Fast Respirations = Allergies?

[ArtNJ]

Rocky, 9 or 10, has had allergies for years. Gets squinty eye now and then throughout spring and summer. My wife has been saying she is breathing fast for a few weeks, don't know if its new to this year's allergy season or not. It did seem like almost a breath a second, and they were pretty noticeable breaths too. I gather that is really fast for a resting cat.

I hate taking her in for routine allergies, but I guess I probably should? I'm concerned that if it isn't allergies, its probably something hideous, but I guess that isn't a reason not to find out.

 

[JoyM]

While it’s not normal for a cat to be panting at 60 breaths a minute, there are a couple things that could cause it: getting anxious, extreme exercise or overheating. I have a stray cat in a kennel with her 5 kittens because I’m fostering and I saw her panting the other morning. She had gotten overly anxious because my 2 cats were playing by the kennel. Once I got them away from her and gave her some food, she calmed down and her breathing has been fine.
However, if your cat is breathing that quickly, there is no reason you can see and it’s consistent, it’s probably time for a vet visit. Unfortunately, heart problems can cause difficulty breathing and fast respirations.

 

[ArtNJ]

Heart is what I was afraid of. She has been doing this for a couple of weeks so its likely either allergies or something like heart problems.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Rapid breathing can possibly be from several different things. Even allergies can cause it, so perhaps Rocky's allergies have become more severe? Asthma, URIs, pain, and even stress can also result in fast breathing. Blood tests and maybe an x-ray might the first things the vet may want to do.

I hope whatever it is that the vet can treat it easily!!

 

[ArtNJ]

We went, and it was very frustrating as always. Vets around here are just awful unless your made of money. Many are nice, knowledgeable even, but they all work in big animal hospitals and try to upsell with no thought for common sense.

Start with the fact that they suddenly decided that if your not up to date on the 1 year rabies shot (they dont offer the 3) they make the cat wear a muzzle. Ok, I get that rabies can be lethal. However, they were petting her freely knowing she wasn't up to date. Then they took a huge "risk" putting it on, because it turned a gentle cat into a monster and their hands were near the face while they were putting it on. Then, she said the exam was normal, and fast respiration in the vet's office doesn't mean anything, but maybe the cat was breathing deeply. So blood test, $305 & xray $360 (inc reading) which "may not show anything even if its a heart problem because one of the common heart problems doesn't show on xray". I was all set to do the blood test, but she didn't want too because the muzzle was already off. She wanted me to come back tomorrow, drug my gentle cat in advance so they could muzzle her again (rabies vaccine takes 2 weeks to kick in) and then do the $305 blood test. I was almost going to do that, but then she offered to put the cat in an oxygen chamber for 20 minutes even though she said the exam was normal and it seemed he was getting enough oxygen. In other words, "if your stupid, I'm happy to charge you for this even though it will do nothing."

So I don't know if there is even a problem, and a vet I can't trust wants me to spend $660 for possibly nothing. And to do that, I have to drug my cat, then bring her in to be muzzled.

...and that is why I generally only take my cats when there is an issue.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Sorry things went so poorly at the vet's. I think you are going to have to look around for another vet and have Rocky thoroughly checked out, especially given her age.

Do you have any friends/family/business associates/neighbors that could recommend a vet that they trust? Surely there is a vet around somewhere who would be willing to let you help out to hold Rocky in order to draw blood? Even a vet who does house visits could get the ball rolling with a blood draw done at your own home?

 

[ArtNJ]

Well google returns all animal hospitals and 2 vets with 0 reviews that I seem to recall work for animal hospitals. I did, however, notice a travelling vet that I hadn't seen in the list before with 4 x 5 star reviews, so maybe I can check that out.

 

[FeebysOwner]

At least that is an option to look into! Crossing Feeby's paws that this pans out for you and Rocky!

 

[ArtNJ]

I'm used to how it goes here, but I'll admit that $305 for a senior blood test floored me. I was expecting like $140-190.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I am surprised too - the one I just had done on Feeby was $125, and then, of course, the geriatric exam was another $55!

 

[JoyM]

Try the travel vet. In my experience, they do the hardest job for the best reason. Around here (rural SC) they travel to rural areas to provide affordable care for low income families and understand that their clients love their pets but can often barely afford food for themselves.
I wish I knew someone in the area. I used to know a country vet that worked out of his home. When I was a teen and rescued a kitten with an eye infection, he worked me in the same day and charged me $17 for the exam and antibiotics. He knew I was trying to save a stray and did his part to help too. These types of vets still exist but are hard to locate and don’t really advertise. I have actually had a few vets do that when I was a kid (I used to find injured strays all the time). One animal hospital charged me $8 to sew up a kitten that was attacked by a dog. They knew it probably wouldn’t survive and it’s all they could do but I never regretted taking it in. It was all I had on me from an after school job and he knew it going in and it died on the way back home but I know that he lost $ on just the supplies. This was in the 90s but since then, vets wanting to help have started traveling.
Some of the mobile pet clinics that go to rural areas once a month, will do full blood panels, shots, and a BUNCH of other things. It’s first come, first served but well worth waiting in line. AND they expect these animals to not be up to date and treat them like they should anyway.
Just as an FYI: sure there are plenty of heart conditions that COULD cause fast respirations but the most common in humans, cats and dogs is CHF (congestive heart failure) and 90% of the time it will show up in blood work if they run the right test. If it was the lungs, they could do an arterial blood draw for blood gas levels.
I was a nurse for years but it translates to animals much of the time. They aren’t THAT different.