller than his brother, but Max is built like a british shorthair, so I would say he should be a bit bulky, and my aim would be Pepsis weight if 5.7kg, maybe 5.5, honestly I would look more on him, feel his belly more than just weighing him.

But 7.4-5.7 is quite a bit to loose... and I ha e beed doing this since January, right now he gets a varyty of both dry and wet food. The dry food as I said is with less calories.

 

[kashmir64]

Are you going just on his weight, or is he truly fat? I have a kitten who just turned 5 months and Friday weighed at 7 lbs. She is not fat, I can feel her ribs. (growth spurt).
I realize yours is probably not in a growth spurt, but just curious on why you need to take him down 2 lbs?

 

[pepsiandmax]

Are you going just on his weight, or is he truly fat? I have a kitten who just turned 5 months and Friday weighed at 7 lbs. She is not fat, I can feel her ribs. (growth spurt).
I realize yours is probably not in a growth spurt, but just curious on why you need to take him down 2 lbs?

He is definetively fat, all of him is not one big ound cat, but his stomach is way too big, also confirmed by the vet.I did ask the vet, since he reminds me of a british shorthair. And how much weight he needs to loose, I would judge more by eye and feel than actual weight, I just said what i think he will end up on when he looks normal based on his brother. I saw a Main coon once that were 11kg and not fat, so i know that weight is not the only thing to base it on.

I have included a picture. He is fluffy too, so its also kind of hard to judge, but his stomach have way to much fatty tissue than what is healty. As I said, also confirmed by the vet. The vet also do agree with me that him going outside should help him loose some of it.

And just to add, he is 16 ibs (7.4 kg) and I, based on his brother, would want to see him down to 12 ibs (5.7kg).

 

[kashmir64]

Seeing the picture I understand now. This also makes sense of his panting after playing.
For some reason I converted the kg's into pounds, which only made two. It's all clear now.
I would still get his thyroid checked.